iPhone 17 vs Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

iPhone 17

Externally the iPhone 17 is near-identical to the iPhone 16 — same aluminum frame, same glass-sandwich back, same vertical dual-camera pill, same buttons. The body is 2mm taller and 7 grams heavier to fit the larger 6.3-inch screen. Apple swapped in Ceramic Shield 2 on the front for three-times better scratch resistance. Colors are sage, lavender, mist blue, black, and white — pastels that split reviewers cleanly between 'understated and sophisticated' and 'dull, where's the ultramarine.'

• Take the iPhone 16 design, stretch it a teensy bit up, and you get the iPhone 17 — somehow 0.01 inches narrower, only 0.24 ounces heavier, and it still feels great in the hand.
• If you were hoping for material change, you're going to be disappointed — and the new pastel colors are dull, sage being the best of the bunch but still a muted green.
• The iPhone 17 sticks with the tried-and-true aluminum-framed glass sandwich and feels about like it looks: unremarkable, especially next to the iPhone Air and Pro that depart from the last half-decade of designs.
• With the controversial new look of the Pro models, a point can be made that the base model is actually the best-looking iPhone 17 — cleaner all-glass rear with no Camera Plateau insert that scratches.
• The sage green iPhone looks great even if it looks basically the same as every iPhone for the past six years — colors aside, you're missing nothing significant.
• Ceramic Shield 2 holds up to Mohs scale level 5 scratches and even the level 6 and 7 marks barely show — the screen itself only fractures from real impacts. Corning has done something special here.
• Sage is the best new color — though the rich Ultramarine of the iPhone 16 is genuinely missed and the new pastel selection feels muted.
• IP68 ingress protection survives immersion in up to 6 meters of fresh water for 30 minutes — same as the Pro, and the case still feels very high-quality.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

The defining change this generation: a metal unibody that ditches the transparent back for a minimal lower half and a distinctive rectangular camera island, topped by a slimmed-down Glyph Matrix. Reviewers overwhelmingly call it the slimmest, most premium Nothing ever — but the redesign is genuinely polarising, and the IP65 rating is one notch below the flagship norm.

• A $499 phone that looks and feels higher-end than last year's flagship Phone 3, helped in large part by the new metal design.
• An upgraded metal unibody ditches the iconic transparent back for a more minimal look in the bottom half, while a new rectangular camera island in Nothing's distinctive style helps it stand out.
• It's the slimmest Nothing phone ever and just feels more pro and more premium in the hand.
• The Glyph Matrix uses 137 mini-LEDs that are 57% larger and twice as bright as the Phone 3's interface — and the silver version is the best-looking, while the black metal can look almost plasti-dipped.

iPhone 17

The A19 (non-Pro) chip with 8GB of RAM is genuinely close to the A19 Pro in everyday use — Gizmodo's Geekbench tests had the iPhone 17 only 1.3% behind the iPhone 17 Pro on single-core and 9.5% behind on multi-core. The gap shows up almost exclusively under sustained heavy 3D gaming load, where the lack of the Pro's vapor-chamber cooling causes the iPhone 17 to throttle and heat up. Ars Technica's tests even found the iPhone 17 outperforming the more expensive iPhone Air thanks to better heat dissipation.

• Geekbench multi-core hits 7,823 and single-core 3,216 — the iPhone 17 is roughly 1.3% slower than the iPhone 17 Pro for single-core and 9.5% slower for multi-core, which is far closer than the price gap would suggest.
• The iPhone 17 is often actually faster than the iPhone Air, despite both phones using five-core A19-class GPUs — Apple's thinnest phone has less room to dissipate heat, which leads to more aggressive thermal throttling.
• Cranked Assassin's Creed Mirage to max settings and the iPhone 17 stuttered, froze a few times and got really hot — heavy mobile gamers should still consider the Pro for the vapor chamber.
• The iPhone 17 speedily handled any task I threw at it — no stutters, no struggles, and the A19 plus 120Hz display made Destiny: Rising play silky smooth even in chaotic skirmishes without overheating.
• 8GB of RAM is currently the floor for Apple Intelligence and there's no felt difference in day-to-day performance between the iPhone 17 and the iPhone Air — but 12GB on the Pro and Air may age better as AI features grow.
• The A19 is still literally one of the most powerful single-core chips on the planet right now and has a ton of headroom for the future — paired with the new selfie camera and 256GB storage, this is the best iPhone deal in years.
• The A19 chip on the iPhone 17 is barely 8–10% faster than the A18 chip on the iPhone 16 — a difference most users will never notice with their day-to-day tasks.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 with UFS 3.1 storage is a clear, tangible step up from the Phone (3a) generation — Nothing claims +27% CPU, +30% GPU and +65% AI. It's a perfectly capable everyday chip that feels noticeably quicker, but it's explicitly not a gaming powerhouse and warms up under sustained heavy load.

