How do you stand out from a lot of rivalry when building a new smartphone brand , especially when one of them is the previous troupe you co - founded ? This was the challenge facing Nothing when it was formed , and four age on , the journey has been familiar yet unparalleled , just like Nothing itself .
Nothing has followed the playbook used by many of the team in the other days of OnePlus , by prioritise a outstanding experience at an affordable monetary value . The Phone 3a follows in this vein in copiousness and the leave phone has blown me away . The Nothing Phone 3a cost just $ 379 , yet it offers an experience that ’s far above this price .
Unique feature film like the Glyphs and striking conception are a delight , whilst even the AI - powered Essential Space is an interesting theme , despite its wayward execution . The Nothing Phone 3a is n’t stark — and you ca n’t expect perfection at this price — but you quickly forgive the break when you realize how much it does offer at such a low monetary value .
Nothing Phone 3a Specs
50MP f/2.0 telephoto camera , 2x optical soar .
8MP f/2.2 wide - angle .
32MP front camera
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Nothing Phone 3a Design
The puns publish themselves but there ’s something truly special about Nothing phones . In the same style that shut down phone stand out for their unique human body factor , the Nothing Phone 3a stand out for its iconic excogitation .
It ’s been a core ethos of Nothing and it ’s easy to see why . In a world where smartphones are mostly boring in design , the Nothing Phone 3a helps you stand out with its see - through back , unique coloring and photographic camera layout . I love the blue Nothing Phone 3a , but the white version I ’ve been send look far more agiotage than its cost .
Unlike Nothing ’s flagship equipment without the ‘ a ’ branding — like the rumoured Nothing Phone 3 — the A - series equipment get far few glyph streak . Despite get few LEDs and commands , glyphs on the Phone 3a never fail to stand out . I ’ve had numerous hoi polloi ask me “ what earpiece is that ’ , in the same way as when I ’m using a folding phone or the Clicks Keyboard .
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At 8.4 mm thick and 201 grams , it ’s not the most lithesome phone to use at first , but you quickly get used to it . It ’s only IP64 dust and water resistant , which intend it will withstand some light splashes and getting caught in a rainshower , but lack the full waterproofing of rivals such as the Pixel 8a .
For the most part , the Nothing Phone 3a plan is gratifying , but there ’s one design choice that still confuses me a week afterward . Nothing chose the 3a to debut the newfangled Essential Key , which add a new AI - powered way to save and recall the things that matter most to you , but it rearrange a passel of Francis Scott Key to do so .
The indispensable Key is placed right beneath the ability key and both are site lower than on other telephone set . The same utilise to the volume Francis Scott Key , and when you ’re used to the fundamental layouts on most earphone , the transition to the Nothing Phone 3a is substantially jarring . I would expect it to become 2d - nature finally , but there ’s a considerable learning curve , and even simple chore like acquire a screenshot experience much more awkward .
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Nothing Phone 3a Display
The ideal telephone would feature every specification conceivable and be under $ 500 , but from my personal experience with building a telephone set , I recognise that ’s not feasible . When build up a phone that costs less than $ 400 , phone Almighty inevitably have to make a serial publication of compromises , but the Phone 3a designate that Nothing truly interpret this market .
Nothing approached this challenge in the right way , focusing on the primal specs that matter to its target mart . An older mid - range processor , but a vivacious and fantastic display ? moderate . Great for casual gaming and intermediate usage , but less focussing on premium materials like Ti ? ensure .
The Phone 3a has a flagship display without a flagship price
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The Phone 3a andNothing Phone 3a Proboth have the same 6.77 - in AMOLED display with 1,300 nit high brightness and 3,000 nit heyday brightness . It ’s clearly designed with gaming and video playback in head , with a dynamical refresh rate stray from 30Hz to 120Hz , and full HDR10 + support . I expected compromise in the display , but I would be happy with this on most sound ; it ’s a flagship display without the flagship price .
The Phone 3a screenland has the specs need on paper , and delivers in person . It ’s legible even in bright sunlight , the 120Hz dynamic refresh rate is great — especially considering the iPhone 16e be $ 600 and is trammel to 60Hz — and the screen is bright , colorful and smooth . This is an experience that would befit a smartphone twice this cost .
Nothing Phone 3a Hardware and Performance
Nothing ’s compromises to pore on display , barrage fire and intention mean that you wo n’t find the sheer best processor inside . Yet , the year - oldSnapdragon 7s Gen 3is only a step down from last year ’s flagship central processor , and it ’s plenty powerful for many of your daylight - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. tasks .
There ’s a considerable difference between this CPU and the one used in flagship devices , but while there are stutters and moments of languor , they are few than I would have expect at this damage . Some of this is down to the amount of RAM , with Nothing packing most discrepancy — like the one usable in the US — with 12 GB of RAM .
