Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus vs Samsung Galaxy A55 5G: 5 key variations

Nothing has revealed the marginally extra highly effective Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus, however how does it evaluate to Samsung’s mid-ranger, the Galaxy A55 5G?

Whereas there could solely be £40 between the 2 mid-rangers, there are a stunning variety of variations between the 2 not solely by way of design and supplies, however parts like digital camera tech and long-term software program assist. 

We’ve not but totally reviewed the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus, however we have now spent a number of time with the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G. With that mentioned, right here’s how the 2 evaluate on paper that will help you resolve which is greatest to your wants. 

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus has a clear design

One of many major causes you would possibly go for the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus over the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is its design. 

Like different telephones within the Nothing assortment, the Telephone (2a) Plus sports activities a relatively distinctive clear rear design, supplying you with a transparent have a look at a few of the internals of the telephone. With the Telephone (2a) Plus, you possibly can see parts just like the NFC coil and cabling that connects parts collectively, all in a relatively stylised type with a metallic end. 

There’s additionally the Glyph interface, a collection of LEDs inside the rear panel that may mild up with customized patterns to provide you with a warning to incoming calls, notifications and extra when your telephone is display down. 

It actually makes an affect within the mid-range market in comparison with the Galaxy A55 5G. Whereas it sports activities a design not too dissimilar to that of the flagship Galaxy S24, it doesn’t stand out from the group in the identical approach with a reasonably customary smartphone design.

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is constructed from extra premium supplies

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus may need the extra eye-catching design of the 2 smartphones, nevertheless it’s Samsung’s mid-ranger that’s constructed from extra premium supplies. 

In actual fact, with an aluminium body, glass rear protected by Gorilla Glass and a Gorilla Glass Victus+ protected display, the Galaxy A55 5G feels extra like a flagship in hand than a mid-ranger. There’s additionally IP67 mud and water resistance.

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is a decidedly extra finances affair, with each a body and rear panel made totally from plastic, and it caps out at IP54 on the mud and water resistance entrance too. 

This does make the Nothing Telephone (2a) a good bit lighter than the Galaxy A55 5G, weighing in at 190g in comparison with 213g, however the added weight of the Galaxy A55 5G makes it really feel reassuringly stable within the hand. 

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus has a twin 50MP digital camera setup

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has a good mixture of a 50MP major digital camera with an f/1.8 aperture and optical picture stabilisation, a 12MP 123-degree f/2.2 ultrawide and a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens for higher close-up efficiency – although the latter could be very a lot a lens that you simply gained’t be utilizing all that always. 

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus, however, ditches the junk macro digital camera for the next decision ultrawide lens, with the telephone sporting a twin 50MP digital camera setup. The principle 50MP is kind of much like the Galaxy A55 5G, with an f/1.9 aperture and OIS, although the 50MP 114-degree ultrawide packs in fairly a number of extra pixels. 

After all, there’s extra to digital camera high quality than megapixel depend, nevertheless it does imply that the Nothing Telephone’s ultrawide can make the most of pixel-binning tech to additional increase element and light-weight consumption whereas nonetheless outputting the identical 12MP picture because the Galaxy A55 5G. 

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G has higher software program assist

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus comes with the corporate’s stylised Nothing OS 2.6 out of the field, full with useful parts like ChatGPT integration and the Information Reporter widget. The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, however, comes with OneUI 6, Samsung’s tailor-made strategy to the Android working system. 

Each have their professionals and cons, however one space the place they differ is long-term assist. Whereas Nothing will ship three OS upgrades and 4 years of safety patches, Samsung outdoes it on each counts, with the Galaxy A55 5G set to obtain 4 OS upgrades and 5 years of safety patches. 

Which means that the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus will find yourself on Android 17, whereas the Galaxy A55 5G will get the Android 18 replace. This will not be vastly necessary in case you solely plan on retaining the telephone for 2 years earlier than upgrading, nevertheless it does enhance the longevity of each gadgets. 

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is cheaper

In the case of the all-important pricing, the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is the extra inexpensive of the 2 mid-rangers at a cool £399 for the 12GB/256GB variant of the telephone. 

The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, however, retails at £439, although it may be discovered on sale for less expensive sometimes because it has been in the stores since early 2024. 

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is ready to be launched completely at London’s Nothing Retailer Soho on 3 August, whereas these within the US will have the ability to order one by way of the US Beta Program on 7 August. Wider launch plans are set to be introduced in September.