The Nothing Phone (2) proved to be a stellar affordable flagship, but now the company seems to be working on a new budget device, the “Nothing Phone 2a,” and we’re getting an early peek at the big new design and the specs.

Over the past several weeks, rumors have been flying around a more affordable “Nothing Phone 2a” being in the pipeline. Regulatory listings confirmed this was a new device and its A142 model number shortly after another leak offered some basic details about the device, including its 6.7-inch display and centered hole-punch selfie camera cutout.

That second leak also showed a proposed image of the device, but comparing that to the Nothing Phone (1), it does not appear that it is, in fact, a new device, as evidenced by the placement of the camera sensors and rear lights.

But now, as our Dylan Roussel has uncovered and shared on Twitter/X, an image from Nothing shows the back of Nothing Phone 2a.

The image doesn’t show the final design but rather the position of the Glyph lighting interface, which is radically different. It has a new centered rear camera module with three lighting elements around it and some other interesting design tidbits around the bottom half of the device. Like Phone (2), one of the Glyph lights seems to support a granular design, which could be used for some of the app tie-ins that Nothing offers, such as the new Google Calendar integration.

This render is attached to the codename “Pacman,” which lines up with Nothing’s codename scheme for its phones, which is based on classic video games. Phone (1) was “Spacewar” and Phone (2) was “Pong.”

Notably, too, the device is apparently using a MediaTek chipset, specifically the Dimensity 7200. Nothing has, to date, not used MediaTek in any of its devices, rather using Snapdragon chips in the Phone (1) and Phone (2).

As for when this Nothing Phone 2a could arrive, it’s looking like MWC will see the debut. In an announcement this week, Nothing confirmed an event in Barcelona on February 27 with the teaser line “Nothing to see.”

Last year, Nothing took to MWC to reveal that the Phone (2) would be powered by a Snapdragon 8-series processor but didn’t launch the device until the summer, so the launch of a different series of smartphone would make sense.

More on Nothing:

Nothing Phone 2’s lights will count down to your next Google Calendar event

Nothing Phone (2) is now available at Amazon for $699

Nothing OS 2.5 based on Android 14 goes into beta for Nothing Phone (2)

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