
Nothing
The $499 phone to beat

Xiaomi
Leica camera king, software trails
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
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.
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Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
A premium, distinctive design dominated by a huge circular Leica camera island, with a choice of titanium or aluminium frame and glass or eco-leather back. The curved screen divides opinion on fragility.
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.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
A 6.73-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED with 120Hz, 1920Hz PWM dimming, Dolby Vision and a 3,000-nit peak — a top-tier panel, though measured sustained brightness is good rather than class-leading.
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.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
The centerpiece and the reason to buy: a 1-inch-type variable-aperture Leica main plus 50MP 3.2x tele, 50MP 5x periscope and a notably clean 12MP ultrawide. Hardware is class-leading; software processing is the only real limit.
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.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with Adreno 750 and up to 512GB UFS 4.0 puts it among the fastest 2024 flagships, with Xiaomi's IceLoop cooling keeping sustained gaming temperatures in check.
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.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
A 5,000mAh cell (global) with very fast 90W wired / 80W wireless charging. Endurance is improved over the 13 Ultra but still only middling for the class, and heavy gaming drains it quickly.
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.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
At ~$1,600 / €1,500 (often bundled with the Photography Kit) it's priced at the very top against the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Its value case is camera supremacy, not all-round polish or availability.