Nothing Phone (2a) vs. Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review

Competition is fierce in the cheaper segment of the midrange smartphone market and manufacturers are tumbling over each other to release devices that give you the most bang for your buck. Nothing is a new player in this price category and still has to prove itself. It caused a hype on the smartphone market a few years ago with the Nothing Phone (1). Last year it released the more powerful Phone (2), which had to steal some market share from the established order in the more expensive price segment. Both devices were well received and scored so well in our tests that they were immediately recommended in our Best Buy Guides. This year Nothing takes a different tack again and brings us the cheaper Nothing Phone (2a), a device that should conquer the cheaper segment of the midrange smartphone market.

Another manufacturer that regularly recommends devices in our buying guides is Xiaomi. The Chinese smartphone giant has been releasing the Redmi Note series for years, cheap smartphones with good specifications for little money. It was therefore no surprise that Xiaomi came up with a number of different Redmi Note 13 devices. In this review we will get started with the Note 13 Pro+. This has almost the same specifications as the regular Redmi Note 13, but is slightly more powerful, is waterproof and has somewhat faster memory on board. This phone is about as expensive as the Nothing Phone (2a), so we thought it was the ideal smartphone to compare the latter with.

Love and attention

Before, during and after the introduction of the Phone (2a), Nothing has repeatedly said that other smartphone manufacturers pay little attention and love to their lower-midrange phones. All attention goes to the flagships and upper midrange devices. The rest is just a hodgepodge of cheap parts, messy software full of bloatware, short software support, mediocre cameras and uninspired designs. Nothing says it wants to go against this with the Phone (2a) and pay as much attention to this lower-midrange device as other manufacturers do with their more expensive devices. For example, the Phone (2a) is said to have almost the same software as its more expensive predecessors, good cameras, a processor that is powerful enough to play demanding games and good cooling with an extra large vapor chamber, so that the device hardly throttles at all. According to Nothing, the battery is also above average, meaning the device lasts a long time on a charge. The company has also collaborated with MediaTek and equipped the (2a) with a modified version of the Dimensity 7200. This 7200 Pro should be even more energy efficient than the normal version. And all that for 329 euros.

This sounds very noble and nice, but other manufacturers are working on devices that try to give you almost the same thing for the same money. For example, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ also has a modified version of the MediaTek Dimensity 7200, the Dimensity 7200 Ultra, and Xiaomi devices are known for offering a lot of hardware for little money. Think of screens that can compete with those of the flagships in the most expensive price category, a lot of memory and a lot of connection options. The Note 13 Pro+ is also equipped with a 200-megapixel main camera and the company has made great strides in the camera field over the past few years. Xiaomi is known for supplying a lot of third-party software and Nothing’s device could surprise in that area.

So it seems that the Phone (2a) has a formidable opponent. Has Nothing managed to create a device that can compete with the established order in this price category, or will it come to nothing? You can read it in this review.