Nothing Phone (4a) Pro vs Xiaomi 17 Ultra | TechTalkTown
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro vs Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Nothing
8.5
The $499 phone to beat
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Xiaomi
8.5
Best phone camera, flawed software
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
What Reviewers Agree On
The new metal unibody makes the 4a Pro look and feel more premium than Nothing's own £799 Phone 3 — the slimmest, most 'pro'-feeling Nothing yet.
The 6.83-inch 1.5K 144Hz AMOLED is the best display Nothing has ever shipped, with strong real-world outdoor visibility around its realistic 1,600-nit figure.
The dual 50MP main plus 50MP 3.5x periscope-telephoto system is rare flagship-tier camera hardware at $499 and the single biggest reason to buy.
Nothing OS 4.1 on Android 16 is clean, bloat-free and has some of the best design consistency of any Android UI, Google included.
At $499 — the exact price of a Pixel 10a — it's outstanding value, with several reviewers preferring it outright to the 10a.
Pros & Cons
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Pros
The new metal unibody makes the 4a Pro look and feel more premium than Nothing's own £799 Phone 3 — the slimmest, most 'pro'-feeling Nothing yet.
The 6.83-inch 1.5K 144Hz AMOLED is the best display Nothing has ever shipped, with strong real-world outdoor visibility around its realistic 1,600-nit figure.
The dual 50MP main plus 50MP 3.5x periscope-telephoto system is rare flagship-tier camera hardware at $499 and the single biggest reason to buy.
Nothing OS 4.1 on Android 16 is clean, bloat-free and has some of the best design consistency of any Android UI, Google included.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
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.
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50W wired charging beats anything Google, Apple or Samsung offer below £500.
Deal Breakers
Only 3 years of OS updates (6 years of security patches) — well behind the 7 years Google and Samsung give at this price.
No wireless charging at all — sacrificed for the metal back.
The battery is only an 80mAh increase over last year and runs marginal next to 6,000–7,000mAh budget rivals.
Measured brightness (~700 nits SDR, ~1,550 HDR) is nowhere near the 5,000-nit headline.
The camera is inconsistent — low-light and deep zoom are merely average rather than class-leading.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
What Reviewers Agree On
Class-leading camera hardware: a 1.0"-type LOFIC main sensor and a true continuous mechanical optical zoom (75–100mm) that GSMArena rates as quite probably the best of its kind
Among the very best phones for photography on the market today, possibly the single best for stills
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers flagship-class performance — ~20% faster CPU and ~23% faster GPU than the previous generation, leading the iPhone in multi-core
Bright 6.9-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak with strong measured outdoor brightness
Distinctive physical camera controls (zoom ring on the Leica edition, Leica film simulations) that no mainstream rival offers
6 years of security patches confirmed (EOL February 2032)
Deal Breakers
HyperOS is widely seen as lagging the hardware — camera-app limitations, automatic JPEG post-processing criticised as poor, and a Phone Arena verdict that it's 'the best camera phone you'll hate using every day'
The global model runs noticeably hotter and shorter on battery than the China version, draining ~10% per hour in mixed use and losing more battery and running hotter than the OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro in head-to-head endurance
Very expensive globally — about $1,750 for the 17 Ultra and ~$2,300 for the Leitzphone — narrowing its value versus the previous generation
Polarising design and a usability tax: it's a camera-first device that some reviewers and users find feels more like a toy than a polished daily phone
At $499 — the exact price of a Pixel 10a — it's outstanding value, with several reviewers preferring it outright to the 10a.
50W wired charging beats anything Google, Apple or Samsung offer below £500.
Cons
Only 3 years of OS updates (6 years of security patches) — well behind the 7 years Google and Samsung give at this price.
No wireless charging at all — sacrificed for the metal back.
The battery is only an 80mAh increase over last year and runs marginal next to 6,000–7,000mAh budget rivals.
Measured brightness (~700 nits SDR, ~1,550 HDR) is nowhere near the 5,000-nit headline.
