Skip to main content

Nothing’s next phone is the result of an unusual collaboration

The back of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Technology company Nothing will launch its first Community Edition smartphone at the end of October, and rather than being a collaboration with another brand, it’s the result of a collaboration with its fans. The device is the culmination of a project that started in March 2024 and involves members of the Nothing fan base suggesting and designing certain aspects of a new phone. The resulting device will be called the Nothing Phone 2a Community Edition, and it’s set to be fully revealed on October 30.

Nothing Phone 2a Community Edition preview.
Nothing

If you haven’t heard of the Nothing Community Project before, here’s a quick overview. When it was announced in March, the company explained that there would be four different stages,where members of the Nothing fan base could contribute ideas and designs to shape a future version of the Nothing Phone 2a. The first stage focused on hardware design, the second involved wallpapers, the third concentrated on the packaging for the new phone, and finally the last stage was all about the marketing.

Recommended Videos

Submissions were voted on at each stage, and you can already see the winners on the Nothing Community Edition website, so we have a good idea of what the new edition will look like. The racetrack-style design on the back of the Phone 2a will put a bright green, possibly glow-in-the-dark finish on the new Community Edition, while the wallpapers follow a similar theme with colors, along with a cool layered effect. The packaging and marketing campaigns also play on the same themes, while highlighting Nothing’s trademark lighting effects and love of minimalism.

A teaser for the Nothing Phone 2a Community Edition.
Nothing

Now that all the winners have been chosen and the design finalized, all that’s left is to fully show it off and release it. As with most other Nothing projects, an insect is part of the initial teaser campaign, and this time it’s a firefly glowing in a similar green envisioned for the Phone 2a Community Edition’s new color scheme. The specifications were never part of the Community Edition project, so we assume it’s going to be identical to the existing Phone 2a, meaning a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro processor, a pair of 50-megapixel cameras, and a 6.7-inch, 120Hz AMOLED screen.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Nothing will reveal the Phone 2a Community Edition at 11 a.m. in the U.K., which is 4 a.m. PT and 7 a.m. ET, on October 30.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
I took four of the best phones to NYC for a wild camera test. Here are the results
close up photo of cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 Ultra, OnePlus 12 and Pixel 9 Pro

If you’re in the U.S. and looking for a smartphone camera that won’t let you down, there’s a strong chance that you’ll land on a phone from one of four phone makers: Samsung, Google, OnePlus, or Apple.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is widely regarded as having the best smartphone telephoto lens in the U.S., thanks to its 10x zoom. Google continues to work wonders with the triple camera array in its Pixel 9 Pro, while the OnePlus 12 offers outstanding performance at a more affordable price. Then there’s the iPhone 16 Pro, with its 5x telephoto camera, which was exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year.

Read more
I love this new iPhone camera feature. Here’s why I’ll never use it
The header image for the OuttaFocus column.

Ever since Apple introduced its Photographic Styles, I’ve mostly stuck to the Standard filter and then edited my pictures in the Photos app later if I wanted. With iOS 18, Apple added the ability to change Photographic Styles after taking a photo, and I decided it was time to experiment and play around with different Styles.

I quickly discovered I’d been missing out, but also why I'm never likely to use the feature again.
A frustrating choice

Read more
The OnePlus Open renewed my faith in folding phones. Here’s why
OnePlus Open Apex Edition Crimson Shadow red on table.

It’s never easy to recommend a foldable phone, especially when you consider the high asking price and the reports of hardware issues that keep eliciting long posts on Reddit. My personal experience also drives this reluctance, even though I’ve been using foldable phones consistently for half a decade now.

Early in 2023, the hinge on my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 gave up. The phone would no longer open fully. A few days after the problem first manifested, I noticed a glue-like material oozing from the hinge gap.

Read more