If you ’re interested in play , it ’s worth noting that the Phone 3a lack Vulcan 1.1 support , which meant we could n’t execute the 3DMark Solay Bay benchmark test . Essentially , this mean that the best AAA games will struggle to endure as well on the Phone 3a as they do on more expensive gimmick — specially those with computer hardware - based ray trace — and this is n’t a telephone for hard-core gamers .
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Processor away , the Nothing Phone 3a is more of a flagship than you ’d expect at this price . There ’s a turgid battery , faster charging than theGalaxy S25 Ultrawhich cost three time as much , and an under - display optical fingermark reader that ’s astonishingly good . It has all the connectivity you need — including dual - band Wi - Fi , Bluetooth 5.4 and quadrangle - band GPS — but there ’s no Wi - Fi 6e or 7 for the riotous Wi - Fi stop number .
The Nothing Phone 3a is more of a flagship than you ’d require at this price
I ’ve been using the Phone 3a on my traveling in Europe during this review full point , and it supports all the necessary stripe for major European carriers in the countries that I ’ve chatter . However , one of the reasons for the lower price is that it does n’t support all the necessary bands for all three major US carrier , so it ’s worth keep this in idea .
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Nothing Phone 3a Battery and Charging
Remember those compromises I mentioned above ? Alongside an excellent display , Nothing decided to prioritise barrage fire life and charging . The 5,000 mAh assault and battery is bigger than many phones that be $ 1,000 , and 50W wired charging is faster too .
For comparison , this is the same sized battery as theGalaxy S25 Plus — which be $ 1,000 — but the Phone 3a charges 5W quicker . Samsung ’s middle flagship takes about an hour to bear down to full , principally as it does n’t charge at the full 45W for the entire time , while the Nothing Phone 3a takes just over 52 minutes to load to full . The Phone 3a proves that a low price does n’t have to mean bad battery life .
The Phone 3a proves that a low Leontyne Price does n’t have to intend bad battery life
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The battery life sentence is outstanding , with the Phone 3a on a regular basis hold out a full daylight with assault and battery to give up with restrained usage . On days when I taxed it much hard with a lot of camera usage , it still endure a full Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . Yes , there was a obtrusive waste pipe under heavy gaming , but this is to be expected given the processor . unhappily , there ’s no tuner charging or ability to add it , but it ’s something I can forgive given the damage tag end .
Nothing Phone 3a Software, and Essential Space
The Phone 3a runs Nothing OS 3.1 on top of Android 15 out of the box . Unlike many ship’s company , Nothing does n’t heavily modify the core oxygen and or else focuses on visual elements that tot a splashing of style and customization . The result is that it ’ll feel very intimate to anyone who ’s used a Google Pixel phone in the past .
If you care minimalist or simplistic styles , you ’ll love Nothing OS 3.1 . It bump off colors and form , or else focalize on a dot matrix theme that keep down graphics to iconography . The core NothingOS theme is mostly pitch-black and white , while there ’s also a full monochrome mode you may enable .
I found the homescreen to be a slight confusing to get used to at first , but gratefully , there ’s also a regular Android homescreen interface if you opt that . This is not your ordinary Android interface , and that means it is polarizing . I like the expression of NothingOS 3.1 , but there ’s still a small erudition curve after a hebdomad of using the Phone 3a .
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The Phone 3a is the launch of Nothing ’s new Essential Space . Press the Essential Key and it takes a screenshot of anything you ’re see at and pulls up an interface that lets you scribble or type a Federal Reserve note . If you long - press the Key , you’re able to do the same except it ’s saved with a representative bill . Once done , two-fold press the Essential Key to get in the Essential Space .
Only the screenshots you capture via the Essential Key end up here , which can be confusing , especially if you have n’t make used to the positioning of the Essential Key yet . you may still take a screenshot the sometime fashioned manner — if you may turn up the big businessman push and volume down keys — but this function into your Gallery as normal . It ’s perplexing , but I wish Nothing had either go this key , or we had the power to reprogram it .
The Essential Space is n’t arrant , but it is a great idea
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I wish Essential Space , or at least , I wish the idea of Essential Space . Like any first - genesis feature , it ’s rough around the edges , but the idea of using AI to decrypt everything you save and make it searchable has a lot of promise . Nothing is using AI in a smart and useful way , as it can provide summaries of content you catch along with the day of the month - bandage to - do leaning item that it recommends , but the latter ca n’t be edit which shit them importantly less useful .
When Nothing first told me about the Essential Space , I recollect being passing excited . It ’s the type of AI - lineament that I reckon could be the future , and being able-bodied to discover anything you ’ve needed to bring through sounds like a great feature . It does n’t quite hand over , but I ’m excite for the possibilities here and this feature musical theme has a lot of voltage . The Essential Space is n’t perfect , but it is a with child idea .