The camera is inconsistent — low-light and deep zoom are merely average rather than class-leading.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Pros
Class-leading camera hardware: a 1.0"-type LOFIC main sensor and a true continuous mechanical optical zoom (75–100mm) that GSMArena rates as quite probably the best of its kind
Among the very best phones for photography on the market today, possibly the single best for stills
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers flagship-class performance — ~20% faster CPU and ~23% faster GPU than the previous generation, leading the iPhone in multi-core
Bright 6.9-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak with strong measured outdoor brightness
Distinctive physical camera controls (zoom ring on the Leica edition, Leica film simulations) that no mainstream rival offers
6 years of security patches confirmed (EOL February 2032)
Cons
HyperOS is widely seen as lagging the hardware — camera-app limitations, automatic JPEG post-processing criticised as poor, and a Phone Arena verdict that it's 'the best camera phone you'll hate using every day'
The global model runs noticeably hotter and shorter on battery than the China version, draining ~10% per hour in mixed use and losing more battery and running hotter than the OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro in head-to-head endurance
Very expensive globally — about $1,750 for the 17 Ultra and ~$2,300 for the Leitzphone — narrowing its value versus the previous generation
Polarising design and a usability tax: it's a camera-first device that some reviewers and users find feels more like a toy than a polished daily phone
It's IP65 dust- and splash-resistant — one step below the IP64-rated regular Phone (4a) only on splash, and below the IP68 some early articles wrongly listed; the Glyph is massively slimmed from the Phone 3's 489 lights down to 137.
The 4a's design is gorgeous, but the Pro 'looks like an AI-generated design' — Nothing's look is now seen by some as a parody of its original transparent, Teenage Engineering-like identity.
Even people who don't always love Nothing's designs appreciate that the brand is trying to make a phone more unique than a 'plain black glass slab'.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
A camera-first design dominated by a huge circular Leica island, slim for what it packs, with a polarising aesthetic and a Leica edition that adds a knurled grip and rotating zoom ring.
Xiaomi has stuffed an enormous amount into the slim 8.5mm frame, and the massive rear camera island outclasses most competitors on hardware alone.
The Xiaomi is 8.29mm thick and 219g — slightly thinner and lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro Max — though the iPhone still feels more premium in hand.
The Leica Edition stands out with classic dual-tone styling, textured leather, matte metal and a gold knurled frame detail that looks premium and improves grip.
Compared to the S26 Ultra the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's design is divisive — one reviewer outright disliked it next to Samsung's more distinct visual identity.
IP68-rated body for dust and water resistance, with a centred circular camera island carrying Leica branding.
Display
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.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
A 6.9-inch 1.5K LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak. Measured brightness is strong on small patches but middling full-screen, and one long-term user was pleasantly surprised by it.
6.9-inch M10 OLED LTPO flat display at 1.5K resolution, 120Hz, with up to 3,500 nits peak brightness, HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
In automatic brightness the screen measured over 1,100 nits, rising to over 3,600 nits on a small patch of the screen.
Manual full-screen white brightness reached only 675 nits in controlled testing — well below the headline peak figure.
The display surprised one long-term user in a positive way — not at the level of the Pixel 10 Pro's panel, but still rather good.
Cameras
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.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The reason this phone exists. A 1-inch LOFIC main sensor and an industry-first continuous mechanical optical zoom put it at or near the top of the smartphone camera rankings — but JPEG processing and a steep learning curve divide opinion.
The 17 Ultra keeps a 1.0"-type main sensor while most makers go smaller; its main camera is quite probably the best of its kind and the phone is among the best for taking pictures currently on the market, possibly the best.
It combines two technologies not seen together in mobile before — a 1-inch LOFIC sensor in the main camera and a mechanical periscope with continuous optical zoom — reducing ghosting and capturing highlights and shadows in a single exposure.
Camera kit details: 23mm 50MP 1-inch main at fixed f/1.67, a 200MP 75–100mm true mechanical optical zoom (not a digital crop), and a 14mm 50MP f/2.2 ultrawide.
This is one of the best camera systems ever used on a smartphone, as was the 15 Ultra.
The sensor is excellent, but Xiaomi's automatic JPEG post-processing is an absolute disaster, and distant faces can look like paint blobs.
Performance
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.
It's by no means a top-notch gaming phone, although the processor is better than the regular 4a's and squeezes out a bit more performance and FPS.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 keeps it firmly in the flagship tier with strong gaming, though sustained behaviour and thermals draw mixed verdicts.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 brings ~20% faster CPU, ~23% faster GPU and peak speeds up to 4.61GHz over the previous generation.
The iPhone has a slight single-core edge but the Xiaomi takes the lead in Geekbench multi-core.
Genshin Impact at very high settings ran 30 minutes at an average of 55.3fps with a 1% frame drop, while lighter titles like Honor of Kings averaged 107.8fps; both front and back stayed around 40°C.
