Nothing Phone 3a Pro: A Unique Android Alternative with AI Features

This unique Android phone is a solid alternative to the flagships - especially at this price

The lack of wireless charging and IP rating is easy to shoulder, but not the lack of retail presence. There's no greater reality check for a tech journalist than when you're at a family gathering, set your phone on the dining table, and the gravitational pull of innovation does its thing. The curious eyes, familiar questions, and impatient hands of younger cousins are almost always guaranteed when I'm testing the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc. But lately, this phenomenon has been happening less and less. Also: The best Android phones to buy in 2025 Even foldable phones have lost some of their appeal to mainstream eyes, which I blame on stagnant, never-decreasing prices. But the latest device I've been testing, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, seems to have reinvigorated things. Perhaps it's the transparent back design, the glowing Glyph lights, or the absolute island of a camera bump that screams, "I take good photos." Everyone seems to have a different answer to this one. After testing the Nothing Phone 3a Pro for almost a month now, I get the discourse. But one thing's for certain: At $459, you can't find a more well-rounded handset than this. Nothing's products have led the way in industrial design -- as far as creativity and detail are concerned -- since the company's inception, and the Phone 3a Pro is no different. Whether you opt for the all-black finish or the slightly more exciting gray, the phone sports a transparent backing that shields the various screws, data ribbons, and components underneath. Like previous Nothing phones, the Glyph interface is present, a unique assembly of LED lights that blink to indicate incoming notifications, alerts, and timers. Also: Nothing Phone 1 review: You ain't seen Nothing yet Nothing made a much bigger deal of its glowing back cover design when it first launched the Phone 1 almost three years ago, but since then, the smart interface has taken a back seat. I don't mind that, as it still serves its purpose of being a display-off status indicator without putting on a disrupting light show every time. In fact, the ability to set a constant beacon only for specific (hopefully important) notifications, like text messages from my wife, has allowed me to stay more focused on other tasks. It's the best thing since the original notification LED on phones. Remember those? The rest of the design is akin to last year's Phone 2a and 2a Plus, especially if you opt for the similar-looking gray finish (see above). However, holding the two generations in hand reveals some major hardware shifts: The back cover is now made of glass instead of plastic, and the large camera bump makes the Phone 3a Pro much more top-heavy. Also: I thought the budget phone market was in shambles - then I held Google's latest Pixel In a surprising turn of events, I'd argue that the Phone 3a Pro is Nothing's least ergonomic handset yet, with a bulge that only accentuates the phone's uneven weight distribution. Whether scrolling news stories on the subway or navigating the New York City streets with one hand, I'd often have to shift my fingers around to get a secure grip on the phone. A clear case, especially one that makes the camera bump feel more flush, may remedy this. On the opposite end -- and you'll have to excuse my geekery for a moment -- I quite adore the button placement on the Phone 3a Pro. The right-side power and Essential keys and left-side volume rocker are situated around the center of the frame, so they're always just a click away, whether you're holding the phone with your left or right hand. Notably, the new Essential key, which serves as an AI-assisted archiver, is treated with a gloss coating instead of matte, so it's easier to discern. The Essential key, which powers Nothing's Essential Space, is one of the more practical AI features I've tested. A click of the button takes a screenshot, the AI model sorts out any text or visual information, and you can attach a note or voice recording for future reference. It's very similar to Google's Pixel Screenshots app, but the ability to make commands takes Nothing's interpretation a step further. Also: I tried Google's Pixel Screenshots and it's everything I'd want an