iPhone 17 Pro vs Nothing Phone (4a)

iPhone 17 Pro

The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED with ProMotion 1-120Hz LTPO panel is essentially unchanged from the iPhone 16 Pro in resolution, but Apple has bumped peak outdoor brightness to 3,000 nits and added an improved anti-reflective coating. Almost every reviewer praises the screen, though the awkward complication is that the same 6.3-inch ProMotion panel is now also on the $799 iPhone 17 — eroding one of the Pro's traditional differentiators.

• The displays get super bright for easy viewing in sunny conditions, and the Pro models recharge fairly quickly with the right adapter.
• Outdoor brightness now reaches 3,000 nits with reduced glare and higher contrast — using the phone for navigation outdoors or in a well-lit train is noticeably more comfortable.
• The base iPhone 17 now uses the same 6.3-inch ProMotion display as the iPhone 17 Pro — a huge upgrade for the entry-level model that erodes one of the Pro's traditional differentiators.
• Apple has improved the anti-reflection treatment, though in real-world use it's been hard to determine what's changed compared to the iPhone 16 Pro's panel.
• Apple's Ceramic Shield 2 has held up well against scratches during a month of pocket abuse without a case — fared much better than every iPhone the reviewer has owned in the past six years.
• The 6.3-inch screen size is divisive — long-time Plus and Pro Max owners coming down to the smaller Pro find it 'feels like a toy' even though the display itself is excellent.

Nothing Phone (4a)

A genuine highlight for the price — a big 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED that's bright, sharp and HDR-capable, beating similarly priced rivals.

• 6.78-inch AMOLED, 120Hz, 2160Hz PWM, HDR10+, 800 nits typical / 1,600 nits HBM / 4,500 nits peak at 1224x2720 (440ppi).
• The 6.78-inch display is 23% brighter than the 3a, reaching 1,600 nits outdoors with a 4,500-nit HDR peak.
• Brightness goes up to 4,500 nits peak, remaining easily readable outdoors — the display is very strong for this price range and one of the standout features.
• In the real world it hits around 700 nits peak SDR and ~1,550–1,600 nits in HDR, with 460ppi and dynamic 120Hz.

iPhone 17 Pro

The A19 Pro with 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU and 12GB of RAM (up from 8GB on the iPhone 16 Pro) is meaningfully faster than its predecessor and benchmarks ahead of every Android flagship. The big news, though, is the laser-welded vapor chamber cooling system, which finally fixes the iPhone 15/16 Pro's notorious thermal throttling. Sustained gaming performance, ProRes video recording and image generation are all noticeably better.

• The benchmark scores blew everything else out of the water — Apple's A19 Pro with 12GB of RAM and the vapor chamber make these the most powerful smartphones around.
• Geekbench multi-core hits 9,994 and 3DMark Wild Life lands at 5,400 — confirming the A19 Pro's ~14% CPU and ~40% GPU lead over the iPhone 16 Pro.
• Playing Assassin's Creed Mirage at max settings was significantly smoother on the iPhone 17 Pro than on the iPhone 16 Pro last year, with stable frame rates and rarely any stutters.
• The vapor chamber isn't just marketing — the iPhone 17 Pro ran significantly cooler than the iPhone 16 Pro in all testing, with heat spread evenly across the back rather than concentrated in one hot spot.
• On 3DMark stress tests the iPhone 17 Pro delivered 35-40% better stability than the iPhone 16 Pro and 45-50% better on ray-traced workloads, with the phone never crossing 100°F in 40-60 minutes of gaming.
• 12GB of RAM is a real improvement — apps stay in memory longer, with Reminders retaining its state across three different grocery stores after using Apple Maps and other apps in between.
• Image Playground and Genmoji generation are notably faster on the iPhone 17 Pro than on the iPhone 16 Pro, thanks to the neural accelerators in the A19 Pro's 6-core GPU.
• The new A19 Pro is a big leap forward, much bigger than your typical yearly upgrade, and 12GB of RAM makes the device feel more future-proof for the next four to five years.
• Apple suddenly couldn't stop talking about thermal performance — they ditched titanium and completely redesigned the phone to fit a vapor chamber inside, but didn't show a single feature that needs it.

Nothing Phone (4a)

A capable mid-range chip that handles everyday use and casual gaming well — not a powerhouse, but appropriate for the price.

• Gaming is absolutely possible on this device, with solid everyday performance for the class.
• There's no shortage of substantial hardware upgrades over the 3a, even if the design doesn't stand out as much as the Pro.
• After 24 hours the home screen is extremely customisable and feels massively more functional than iOS, with no responsiveness complaints.
• Gesture-based navigation is fully supported and the overall experience is good thanks to Nothing's optimisations.

iPhone 17 Pro

The single biggest selling point. The 3,998 mAh battery on the Pro and ~4,823 mAh on the Pro Max (5,088 mAh in eSIM-only markets) deliver Apple's biggest single-generation battery jump in years — Apple claims 33h video on the Pro and 39h on the Pro Max, and real-world reviewers consistently report two-day endurance on the Max and comfortable single-day endurance on the Pro. Wired charging via the new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter hits 50% in 20 minutes (verified), and MagSafe/Qi2 wireless tops out at 25W.

