Nothing Phone (4a) Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

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.
• High-frequency PWM dimming makes it better suited to users sensitive to screen flicker, although slight flickering is still present.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Universally praised. The 6.8-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED hits 2,600 nits peak with a new anti-reflective Gorilla Armor finish that makes it exceptional in bright sunlight.

• The display is so easy to use outside in bright light that the reviewer wants every other manufacturer to copy it.
• Peak brightness is rated 2,600 nits, up from 1,750 nits on the S23 Ultra — a big real-world jump for outdoor use.
• Measured brightness reached ~2,408 nits on a 20% white window versus ~2,235 nits on the iPhone 15 Pro — a measurable win.
• It is a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2,600 nits peak panel at QHD+ resolution.
• Two years later the 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED 'has aged like fine wine' with no screen burn-in and still buttery 120Hz.

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.
• Low-light performance isn't the best, and image quality when you zoom right in isn't the best out there — not bad, just not class-leading.
• The 140x zoom headline grabs attention, but in use it's more about how far the camera can push digitally than something you'd rely on day-to-day.
• Not super impressed by the camera or the giant protruding bumps the lenses sit in.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

A 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto and new 50MP 5x periscope (replacing the old 10MP 10x). Reviewers rate it among the best, with standout zoom and portraits, but image processing remains the polarising point.

• The camera system is 'one of the best in the game' and comes with a fantastic portrait mode.
• One of the best all-around camera packages out there after months of shooting, including an excellent and often-overlooked selfie camera.
• The new 50MP 5x periscope fixes the S23 Ultra's weak 5–10x range; 5x portraits look really good and edge detection is among the best.
• Main camera is a 200MP f/1.7 (HP2) with a 50MP f/3.4 5x periscope, 10MP 3x tele and 12MP ultrawide.
• The Pixel 8 Pro's ultrawide is preferred for sharper detail and more natural white balance than the S24 series ultrawide.

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.
• Roughly 13 hours of continuous playback at maximum brightness in a streaming test — impressive for what Nothing is doing at this price.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

5,000mAh with 45W wired and 15W wireless. All-day battery is consistent praise; charging speed versus Chinese rivals is the recurring criticism, and there is a noted One UI update battery-drain bug.

• In a head-to-head battery test it lasted 12h31m, over an hour longer than the iPhone 16 Pro Max's 11h22m.
• 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired (65% in 30 min), 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless.
• Charging is on par with Apple and Google but 'leagues behind rivals out of China' that charge far faster.
• After two years, moderate use still delivers a full day with 25–30% left by bedtime; light use can stretch toward two days.
• Measured battery health was 93% after two years (one heavy year, one moderate), per Samsung's hidden diagnostics.