AI feature to be While in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, I'd frequently save the location of local restaurants and meeting venues by dictating, "Remind me to come here at the scheduled time." About 30 minutes before an event took place, I'd get the reminder on the phone along with the screenshot. While the feature works as intended, it's not perfect. In an ideal world, Essential Space can be synced to third-party services like Google Calendar or Gmail. Then, I'd get reminders even if I didn't have my Nothing phone in hand. Regardless, I commend Nothing for keeping its AI initiatives subtle, at least to start. Instead of pushing the Phone 3a Pro as the next best device to help you summarize emails and draft text messages, the company is upstaging every other aspect of it, including its camera system and performance. The big camera upgrade, and what separates the Phone 3a Pro from the Phone 3a, is the new 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The addition of a dedicated periscope camera means you can capture more distant subjects without relying on digital cropping. I snapped several photos with the new camera while roaming the streets of Barcelona. I found the output to be competitive with my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, both of which cost about three times the price. Also: I replaced my $3,500 Sony camera with 200MP Android phone - and it's spoiled me big time That's only if you're not pixel-peeping, of course, as the Phone 3a Pro can capture moments in relatively natural color and contrast levels but falls short in sharpness and detail. This is especially the case with low-light photography when the dimness of the environment makes it difficult for the camera to reproduce images accurately. Remember that this is a $459 phone, so I'd still rate its output in the B tier; the main wide and telephoto lenses will serve you much better than what you get from similarly priced Motorola and Samsung handsets. Regarding day-to-day performance, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, paired with 12GB of RAM, on the Phone 3a Pro got by most tasks I threw at it, including loading and quick-scrolling through social media feeds, responding to emails, streaming movies and videos, and mobile gaming. Aside from the occasional stutter and dropped frames when browsing text-heavy services like Reddit, I never felt frustrated when using the phone. It helps that Nothing OS is on the cleaner end of the Android spectrum, with virtually no bloatware or excessive features. (You can even opt for a Stock Android aesthetic instead of Nothing's dot-matrix theming, though I'd recommend being more adventurous when using a phone like this.) Also: Nothing's new budget Android phones make Samsung and Apple look bad Lastly, the Phone 3a Pro is both an endurance and charging champ, with a 5,000mAh battery that rivals flagships and a 50W wired charging rate that beats them. However, you don't get a compatible charging brick in the box, and the omission of wireless charging will leave users coming from competing midrange phones like the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) and Google Pixel 8a scratching their heads. That's to say, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro checks a lot of boxes, more than any phone in its price range, but its most unique features, from the polarizing design to the Essential key, make it just as compelling for tech enthusiasts using flagship phones. Over the course of testing, I even witnessed several iPhone users contemplating switching to the Phone 3a Pro, whether it was for the digital well-being that the Glyph lights promote or the fashionable user interface. There is one catch with the Phone 3a Pro and Nothing phones in general: the US Beta Program, a sign-up-to-buy procedure that's only accessible through Nothing's web store. (You could reason that this is one way the company is cutting costs with its US phones.) While buying directly from Nothing still comes with your standard manufacturer's warranty and a 30-day return period, the aftersales support (read: finding replacement parts and connecting to different cellular networks) is notably less structured than at your typical carrier store. Trade-in deals are also less aggressive, and compared to the traditional installment plan, you'll be buying the phone off-contract and unlocked.

