If you like the look of the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, why spend more?
This phone is a whole experience.
You also get a camera with 3x optical zoom, a feature unheard of at this price range.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Most cheap phones give you wide, ultra-wide, and macro cameras, not a real zoom lens.
It looks more like a circuitry subway map than an accidental phone autopsy.
The Glyph system is more than just decorative, its actually quite functional and a bit nostalgic.
Nothing Phone 3a Pro let me do that again, assigning light patterns to my friends and family.
I even had fun banging out my own patterns on the glyph-maker software.
T-Mobile fans should have no problem at all.
Don’t knock it until you’ve seen it.
The Nothing Phone 3a Pro feels special.
This isnt a pared back phone like theGalaxy A56, which is like aDiet Galaxy S25.
This is the best Nothing Phone ever, and this is one bargain phone you shouldnt ignore.
I used the Nothing Phone 3a Pro in the New York area on AT&T.
I got a text message from AT&T right away that my phone wasnt supported.
internet speeds were good.
The most outstanding spec is the 3x optical zoom camera, which is unique in this price range.
Nothing uses periscopic lens technology, like youll find on theGalaxy S25 Ultras5X zoom lens, to add reach.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
Folks who caught a glimpse when the Glyph lights flared always wanted to know what phone I was using.
I was looking for opportunities to place this phone face down so I could watch it ring.
The design is so unusual that you wont notice it feels a bit cheap.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The seams are not as perfectly aligned as the edges on a Galaxy S25 oriPhone 16.
The phone is thick at 8.4mm, its thicker than an iPhone 16e or Galaxy A56.
The camera bump is huge and unapologetic, with textured lines that draw a circle around the frame.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The Glyph lights ring the cameras, and can also act like a ring light when youre shooting.
In practice… it needs work.
It looked bright, colorful, and smooth in my time reviewing the Phone 3a Pro.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
I wonder if this display is overkill for Nothing Phone 3a Pro.
We still saw peak brightness well over 1,000 nits, which is great, but not what Nothing claims.
By distractions, I mean color and shapes.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The look of NothingOS can best be described as a monochrome, low-resolution, dot matrix theme.
It kind of works, if you like this style.
On my Nothing Phone 3a Pro I can choose flora and iridescent, and up to 30 total combos.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
What you get ends up looking like a wallpaper that Nothing might have included with its phone anyway.
Only the screenshots that you capture using the Essential Key end up here.
Hopefully Nothing will add more to make this useful for more people.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
TheGalaxy A55and theMotorola Edge 2024offer that camera setup, for instance.
Nothing gives you a lot more camera bang for your buck.
You also get a big 50MP sensor on that zoom lens, in addition to the 50MP main sensor.
The ultra-wide sensor is only 8MP, but who cares when you have all that zoom.
The selfie camera is a 50MP sensor as well, which is too much for selfies.
The image quality from the Nothing Phone 3a Pro is fine, but not incredible.
Its not even close, but the Nothing Phone 3a Pro is not a bad camera.
Its a solid camera setup for the price.
It was frustrating, but it didnt happen too often, not every day.
Thats faster than the Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 16.
Should you buy the Nothing Phone 3a Pro ?
If youre aware of its shortcomings, its a great buy.
Oh well, its still pretty, and very big.
The Essential Key and Space werent very useful, and AI tools are very limited.
Performance
Performance was very laggy, with stuttering and stalling in the interface and as I used apps.
It wasnt always a problem, but when the phone got bogged down, it was very frustrating.
Skip it if you need real smartphone power.
But thats enough for many folks.
I played games, and edited photos from myGoogle Photoslibrary.
I connected the Nothing Phone 3a Pro to aPixel Watch3 and Nothing Buds.
I also connected an Xbox wireless controller to play games.
I connected the Phone 3a Pro to my car for multimedia and to other Bluetooth speakers for audio.