• Backed by OS optimisations and a custom CPU scheduler, the chipset delivers 27% better CPU, 30% better GPU and 65% better AI performance than the Nothing Phone (3a); storage is 147% faster in reads and 380% faster in writes.
• Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 is a perfectly acceptable chip across the board, and the upgrade to UFS 3.1 makes this feel noticeably quicker compared to the Nothing Phone (3a) and prior.
• The CPU performance difference between the 4a Pro and the vanilla 4a is not massive, but it is still very much notable.
• Available in 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB and 12GB+256GB configurations, all running near-stock AOSP-style Nothing OS.
• Like most phones in this segment, it shows some basic heat build-up during really extensive tasks like gaming or 4K editing in high-end software, though it stays responsive while gaming.

iPhone 17

The 3,692 mAh cell is up only marginally on the iPhone 16's 3,561 mAh, but the more efficient A19 chip and variable-refresh-rate display push the iPhone 17 to up to 30 hours of video playback (Apple's number) — eight hours more than the iPhone 16. Reviewers comfortably hit 5–6+ hours of screen-on time and end days with 15–25% remaining. Wired charging is 40W (50% in 20 minutes), wireless MagSafe is 25W. The OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 still charge meaningfully faster, but versus other US-priced flagships this is competitive.

• After a week of use I'm consistently hitting more than six hours of screen-on time, with GPS, music streaming, and hours of doomscrolling — I have yet to find myself worried that my phone is going to die.
• Battery life has increased by 8 hours compared to the iPhone 16 — up to 30 hours of video playback versus 22 — and in normal use the iPhone 17 lasts about as long as the iPhone 16 Pro, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with 20–25% left.
• I had 16 percent battery left by bed time after a 7AM-to-midnight day of email, Slack, music, calls, texting, Instagram and a few episodes of The Bear — with always-on display active the entire time.
• Charging hits 50% in about 20 minutes with a 40W adapter — faster than the iPhone 16 by 10 to 15 minutes, and a full 0–100% charge takes 85 minutes.
• Phone Arena's battery score is 5.9 out of 10 — below average for the price class. Battery life is good for a day, but not class-leading.
• The iPhone 17 reliably makes it from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. with 15–20% left over, even on days with Personal Hotspot use and a few rounds of Pokémon Go — no midday top-up required.
• Apple slightly increased MagSafe wireless charging to 25W (with a 30W adapter) — same as the iPhone 16 Plus and a 3W increase over the iPhone 16.
• 40W charging is good but at maximum still lags far behind the Xiaomi 15 (90W) and the OnePlus 13 — comparatively slow charging is a real con.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

The ~5,080mAh cell reliably gets through a day and endurance improved across all of GSMArena's tests versus the 3a Pro — but it's only an 80mAh bump over last year and looks small next to 6,000–7,000mAh budget rivals. 50W wired charging is the trade-off win; there is no wireless charging at all.

• Endurance has improved across the board in all tests compared to last year's Nothing Phone (3a) Pro; with a 68W USB-PD charger the phone peaked at around 42W.
• The review unit gets through a day without problems, but it'll certainly be into the red and close to done after about 15 hours of use; the OnePlus 15R has a much meatier battery to last longer.
• It's only an 80mAh increase over last year — small fry next to budget rivals like the Poco M8 Pro, which uses silicon-carbon tech to reach 6,500mAh.
• 50W wired charging is very respectable at this price — besting anything Google, Apple or Samsung offers below £500.
• Because the processor isn't power-hungry and the battery is large for the chip, real-world battery life is excellent.

iPhone 17

iOS 26 with the new Liquid Glass design ships on the iPhone 17, alongside iOS 26's call screening, message screening and tighter notification controls. Apple has committed to roughly seven years of OS updates. The headline weakness is Apple Intelligence — every reviewer notes it remains underwhelming, and most explicitly say it shouldn't factor into the upgrade decision. Liquid Glass itself is divisive: Engadget's reviewer dislikes it after a week, Mrwhosetheboss says it 'needs more time in the oven.'