Nothing Phone (3a) Series Review: Two winners, one clear choice

The Nothing Phone (2a) was one of my favorite phones of 2024, combining an excellent price point with a really good overall experience. Now, the Nothing Phone (3a) series has arrived and after using both devices, I think the company has nailed it yet again, but I also think there's a clear choice for customers. A big aspect of Nothing's appeal has been in hardware design, so let's start there. The Nothing Phone (3a) is an evolution of the Phone (2a)'s design, cleaning up the transparent back design and making it pop more than it did. The blue color is easily the best of the bunch, but the white color of my review unit outshines the black color that was Nothing's primary push last time around. The new camera design invokes Pixel vibes too, which I rather like. The contrast of the black buttons on the white Phone (3a) also just look fantastic. I've got a big complaint about the buttons, but we'll get to that in the software section. Then, there's Phone (3a) Pro. The overall look is basically the same, but the camera module is gigantic and funky looking. I'm not a huge fan of it from an aesthetic point of view alone, but the ergonomics make it even worse because that giant protrusion isn't very comfortable in the hand as it's just a bit too low to help with grip. The hardware as a whole is improved across the board this year, though. The backplate ditches fingerprint-prone plastic for glass, and the plastic frame still feels sturdy and durable. The Phone (3a) feels unarguably better in my hands than the Pro, with its weight being much better balanced and, again, that camera bump just not getting in the way. Under the hood, upgrades include moving to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip which runs fairly cool, and held up through daily use without breaking a sweat. It's fairly fast paired with 8GB of RAM, though it's not impossible to slow it down. The longer I've been using Phone (3a), the more examples of bits of lag or hiccups I've been finding. It's far from slow, and it's still an upgrade over last year, but these phones are not quite flagship-tier. Personally, I'd have rather seen Nothing adopt a better MediaTek chip than shell out the money for a Snapdragon. For the same overall cost, we probably could have gotten a faster phone. "Glyph" lights are still in place on the back of the device too but, honestly, these just feel like more and more of a gimmick. Nothing still hasn't found a "killer app" for this feature, and three generations in, I still find myself forgetting its there, as it never really comes in handy. The other big upgrade to the hardware this year is the display. It's a lot brighter, solving one of the bigger complaints I had about Phone (2a) last year. Indoors and out, the display holds up really well to whatever conditions I've thrown at it, something I've appreciated as the Spring season has brought my precious daylight back. As per usual though, my favorite thing about using a Nothing Phone is the software, and Nothing OS 3.1 just keeps that at the top of my mind. Nothing's Android skin is clean and well-optimized, to the point where it often feels more stable than a Pixel does. It also tends to deliver a lot more features than Google does, much like the early days of OnePlus. You'll get more customizations on the homescreen (including icon packs), support for lock screen widgets, and more. Yet, it also feels familiar for someone who's most comfortable on a Pixel. Quality of life things like biometrics not fighting each other, useful little shortcuts, and other little tiny things just add up to an experience I actually enjoy and don't feel like I have to change to suit my preferences. For those who have never felt quite at home on a Pixel, Nothing's handful of added features and customizations might actually make the experience more appealing too. But I'm also not huge on where the experience is going. Nothing is trying some new ideas as of late, and some are good. The revamped Quick Settings with resizeable tiles are excellent. But the new "Smart" app drawer layout is just a carbon copy of one of the worst aspects of iOS, the "App Library." I'm glad it's not the default, but I'm not sure I like the idea of Nothing just pulling ideas (and bad ones at that) from others. This is a brand I've come to appreciate largely because it tends to find unique solutions and interesting takes on features. A perfect example of that, though, is Nothing's first big leap into the AI race. "Essential Space" is a new feature found on the Phone (3a) series that, outside of Google's AI tools, is one of the few compelling ideas I've seen. The "Essential Key" on the side of the device takes a screenshot (or picture) which you can then add a voice note to by holding down on the button. As the app gathers these items that you save, it generates reminders, to-do lists, and more. Essential Space is a really cool idea, but it's one that I'm struggling to pull into my daily life. I think that's largely because it's not very predictable. Like many AI features, Essential Space is open-ended, promising to do... something with whatever you give it. As such, it takes a while to find any actual use case for the app. The best use case I've found thus far was one I just randomly stumbled into. While attending a concert I purchased parking time, and take a screenshot with Essential Space of the receipt and the time allotment. That was more so I'd have something easy to find later, as Essential Space screenshots are separate from regular ones, but what I was happy to see what several hours later when I got a reminder that the parking time was ending. That's really useful! In my head, Essential Space is like a more purposeful version of Pixel Screenshots. Where Google's app benefits from having access