Nothing Phone (2a) Plus vs Samsung Galaxy A55 5G: Five key differences

Nothing has revealed the slightly more powerful Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, but how does it compare to Samsung’s mid-ranger, the Galaxy A55 5G?

While there may only be £40 between the two mid-rangers, there are a surprising number of differences between the two not only in terms of design and materials, but elements like camera tech and long-term software support. 

We’ve not yet fully reviewed the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, but we have spent a lot of time with the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G. With that said, here’s how the two compare on paper to help you decide which is best for your needs. 

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus has a transparent design

One of the main reasons you might opt for the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus over the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is its design. 

Like other phones in the Nothing collection, the Phone (2a) Plus sports a rather unique transparent rear design, giving you a clear look at some of the internals of the phone. With the Phone (2a) Plus, you can see elements like the NFC coil and cabling that connects components together, all in a rather stylised form with a metallic finish. 

There’s also the Glyph interface, a series of LEDs within the rear panel that can light up with custom patterns to alert you to incoming calls, notifications and more when your phone is screen down. 

It certainly makes an impact in the mid-range market compared to the Galaxy A55 5G. While it sports a design not too dissimilar to that of the flagship Galaxy S24, it doesn’t stand out from the crowd in the same way with a fairly standard smartphone design.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is made from more premium materials

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus might have the more eye-catching design of the two smartphones, but it’s Samsung’s mid-ranger that’s built from more premium materials. 

In fact, with an aluminium frame, glass rear protected by Gorilla Glass and a Gorilla Glass Victus+ protected screen, the Galaxy A55 5G feels more like a flagship in hand than a mid-ranger. There’s also IP67 dust and water resistance.

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is a decidedly more budget affair, with both a frame and rear panel made entirely from plastic, and it caps out at IP54 on the dust and water resistance front too. 

This does make the Nothing Phone (2a) a fair bit lighter than the Galaxy A55 5G, weighing in at 190g compared to 213g, but the added weight of the Galaxy A55 5G makes it feel reassuringly solid in the hand. 

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus has a dual 50MP camera setup

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has a respectable combination of a 50MP main camera with an f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilisation, a 12MP 123-degree f/2.2 ultrawide and a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens for better close-up performance – though the latter is very much a lens that you won’t be using all that often. 

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, on the other hand, ditches the junk macro camera for a higher resolution ultrawide lens, with the phone sporting a dual 50MP camera setup. The main 50MP is quite similar to the Galaxy A55 5G, with an f/1.9 aperture and OIS, though the 50MP 114-degree ultrawide packs in quite a few more pixels. 

Of course, there’s more to camera quality than megapixel count, but it does mean that the Nothing Phone’s ultrawide can take advantage of pixel-binning tech to further boost detail and light intake while still outputting the same 12MP image as the Galaxy A55 5G. 

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has better software support

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus comes with the company’s stylised Nothing OS 2.6 out of the box, complete with handy elements like ChatGPT integration and the News Reporter widget. The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, on the other hand, comes with OneUI 6, Samsung’s tailored approach to the Android operating system. 

Both have their pros and cons, but one area where they differ is long-term support. While Nothing will deliver three OS upgrades and four years of security patches, Samsung outdoes it on both counts, with the Galaxy A55 5G set to receive four OS upgrades and five years of security patches. 

This means that the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus will end up on Android 17, while the Galaxy A55 5G will get the Android 18 update. This may not be hugely important if you only plan on keeping the phone for two years before upgrading, but it does improve the longevity of both devices. 

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is cheaper

When it comes to the all-important pricing, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is the more affordable of the two mid-rangers at a cool £399 for the 12GB/256GB variant of the phone. 

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, on the other hand, retails at £439, though it can be found on sale for much cheaper from time to time as it has been available to buy since early 2024. 

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is set to be released exclusively at London’s Nothing Store Soho on 3 August, while those in the US will be able to order one via the US Beta Program on 7 August. Wider release plans are set to be announced in September.