Nothing Phone 3a Camera
There was a time not too long ago that companies compromised the camera in affordable flagship speech sound . 2025 is not that prison term , and the Phone 3a promises to push the affordable section forth in a big way thanks to a triple - camera setup .
Yes , this sub-$400 phone has three cameras , and they all boast decent spectacles . The 50MP main television camera features f/1.9 aperture , has OIS and uses stage detecting autofocus , while the 8MP ultrawide features f/2.2 aperture and has a 120˚ field - of - view . The third camera is the 50MP telephoto which offers 2x opthalmic soar , a 25 cm minimum pore space and 50 mm effective focal length .
How do these television camera fare in the substantial - world ? Let ’s find out , starting with the good : the Nothing Phone 3a can take great photos . They say the dependable photographic camera is the one you have on you , and the Phone 3a is a great fellow , even in somewhat ambitious conditions like restaurants , low - light and brilliant flashing lights .
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Restaurants can be notoriously wide-ranging in the quality of their firing , ambiance and even crockery when taking exposure to put up on social media , but I was quite impressed with how the Phone 3a handle this . Some picture can be blurry — more on this later — but otherwise , it take photos that would be easy to stake on social medium , albeit perhaps with some redaction .
Under the obtuse street lights of Barcelona , the Phone 3a does fairly well but like many of its photos , it miss a piffling contrast . This is the current trend , but it does make the photos feel a small flat . However , in other low - illumination status , it delivers an fantabulous photo , even handling the rough crimson lighting in a nightclub well .
The Nothing Phone 3a also tolerate out for its third - lens , the 50MP telephoto that offers 2x optical zoom . Let that sink in : for under $ 400 , you have a flagship feature film . It ’s not the 3x periscope ( or more ) used by other flagship , but the Nothing Phone 3a Pro has you enshroud if that ’s what you ’re looking for .
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The 2x telephotograph is a outstanding addition to this Leontyne Price detail , as the two lenses work in tandem and take aim to propose parity between the lenses . However , there are times when one lens take more or less exposed photos than the other , so there ’s a deficiency of eubstance .
Of course , any zoom lens call for to be tested exhaustively , and I put the Phone 3a through my favorite tryout : the airport departures board . We ’ve all been there where you ’re sitting too far from a departure board , and ca n’t see it intelligibly . Can your phone get you out of this nip ?
Even at 10x , which is five times the soar offered by the computer hardware , the Phone 3a can probably serve you decipher . It ’s not completely legible , but it is still operable and I can see more than I could with my middle at that length .
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The zoom is also fairly capable in different lighting conditions , and it ’s a feature that is more often usable than not . Photos will sometimes have motion blur , as the camera does take longer than other phones to finish appropriate a photo , but it ’s a defeat you learn to live with given the affordable price .
One of the other freehanded television camera deviation between the Phone 3a and 3a Pro is the front facing camera , with the latter featuring an upgraded 50MP sensor . How does the 32MP sensor in the Phone 3a transportation ? The response is astonishingly well , in most lighting conditions .
Across a range of scenario , the front facing camera has prove to be very subject . Like the rest of the television camera , there are some photos where there ’s movement blur , is completely bollix out or lacks detail , but there are a lot of photos where the Phone 3a just delivers . This tv camera would n’t be out of place in a more expensive phone , and that ’s testament to how enceinte the Phone 3a is overall .
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Nothing Phone 3a price and availability
The Nothing Phone 3a is uncommitted in Black , White and Blue , with dissimilar variants usable in different constellation . In the US , you could grease one’s palms the edition with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of warehousing for $ 379 immediately from Nothing as part of its Beta program .
It ’s only officially sold via Nothing ’s website , but if you prefer to buy it via Amazon , the pricing is gamey . The top version now costs $ 459 , but you may also snag the 8 GB and 256 GB edition which is n’t otherwise usable in the US .
Nothing Phone 3a Verdict: the mid-range champion
If you gauge the Nothing Phone 3a by flagship criterion , it falls short in some areas . However , attend at the price and you quickly realize just how well this phone is . We ’ve used Pixel a series equipment in the past times , and it always felt like a lot of compromises , but the Phone 3a feel more like a flagship that ’s almost double the Mary Leontyne Price than a distinctive mid - range phone .
NothingOS is refreshingly different , the glyph help you tolerate out and even the Essential Space has some good ideas . The camera is capable , yet discrepant , but the battery life history is outstanding . Achieving a low Leontyne Price point requires cook many compromises , and Nothing has made the full combining of compromises at this price point .
It would be leisurely to dismiss the Phone 3a as much flurry about Nothing , but the Phone 3a has taught me that there is something special about Nothing . The Phone 3a can compete against thebest affordable headphone , and many of thebest overall telephone , so I ca n’t hold off for the next flagship , theNothing Phone 3 .
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