It delivered significantly better gaming performance than the Xiaomi 17 Pro and performed better in the stress test than the 17 Pro with the same 16GB of RAM.
Delta Force ran for 23 minutes straight with impressive thermal management and no notable heating.
Battery & Charging
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.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The single biggest divide in the coverage: lab tests record an excellent active-use score, but the global model's smaller battery, ~10%/hour real-world drain and heat make endurance inconsistent. Charging stepped down to 90W wired / 50W wireless.
The global 17 Ultra earned an excellent active-use battery score of over 19 hours, charging 0–70% in half an hour and to full in just 43 minutes.
After 3 months a user still had around 45% battery left at the end of the day when not using the camera intensively.
For a 6,000mAh battery, ~4 hours of screen-on time over a full day was disappointing — the S26 Ultra's 5,000mAh cell matched or beat it under the same camera-and-navigation use.
In a head-to-head extreme test the 17 Ultra ran hotter and lost more battery than the OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro at nearly every stage, finishing about 8 hours 8 minutes at 43.7°C.
The global model holds ~800mAh less than the China version and drains roughly 10% per hour, so it can't last a full 15-hour day the way the China version does.
Software & AI
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.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The phone's most consistent weakness. HyperOS is widely seen as not up to par with the hardware, with camera-app limitations and an iOS-clone feel — though a minority of long-term owners disagree.
The 17 Ultra perfectly embodies a great camera held back by software — the HyperOS interface is seriously lagging and not up to par with the rest of the phone.
Android Police's verdict: the best camera phone of 2026 has a serious problem.
Camera-app software limitations frustrated reviewers — quick-launch buried in gesture settings and the ultrawide preview looking awful.
After 3 months one owner called HyperOS 3 one of the best versions of Xiaomi software they've used, with 6 years of security support.
Even fans note HyperOS hasn't visibly evolved in years and Xiaomi should work on the software more.
Value vs Competition
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.
While the (4a)'s design is still the best in the Nothing range, the (4a) Pro is a close second, and its speakers sound better than the standard model's.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
A premium price for a premium camera. Reviewers agree the hardware is exceptional but increasingly question whether the global price and software make it the right buy versus the cheaper Xiaomi 17 or rivals.
The 17 Ultra starts from £1,299 / €1,499 (about $1,750) globally, with the limited Leitzphone at £1,699 / €1,999 ($2,300) — right up there with high-end Pixel and Galaxy models.
The 17 Ultra is getting all the attention as a camera-focused device with best-of-the-best specs, but most buyers are likely considering something closer in price to the standard Xiaomi 17.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra's value proposition has weakened compared to the previous generation, though at a discounted price it suddenly becomes excellent value.
Tech Advisor argues the standard Xiaomi 17 actually comes out ahead for most people — bigger 6,330mAh battery, 35+ hours video playback and faster 100W charging.
The bigger 1-inch sensor lets you get significantly closer with nicer background blur, and raw long exposures on a tripod are a real strength the iPhone can't match.
One long-term user found the cameras utterly underwhelming and sometimes downright horrible in video — Xiaomi really needs to fix the processing.
In a direct comparison, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra remained the best camera phone tested — the 17 Ultra didn't stand out as particularly better in any single way, though there's lots to love.
Telephoto closest focusing distance is around 30cm — worse than the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and roughly in line with competitors — and the Ultra showed the weakest resolution among the group when pushed to ~170mm.
Running AnTuTu pushed the phone to 47.5°C — hotter than rival devices measured at 40–42°C.
Xiaomi makes some of the best fingerprint sensors in the game, and the ultrasonic sensor works well even with tempered glass.
JerryRigEverything's battery test had the 17 Ultra last 19.25 hours versus the iPhone 17 Pro Max's 26.5 hours.
Charging stepped down this generation — 90W wired (full charge ~62 minutes) and 50W wireless, down from 80W wireless previously.
It's one of the best phone batteries used on a flagship in recent memory according to a dedicated battery review.
HyperOS still blatantly copies iOS design down to the details, though the animations are near iOS-level — better than stock Android.
It's hard to fully recommend the 17 Ultra to a regular consumer unless that person knows photography and how to switch the camera settings to make it work.
Still, in a vacuum it's an excellent premium flagship with one of the best camera systems around — definitely one of the best phones tested in 2026 so far.