• I haven't worried about battery life on either phone — hit nearly 7 hours of screen-on time on the iPhone 17 Pro with 30 percent left, and over 5 hours on the Pro Max with 55 percent remaining.
• The Apple smartphone sets new high scores for battery runtimes — 'fabulous battery life' is one of the headline pros in the verdict.
• The Pro Max made it to the end of Saturday before dropping to 20 percent after being charged on Thursday morning — two full days of use is genuinely achievable on the larger model.
• Charging hits 51% in 20 minutes with a 40W plug (matching Apple's claim) and a full charge takes 80 minutes — about 25 minutes faster than the iPhone Air.
• MagSafe wireless charging now hits 25W (with a 30W adapter), and Qi2 is officially supported — 0-50% in 30 minutes wirelessly.
• Could confidently leave home without a power bank and still return with 15-20 percent juice left after hours of music streaming — battery anxiety on a smaller iPhone is finally cured.
• On r/apple owners report ~10 hours of screen-on time per charge and the phone stays 'ice cold' — battery is the most-praised aspect of the iPhone 17 Pro in user threads.
• iPhone 13 Pro Max and 15 Pro Max upgraders on r/apple report battery feeling 'exaggerated' or even slightly worse than their old phone — likely tied to iOS 26 overhead or AI features.

Nothing Phone (4a)

A ~5,080mAh cell with 50W wired charging — reviewers call endurance strong, but a notable group of owners report disappointing screen-on time.

• The Nothing Phone (4a) features a ~5,080mAh cell which delivers very strong endurance in everyday use.
• The battery grew slightly — about 80mAh in most markets but a more meaningful 400mAh in India — with a 50W PD unit recommended on the box.
• Several owners report only 4–6.5 hours of screen-on time with moderate use — worse than other phones with similar ~5,000mAh batteries.
• Battery life on this phone is excellent in everyday use.

iPhone 17 Pro

The iPhone 17 Pro ships with iOS 26 and its new translucent 'Liquid Glass' design language, which is itself polarizing — some reviewers love the refresh, others find it visually busy or hard on the eyes. Apple Intelligence remains the biggest disappointment of the generation: reviewers across The Verge, Trusted Reviews, Digital Trends and 9to5Mac say it's still hardly worth mentioning two years in, with most useful tasks falling back to ChatGPT integration. Apple-style long-term update support remains a major plus.

• Apple Intelligence is still merely a footnote in the review — features like Writing Tools and Clean Up can't compete with Google's and Samsung's equivalents.
• Apple Intelligence is still somewhere between useless and MIA — listed as one of the iPhone 17's main cons in the Pro/Bad summary.
• What's up with Siri? — listed as a 'Bad' in the iPhone 17 Pro review summary, reflecting widespread frustration that Apple's AI assistant has fallen behind Gemini and ChatGPT.
• iOS 26's Liquid Glass aesthetic is a significant refresh that matches the vibes of the new hardware — bigger buttons, new lock screen styles, and refined Camera and Photos apps.
• After three months Liquid Glass has matured — there are now ways to reduce the transparency effect, and 'the way certain parts of an app blend behind others is a real joy.'
• iOS 26 with the always-on display and Priority Notifications is a genuinely useful combination — you can glance at the lock screen to see if anything needs immediate attention.
• Apple is good at supporting phones for extended periods (industry expects 6-7 years of iOS updates), and Android competitors are still catching up on that front.
• r/apple commenters openly speculate Apple may abandon Apple Intelligence as a primary selling point given how poorly it has performed — 'crazy to think they missed that badly on a feature they invested so much in.'
• Android switchers continue to flag the iOS keyboard, lack of universal back gesture, and per-app data controls as the things they can't get past — Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro switchers on r/iphone, r/Android, and r/GooglePixel all return to Android within 2-3 months.

Nothing Phone (4a)

Near-stock Nothing OS is repeatedly singled out as one of the best, cleanest and most customisable Android experiences at any price.

• The UI is pretty much stock Android, which is the best Android experience — Nothing and Pixel offer the best Android experience.
• While hard to compare to Samsung's far more customisable One UI, Nothing's OS is one of the best ways to experience Android.
• The in-house gallery, voice recorder and weather apps have wonderful design consistency, with everything else left as Google's clean defaults.
• The home screen is extremely customisable with built-in and user-made widgets — fresher, clearer and bolder than iOS.