Nothing Phone (3) vs Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

Nothing Phone (3)

A bright, fluid 6.67-inch AMOLED that's excellent in practice, even if the 4,500-nit headline figure is HDR-only and it lacks full LTPO.

• The 2800×1260 30–120Hz AMOLED cranks to a claimed 4,500-nit peak (1,600 nits full-screen outdoors), great for outdoor visibility.
• Despite being FHD+, the display is excellent both indoors and in bright summer daylight, with a delightful tap-origin light-up animation.
• Independent measurement found real-world brightness around 700 nits SDR and ~1,550–1,600 nits HDR despite the 4,500-nit HDR headline.
• It switches only between 60 and 120Hz rather than true LTPO, so static content drains more battery — a downside at this price.
• The screen is crisp and vibrant and holds up really well both indoors and in direct sunlight.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

A 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED at 144Hz with 2,160Hz PWM dimming — reviewers agree it's the best screen Nothing has built, with realistic outdoor brightness around 1,600 nits. The headline 5,000-nit peak, though, only materialises with special HDR test files; everyday brightness is far lower.

• Nothing's best-ever display: a 144Hz panel with 1,600 nits of outdoor brightness and a claimed 5,000 nits peak; the main camera is solid too with nice detail and well-reproduced colours.
• A claimed 1,600-nit outdoor brightness is realistic — no major visibility issues outdoors even in strong sunshine, putting it among the best affordable phones, and Nothing OS has some of the best design consistency of any Android UI.
• The 4,500-nit HDR peak was only validated with specific HDR test files, not actual video playback — real-world output is around 700 nits in SDR and 1,550–1,600 in HDR.
• The '5,000-nit peak brightness' spec means nothing in practice — a marketing figure pulled from a single-pixel measurement.
• 144Hz refresh (vs 120Hz on the regular 4a) and 1,600 nits white brightness / 5,000 nits peak, marketed as 66% brighter than the Phone (3a) series — though there's no extra output on a small 10% window.

Nothing Phone (3)

A well-equipped quad 50MP system with a 3x periscope and strong video specs, but image quality is solid-not-spectacular and still trails the Pixel 9.

• It runs a quad 50MP setup — f/1.68 main, f/2.2 114° ultrawide, f/2.68 3x periscope and a 50MP selfie.
• The main camera captures solid binned 12.5MP photos in good lighting; 4K bitrate is a bit low but overall video quality looks excellent.
• It's a shame the camera doesn't stack up against the Pixel 9 series — solid but not class-leading.
• It's not the best camera on the market, but it's consistent, quick to launch and takes great everyday pictures — and produces amazing results edited in Lightroom.
• Unlike its cheaper siblings, all four cameras shoot 4K60 (and 4K60 HDR), plus 4K60 selfie video and 240fps slow-mo — a genuine video step up.
• Low-light processing in early hands-on seemed pretty close to Google's Pixel, and the camera app is faster than past Nothing devices.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

The headline value play: a 50MP Sony LYT-710 main with OIS, a true 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto (80mm) with OIS, and an 8MP ultrawide — flagship-tier hardware Samsung and Apple don't put in phones at this price. Output is characterful and the telephoto is a genuine win, but reviewers consistently flag inconsistency, average low-light and a gimmicky 140x digital zoom.

• Triple rear system: 50MP Sony LYT-710 main (f/1.9, OIS), 8MP ultrawide, and a 50MP periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom (80mm, f/2.9, OIS).
• Both the main and periscope-zoom cameras are 50MP and deliver strong results for this price range; the zoom in particular stands out from competitors and even allows for extreme digital zoom.
• Having a proper dedicated telephoto shooter is a genuine love, although the camera experience itself is a little bit inconsistent at times.
• It's not clinically the best camera, but the shots have a bit more soul to them.

Nothing Phone (3)

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is fast and butter-smooth in daily use and gaming, but it's flagship-lite — the most-repeated criticism at a $799 flagship price — and it runs warm under sustained load.

• It runs a 4nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 — on paper underwhelming for a flagship, but in practice everything is absolutely butter.
• 8s Gen 4 is not the 8 Elite — at $799 the manufacturer arguably should have offered the flagship chip.
• Geekbench scores well — better than 86–96% of devices on the market depending on the test — and it beats Google's Tensor G5 in multi-core and every 3DMark graphics benchmark.
• Gaming is strong — BGMI holds a stable 120fps and Genshin runs at 60fps on max settings — but Genshin pushes the surface past 45°C.
• It doesn't do a particularly good job of cooling the chip under sustained load.
• With 16GB RAM (on the $899 model) it keeps everything open and launches apps faster than an iPhone 16 in lab tests.

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.

Nothing Phone (3)

A reliable all-day 5,150mAh silicon-carbon cell (5,500mAh in India) with fast 65W wired plus 15W wireless and reverse charging — strong in tests, though one heavy user found it disappointing.

• The 5,150mAh silicon-carbon cell easily lasts all day — a typical day dips only into the upper-60s/low-70s%, one of the most reliable batteries in recent phones.
• Battery beat any Pixel tested and even the Galaxy S25 Ultra — heavy 5G days still ended as high as 45%.
• In an extreme drain test it ran 9h34m of screen-on time before dying — impressive even though it was first to die against 6,000mAh+ rivals, with a cool 53°C peak.
• 65W wired charging takes it 1–50% in about 19–20 minutes; there's also 15W wireless and reverse wireless charging (India gets a larger 5,500mAh cell).
• Despite the largest battery in any Nothing phone, one long-term reviewer calls it the worst battery life he's experienced on a Nothing Phone.
• The new silicon-carbon battery doesn't pack as big a capacity boost as expected from the technology.

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.

Nothing Phone (3)

Nothing OS is the phone's defining strength — clean, distinctive and best-in-class outside a Pixel — backed by an exceptional 5-year/7-year support promise, with Essential Space the standout AI.

• Nothing OS is one of the best ways to experience Android — reviewers' favourite part of the phone.
• It's promised 5 years of major Android updates and 7 years of security patches — a class-leading commitment.
• After a week of meetings, Essential Space replaced juggling half a dozen note apps — a genuinely useful AI feature.
• Nothing OS 4.0 (Android 16) might be one of the best experiences outside of the Pixel, getting the fundamentals absolutely right.
• Real bugs persist — a dual-SIM recognition issue causing missed calls, and the easily-triggered Essential Key recording everything on an accidental touch.

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.
• Nothing's take on Android 16 has some of the best design consistency you'll find on any Android UI, Google included.

Nothing Phone (3)

At $799 it goes head-to-head with the Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 — winning on design, software and support, losing on chip and camera, and frequently discounted.

• At $799 (16GB option $899) it costs exactly the same as a Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16.
• It's a fantastic, one of the most eye-catching devices on the market — and has already scored a major discount at Best Buy.
• This phone should battle the best Android phones and iPhones rather than the best cheap phones — early signs are good.
• The second you charge $799 you compete directly with Samsung's Galaxy S25 and Apple's iPhone 16 — companies with practically unlimited budgets.
• It still feels like a flagship while cutting costs to undercut the competition a little, and gets 5 years of updates.
• If you like the design and the vibe it's giving off, this could be your next phone and you won't be disappointed.

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.