Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a: Which one is worth your money?

In March of this year, Samsung released the latest model in the A series, the A35 and Nothing, a more affordable Phone 2a. The Galaxy and Nothing have phones to present, so the Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a showdown is here. The Nothing Phone 2a comes with Glyph lighting and the ability to customize the app folders, but there are other and more important differences.

There are different mid-range phones you can go with. You can search among the best OnePlus phones or even look for the best Verizon phones. Regardless of where you look, what's important is that you find the right phone for you. In this case, Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a, which phone is right for you?

Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a: Design

The Samsung Galaxy A35 may not look like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but its design is still nice to look at. It hasn't changed much from the A34, which has a flat back and three camera rings at the top left. It has a glass rear but a solid build. 

The Nothing Phone 2a, on the other hand, has a see-through back inspired by the NY subway map. With the camera bump in the center, some may even say it looks like a robot looking at you. The NFC coil also surrounds the camera with three LED bars to give it that unique design.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 is almost the same size as its predecessor, measuring 161.7 x 78 x 8.2 mm, while the Galaxy A34 measures 161.3 x 78.1 x 8.2mm. The change is small and might even be noticed, but the numbers are not identical. These measurements differ slightly from the Nothing Phone 2a, which only trails slightly behind. 

The Galaxy A35 does fall a little short with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, making it one millimeter smaller than the competition. The Samsung Galaxy A35 is available in different colors, such as Lilac, Ice Blue, and Navy, although in some countries, it's only available in black.

The Nothing Phone 2a features a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel and a 120Hz refresh rate with HDR10 support, while the Galaxy A35's panel can decode HDR10 and HDR10+. This means that apps like Netflix won't natively deliver HDR content on the Galaxy phone.

The Nothing Phone 2a comes in only two colors: black and white. At least one additional color would have been nicer, but the subway-inspired design makes up for the lack of options. 

The Samsung Galaxy A35 and A34 have little difference in design, so it's easy to confuse the two models when they're face down. The Nothing Phone 2a, on the other hand, has a design that is unique to it, even among other Nothing phones. 

Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a: Hardware and specs

The Galaxy A35 has an Exynos 1380 5G chipset, the same one the Galaxy A54 had when it was launched last year. However, this new chipset is an upgrade since the A34 came with a Dimensity 1080. You won't get outstanding performance with the Exynos, but you can count on decent performance for day-to-day usage.

The Nothing Phone 2a's chipset is a customized variation of the Mediateck Dimensity 7200, the 7200 Pro. It's not as powerful as the Nothing Phone 2's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, but it's enough for casual gaming. 

Both phones come with 8GB and 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage, but the Galaxy A35 is offered with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage option. You can get expandable storage on the Galaxy A35 but not the Nothing Phone 2a.

The Samsung Galaxy A35's screen brightness is very similar to that of the A34, with a maximum brightness of 440 nits with the manual slider and as high as 1,000 nits in auto mode. With the Nothing Phone 2a, the brightness can go over 660 nits with the manual slider and nearly 1,300 nits in auto mode.

Then there is battery life; both phones have a 5,000mAh battery, giving you up to two days of usage. There is a difference in wired charging: the Galaxy A35 only supports 25W, while the Nothing Phone 2a comes with 45W. You'll need to buy the charger for both phones since neither model has one in the box. You can get wireless charging with the A35 but not with the Phone 2a.

When it comes to Wi-Fi, you get an improved Wi-Fi 6 connectivity over the previous Galaxy model, but the Nothing Phone 2a matches it. The 2a also matches the Bluetooth 5.3.  

Both models share different specs, but the Nothing Phone 2a has a longer battery life and is a little brighter than the Galaxy A35.

Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2A: Software

Both phones run on Android 14 with their respective OS versions. The Galaxy A35 runs on Samsung's One UI 6.1, while the Nothing Phone 2a comes with Nothing OS 2.5. Unlike Samsung, the Phone 2a doesn't come with bloatware; it's clean. 

The Phone 2a has a dot aesthetic, and you can enlarge a single app icon to fill up more space on your home screen. You can also choose how you want your apps folder to look, with a few styles to choose from and try the AI wallpaper generator. You also get to choose your lock screen widgets, and you can choose from device controls to apps.

While you can't change the app folder's appearance on the Galaxy A35, you can edit the lock screen. You can change the fonts, font color, and font style. Samsung also lets you add widgets and change the shortcuts below. You also have extra customization options, such as adding a frame to selected wallpapers. You can't create AI-generated wallpapers, so the Phone 2a one-ups Samsung on this one.

Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a: Cameras

The Nothing Phone 2a's main camera is kind of a big deal with its 50MP Samsung GN9 sensor with OIS and the Samsung JN1 wide-angle lens, which is the same one you can find on the Phone 2. Unfortunately, you don't get 4K video at 60fps, and custom filters and shooting modes are absent. The main camera also has 2x zoom, flash, HDR, and effects. The Nothing Phone 2a also gives selfie fans a 32MP front-facing camera that will provide great results.

The Phone 2a has overly saturated colors but makes up for it with the wide-angle lens, which does a fantastic job in daylight pictures. The tuning can be aggressive, but the low-light and nighttime images look good when the night mode kicks in.

You can likely expect decent images from the Samsung Galaxy A35, but don't expect Galaxy S24 Ultra-quality pictures. It features a 50MP sensor, 8MP ultrawide, and a 5MP macro. Samsung falls behind in the selfie camera because it only has a 13MP front-facing camera. The Galaxy uses an automatic night mode for those low-light stills that give you good details. You also get 4K video with electronic stabilization.

While we've had time to fully test out the Nothing Phone 2a camera, we haven't made the rounds with the Galaxy A35, so we will update this when we have fully tested it.

Samsung Galaxy A35 vs. Nothing Phone 2a: Which one should you buy?

Both phones offer great specs for their price. The Nothing Phone 2a beats Samsung in certain areas, while the Galaxy wins on others. For example, the Galaxy A35 has a sleek and discreet look and comes with four years of OS updates and five years of security patches, while the Nothing Phone 2a comes with three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.

They're also similarly prices, with the Galaxy A35 setting you back only $399 and the Nothing Phone 2a costing just $50 shy of $400. However, you may have a hard time getting your hands on the Nothing Phone 2a if you live in the U.S., as it's only available through a developer program.

That said, if battery and customization are more important to you, the Nothing Phone 2a is the option to go with. But if having longer software support is what matters to you, it's the Galaxy way to go.