to every screenshot you've taken, Essential Space is more thoughtful. You get to pick what goes into it, making it, if nothing else, good for just organizing your captures. I want to see this feature grow, but I think it needs two things to do that. First, a better use case. With its early users, Nothing should pull some particularly good use cases to make a better pitch. The app itself should also offer some suggestions. Nothing has plans for some more features with Essential Space too, such as "Flip to Record" which can record and then summarize audio when you simply flip the phone on its face. Secondly, it needs to remain affordable. There's evidence that this app might cost as much as $120/year, which is just far too much for what it delivers. I'd maybe pay $20-30 per year for this functionality, but not $10/month. Moving the processing locally could help there, as it's all currently done in the cloud. But, with Phone (3a) being a budget device without a ton of power, we might have to wati for Phone (3) for that version of this app. But, to circle back to an issue, the Essential Key was poorly thought out in my eyes. The button's placement directly below the power button leads to near-constant accidental presses. It should be towards the top of the device to avoid this because, right now, it's more annoying than it's actually worth. Out of the box, Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro run on top of Android 15. They'll get 3 years of major Android OS updates and 6 years of security updates. Budget phones often fail on the camera, but Nothing has done a great job with the Phone (3a) series. Last year's Phone (2a) was fine in terms of its camera output, but it was nothing special. This time around, there's a clear improvement. Phone (3a) has a solid camera, with a 50MP Samsung sensor for its main shooter. It occasionally struggles in lower light or with processing decisions, but I've been happy with it on the whole. Shots are punchy and crisp, and motion doesn't throw things off too bad. The addition of a 2x telephoto lens (on a 50MP Samsung sensor) solves my biggest complaint, offering just that bit of extra range to get the shot you want. It's a good camera, even if it's not totally perfect. Full-size samples from Nothing Phone (3a) Phone (3a) Pro, meanwhile, essentially pitches its entire existence on the camera. It has a different, slightly better 50MP main sensor from Samsung. A better 50MP front-facing camera. And, finally, a periscope lens on its 50MP Sony camera used for telephoto shots for... 3x optical zoom. I'm just not sold on this being worth the upgrade, or the giant camera bump. Shots are a little bit better, yes, and the extra range on the zoom is nice too, but none of it is meaningfully better. The selfie camera is where I found the biggest improvement, but both still struggle in anything outside of perfect lighting. These are mid-range phones, so camera improvements can only go so far, and I'm just not sure Nothing delivered enough to separate the two. But the generational improvements are there, and both offer solid shooters overall. Full-size samples from Nothing Phone (3a) Pro The 5,000 mAh battery inside of both of these devices is average in size, and average in endurance. I'm finding that the battery life tends to be easily a full day with change to spare. I'll go to bed with around 20-40% remaining on average use, which is a pretty big range. I've never fully killed either of these devices in a single day (including on a flight home from Spain, which came out to be a 23-hour day), but I find they drain just a bit faster than I was expecting, especially compared to the prior generation. Thankfully, that's far from a problem, as charging is very quick. While there's no "SuperVOOC" or other crazy fast charging methods, 50W USB-C PD charging is more than sufficient. On days I felt I was running low, I could plug into a decent charger and get a 25% boost in what feels like just a few minutes. It's a shame there's no included charger (and that the included cable is downgraded), but the charging situation here is very good. As we wrap things up here, something I want to circle back to is how these phones actually differ. Because... they really don't. Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro are identical phones in nearly every way. The same display. The same battery. The same chipset. The same memory and storage. The same... everything. The only differences come down to the camera. Rather than diving into that, I'll just share a comparison table that Nothing itself provided: Nothing positioned its "a" series on value, and I think the Phone (2a) absolutely nailed it. It was one of my favorite phones of 2024, and I think Phone (3a) is a worthy follow up. For $379, it delivers welcome upgrades without compromising the quality or value. At $459, though, Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is a bit of a different story in my eyes. Last year, I really struggled to see why the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus existed and, honestly, I'm in the same boat for the "Pro." I'm not sure who this product is for because, at the end of the day, you're not getting $80 worth of improvements out of this "upgrade." As such, my verdict is clear. The Nothing Phone (3a) series delivers an absolutely stellar pair of smartphones, perhaps some of the best in the industry, but the Phone (3a) is the only one you should probably buy. Unfortunately, these are still very much phones not meant for US buyers. The "Beta Program" makes it possible to buy Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro in the States, but you're going to lack band support on some networks. I can't recommend either to US buyers, but they are fun to use, and I hope both Phone (3) and Phone (4a) make official debuts in the US.