• I appreciate that Apple hasn't shoved Apple Intelligence down our throats like it did with the iPhone 16 launch — but voice dictation routinely gets stuff wrong and Google's Assistant Voice Typing is still the gold standard.
• Apple Intelligence is still somewhere between useless and MIA — the iPhone 17 has it, but it isn't a reason to upgrade.
• No real improvements to Apple Intelligence in the last couple months for any of the iPhones — most complaints I have about this phone are minor, but this one is the same complaint we've had for a year.
• Liquid Glass on iOS 26 is beautiful from a distance but up close has repeatable glitches, animation breakers and things that aren't very readable — it clearly needs more time in the oven.
• After a week with Liquid Glass I'm still not a fan — for every one update that's helpful I find five more I hate, like the new Apple Music menu that requires an extra tap to reveal options.
• iOS 26's call- and message-screening features are the most important new functionality — they meaningfully cut down on spam and robocalls.
• r/Android users coming from Android find iOS notifications a downgrade — 'no back button really is a no go for me' is the second-most-upvoted comment on the r/Android iPhone 17 Pro switch thread.
• Expect at least 5–7 years of iOS updates — the iPhone 11 from 2019 still received the iOS 26 update, so the iPhone 17 should see support well into the early 2030s.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

Nothing OS 4.1 on Android 16 is the universal favourite: near-stock AOSP functionality with a distinctive monochrome visual identity, almost no bloatware, and AI that's present but not forced. The one hard reservation is update length — only 3 years of OS upgrades against 6 years of security patches.

• Nothing OS sticks close to a clean, near-stock Android (AOSP) experience in functionality, but stands out with its distinctive visual identity.
• After a week the phone is 'absolutely brilliant'; software is where Nothing phones shine, even if the camera 'window' at the top of the display is basically a pseudo-iPhone look.
• Software is where Nothing phones absolutely shine — the clearest reason to pick this over rivals.
• There's a smattering of AI here, but it's not shoved down your throat — and the software is basically the same clean setup as the regular Nothing Phone (4a).
• Unlike Samsung's Galaxy AI which is in your face from day one, Nothing's AI stays out of the way — an impressive, restrained package overall.

iPhone 17

At $799 with 256GB storage, the iPhone 17 lands directly opposite the $799 Google Pixel 10 (256GB) and the $799 Samsung Galaxy S25 (128GB) — and within the Apple lineup it sits $200 below the iPhone Air and $300 below the iPhone 17 Pro. The consensus across publications, YouTube and the r/apple thread (>1,700 upvotes) is identical: this is the most-recommended phone in the iPhone 17 lineup, and the value gap to the Pro is wider than it has ever been. The minority view, from Digital Trends and a vocal r/Android contingent, is that the iPhone 16 still works fine and the upgrade isn't necessary for existing 16 owners.

• For the same price as last year, you get twice as much storage, slightly better cameras, and an immensely better screen — if you just want a great iPhone, the iPhone 17 is finally that phone.
• For $799 — $200 more than the 128GB iPhone 16e and $100 more than the 128GB iPhone 16 — the iPhone 17 is by far the iPhone lineup's best value for money right now.
• When the cheapest phone in the lineup is a really good deal, it makes the more expensive versions feel like worse deals — this is the best base iPhone since they added the Pro to the lineup, and it's not particularly close.
• Versus the $799 Pixel 10 (256GB), the iPhone 17 has a better screen, better main camera, better selfie camera, better battery life and a way more powerful chip — at $100 less.
• As I dive into the specs, the iPhone 17 looks like a better deal than the $999 iPhone Air — better battery, better camera (48MP ultrawide), and $200 cheaper.
• Forget the Air and the Pro — the iPhone 17 is the one iPhone to get this year. For the first time in literally ever, I don't feel tempted by the Pro Max or the Pro.
• The iPhone 17 doesn't feel outdated next to its predecessor — the iPhone 16 shares all the same design elements, the A19 is only 8–10% faster than the A18, and the 48MP main camera carries over.
• Top r/gadgets comment captures the consensus: 'The base 17 has maybe 80-90% of the features of the pro model (and for most people, 100% of the features that matter). It's the best value model Apple has released in years.'
• Coming from a 15+ year Android user — 'as a user of both platforms, nothing in the Android world really comes close to the $799 iPhone 17. The base model has never sold out at launch, and it's harder to find than the 17 Pro and even Pro Max.'

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

At $499 it directly undercuts the experience-per-dollar of the same-priced Pixel 10a and iPhone 17e, and several reviewers would take it over the 10a without hesitation. The closest internal threat is its own cheaper sibling, the standard Phone (4a), which shares the same cameras for $150 less.

• From the design to the software and cameras, this is a phone that should absolutely not be slept on — at the price of a Pixel 10a, 'I'd take this 10 out of 10 times over a 10a.'
• Vibes and great value for under $500 — a balanced all-rounder.
• Against its immediate rivals the Pixel 10a and iPhone 17e it looks impressive: a larger, brighter, faster display, more cameras, and Nothing's unique design including the Glyph Matrix.
• A premium balanced package with polished software and really good cameras — recommended, even if it's not perfect on the IP rating or front-camera 4K.
• The biggest problem for the 4a Pro is its own little brother — the standard 4a costs much less and gets the exact same cameras.