Nothing Phone (4a) vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Nothing Phone (4a)

Nothing

8.3

The mid-ranger that stands out

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Samsung

7.9

Bigger cover screen, same compromises

Nothing Phone (4a)

What Reviewers Agree On

Distinctive Glyph design that stands out in a sea of black slabs — widely called one of the best-looking phones at its price
Excellent big screen for the money: a 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED, HDR10+, ~1,600 nits outdoor and a 4,500-nit HDR peak
Near-stock Nothing OS ranked among the best Android experiences, highly customisable and clean
A rare 3.5x (80mm) periscope telephoto at this price, adding real flexibility most budget rivals lack
A clear, substantial upgrade over the Phone 3a / Phone 3, fixing earlier design problems
Strong value — cheaper than the $500 Pixel 10a while feeling more premium than the price suggests

Pros & Cons

Nothing Phone (4a)

Pros

Distinctive Glyph design that stands out in a sea of black slabs — widely called one of the best-looking phones at its price
Excellent big screen for the money: a 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED, HDR10+, ~1,600 nits outdoor and a 4,500-nit HDR peak
Near-stock Nothing OS ranked among the best Android experiences, highly customisable and clean
A rare 3.5x (80mm) periscope telephoto at this price, adding real flexibility most budget rivals lack
A clear, substantial upgrade over the Phone 3a / Phone 3, fixing earlier design problems

Detailed Comparison

Cameras

Nothing Phone (4a)

A standout 3.5x periscope telephoto at this price and a solid main camera, undercut by an under-optimised zoom and a basic ultrawide.

A triple setup — 50MP main, a 50MP periscope telephoto and an 8MP ultrawide — undoubtedly one of the best experiences at this level.
The telephoto has been tweaked to a much better 3.5x (80mm) zoom factor.
A telephoto with optical zoom at this price is great, but this is the worst optimisation I've seen on a 3.5x camera — expect disappointment if you buy for the zoom.
The 3.5x optical-zoom telephoto is one of the biggest highlights, adding much more flexibility than most competitors in this price range, and the cameras are surprisingly capable.
Each camera here feels better than what you'd get on Samsung at the price, and the main is solid with nice detail.

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Buy Nothing Phone (4a)

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

What Reviewers Agree On

Big new 3.4-inch Flex Window cover display fits widgets, a full keyboard and even Netflix/YouTube — the headline upgrade over the Flip 4's 1.9-inch panel
New waterdrop hinge folds completely flat with no gap — same mechanical improvement as the Fold 5
Same bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Fold 5 / S23 family — flagship-grade performance, much better efficiency than Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1
Pocketable, fashion-foldable form factor with a 6.7-inch FHD+ LTPO 1-120Hz inner display
Base storage doubled to 256GB at the same $999 starting price as the Flip 4
4 OS + 5 years of security updates — same industry-leading commitment as the S23 family

Deal Breakers

3,700mAh battery is the lineup's weakest — real-world SOT noticeably worse than slab phones (GSMArena measured ~15h video / 12h web)
Cover-screen app support is awkward — Netflix on the cover is 'the worst way to watch streaming content', native apps require workarounds at launch
Cameras unchanged from the Flip 4 (12MP+12MP, no telephoto) — meaningful gap vs Flip 6/7 and slab flagship cameras
25W wired charging only (~1h-1.5h to full), and Flip 5 charges to 100% slower than the Flip 4 at the same wattage
Build-quality concerns: r/Android owners flag protective film peeling, hinge area fragility, and 22:9 tall aspect 'awful for media'
IPX8 only — no dust rating

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Pros

Big new 3.4-inch Flex Window cover display fits widgets, a full keyboard and even Netflix/YouTube — the headline upgrade over the Flip 4's 1.9-inch panel
New waterdrop hinge folds completely flat with no gap — same mechanical improvement as the Fold 5
Same bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the Fold 5 / S23 family — flagship-grade performance, much better efficiency than Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1
Pocketable, fashion-foldable form factor with a 6.7-inch FHD+ LTPO 1-120Hz inner display
Base storage doubled to 256GB at the same $999 starting price as the Flip 4
4 OS + 5 years of security updates — same industry-leading commitment as the S23 family

Cons

3,700mAh battery is the lineup's weakest — real-world SOT noticeably worse than slab phones (GSMArena measured ~15h video / 12h web)
Cover-screen app support is awkward — Netflix on the cover is 'the worst way to watch streaming content', native apps require workarounds at launch
Cameras unchanged from the Flip 4 (12MP+12MP, no telephoto) — meaningful gap vs Flip 6/7 and slab flagship cameras
25W wired charging only (~1h-1.5h to full), and Flip 5 charges to 100% slower than the Flip 4 at the same wattage
Build-quality concerns: r/Android owners flag protective film peeling, hinge area fragility, and 22:9 tall aspect 'awful for media'

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Same 12MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 10MP selfie camera duo as the Flip 4 — the SD 8 Gen 2 image processing helps, but lack of a telephoto and unchanged sensors are real gaps versus rivals.

Cameras unchanged from the Flip 4 — 12MP main (f/1.8, OIS) + 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2) + 10MP cover selfie. No telephoto.
Use the main 12MP camera as a selfie camera by flipping it and previewing on the cover screen — best part of the foldable camera experience.
Image quality holds its own thanks to 8 Gen 2 processing — but the hardware ceiling is meaningfully lower than the S23/Razr+ 2023 main cameras.
Reddit owner verdict: 'worse cameras, battery life and performance' than a Pixel 7 Pro at the same money — Flip 5 trades raw camera for form factor.

Performance

Nothing Phone (4a)

A capable mid-range chip that handles everyday use and casual gaming well — not a powerhouse, but appropriate for the price.

Gaming is absolutely possible on this device, with solid everyday performance for the class.
There's no shortage of substantial hardware upgrades over the 3a, even if the design doesn't stand out as much as the Pro.
After 24 hours the home screen is extremely customisable and feels massively more functional than iOS, with no responsiveness complaints.
Gesture-based navigation is fully supported and the overall experience is good thanks to Nothing's optimisations.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

Bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz) — same chip as the S23 family and Fold 5. Flagship-grade for everyday use and noticeably more efficient than the Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy at 3.36GHz + 8GB RAM + 256GB UFS 4.0 base — same chip as the S23 family in a Flip form factor.
New chip is faster AND more efficient than the Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1 — battery life improvement comes from chip + 10% larger cell combined.
Two years in (2025), still smooth for everyday use — chip + 8GB RAM have aged well thanks to Samsung's update cadence.

Battery & Charging

Nothing Phone (4a)

A ~5,080mAh cell with 50W wired charging — reviewers call endurance strong, but a notable group of owners report disappointing screen-on time.

The Nothing Phone (4a) features a ~5,080mAh cell which delivers very strong endurance in everyday use.
The battery grew slightly — about 80mAh in most markets but a more meaningful 400mAh in India — with a 50W PD unit recommended on the box.
Several owners report only 4–6.5 hours of screen-on time with moderate use — worse than other phones with similar ~5,000mAh batteries.
Battery life on this phone is excellent in everyday use.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

3,700mAh — only 10% more than the Flip 4 and the lineup's weakest. GSMArena measured ~15h video / 12h Wi-Fi web. 25W charging is slow, and oddly the Flip 5 takes longer to reach 100% than the Flip 4.

3,700mAh battery — only ~10% larger than the Flip 4. The lineup's weak spot, especially next to slab flagships with 4,500-5,000mAh.
GSMArena testing: just over 15 hours of video playback and 12 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing — 'not amazing, not half bad either'.
Real-world: about 1 hour more SOT per day than the Flip 4 thanks to chip + cell improvements — meaningful but still behind comparable slab phones.
25W charging matches the Flip 4 in the first 30 minutes — but oddly takes longer to reach 100% than the Flip 4 did.
15W Qi wireless charging supported and 4.5W reverse wireless — top up Galaxy Buds while traveling.