Nothing may still be relatively new to the market, but it already has a solid portfolio of products. It includes last year's Nothing Phone (2a), a mid-range device priced lower than Nothing's flagship phone. Despite that, this model has similar design elements, such as the Glyph Interface lights on the back.
This year, Nothing is doing a one-up with its (a) series by introducing the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro. What's interesting about this model is that it's the first Nothing phone equipped with a telephoto camera. This means it offers better clarity in photos when you zoom in and gives users more options for composing images. But is that all for this RM1999 phone? Find out if this is the Nothing upgrade you need in the review below.
Design – Many changes from Nothing Phone (2a)
At a glance, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has a similar rear design to the Nothing Phone (2a). The top half houses the camera lens and Glyph Interface light, while the bottom half houses the design unique to the Nothing smartphones. Its distinct look stands out a lot, especially when compared to the other brands' mid-range phones.
Even so, there are still some noticeable differences. This time, the pattern on the back of the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is notably different from its predecessor's. In our opinion, the new model feels more symmetrical and neat. Of course, looks are subjective, so your mileage may vary.
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro back design
Close-up of the rear cameras
The Glyph Interface surrounding the camera bump
Nothing Phone (2a) vs Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
Another difference is the camera bump. Unlike last year's models, which had flat backs, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has a thicker camera bump. This extra space allowed Nothing to fit in a periscope telephoto camera. On the edges of the camera module are three Glyph Interface LEDs, which light up according to your settings when ringing, receiving notifications and whatever else you set it to do.
The third notable change is on the phone's right side. If you look closely, there's now a new "Essential Key" button next to the power button. This button features a glossy coating to distinguish it from the power button. As for its purpose, pressing it allows users to access unique AI functions to create an "Essential Space". More about that in the next section.
The right side houses the power button and the glossy Essential Key
Volume button on the left side
The phone comes in grey and black colour options
In terms of size, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is not that different from the Nothing Phone (2a). It measures 163.5 x 77.5 x 8.4mm, with a 6.77-inch screen, and weighs 211 grams. The waterproof and dustproof rating has been increased to IP64, meaning it can be splashed with water and still function fully. As for colours, you get two choices for this Pro model: black or grey.
Tech specs and features - Solid setup for a 2025 mid-range
Here are the full specs for the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro:
- 6.77-inch AMOLED screen, 1080×2392 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 3000 nits peak brightness, protected by Panda Glass
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB internal storage
- 50MP main camera + 50MP periscope telephoto camera + 8MP ultra-wide camera
- 50MP front camera
- 5000mAh battery
- 50W fast charging (charger not provided)
- Android 15 operating system with NothingOS 3.1
- Will receive major Android updates for three years
- Stereo speakers
- USB-C 2.0 port, OTG
- Optical fingerprint scanner
On-device specs page
The screen is great for videos and mobile games
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro's specs are on par with other devices in the sub-RM2000 price range. One of its best aspects is the 6.77-inch AMOLED display, which offers Full HD+ resolution with up to 120Hz refresh rate. This display outputs vibrant colours, resulting in videos and games looking amazing. Additionally, the bezels are symmetrical and thin, giving the screen an even, immersive feel. The screen also has up to 3000 nits of brightness, which makes it easy to see even under bright sunlight.
Unlike the Nothing Phone (2a) series, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. Its performance is comparable to the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro used in the Nothing Phone (2a), so it might not feel like an upgrade. However, it does offer some minor improvements over the latter. We'll get back to the performance in the next section, but for now, let's move on.
One of the draws of every Nothing smartphone is the NothingOS operating system. While many Android phones are notorious for bloatware, NothingOS looks and feels like stock Android. It's a lightweight UI with no bloatware found, except for some built-in Nothing functions. It also offers a monochrome colour scheme for all icons if you're into minimalist colours.
Homescreen appearance with a monochrome logo
Left: Unique widget options in NothingOS; Right: Glyph Interface lighting control
NothingOS also offers a variety of interesting widgets to place on the home screen, which you can customise to your preference. As before, NothingOS offers different settings and patterns for the Glyph LEDs at the back of the phone.
Unlike most mid-range phones from other brands offering generative AI functions, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro doesn't pack the same type of functions. Instead, they offer Essential Space, which can be accessed using the Essential Key mentioned earlier. Basically, Essential Space is a personal storage that houses files created with the Essential Key button. This could be screenshots, voice notes, or to-do lists.
You can use the Essential Key as a fast screenshot button, as it can capture a screenshot with a single press. The screenshot can then be accompanied by additional text or audio notes. If you press and hold, you can also take a screenshot and record a voice note.
Depending on what you've saved to the Space, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro can scan the contents using AI to produce summaries, schedule reminders, and more. All screenshots taken with this method are not saved in the Gallery. Instead, they are stored in the Essential Space, which can be accessed by pressing the Essential Key twice.
The Essential Space can list automatic reminders based on the screenshot taken
At first, it would seem like a gimmick from Nothing. But admittedly, we found the Essential Space useful for our daily tasks or activities. During the press briefing for Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, Nothing said that more features will be provided for Essential Key and Essential Space in the future. So far, the functions provided by Essential Space include Camera Capture, Smart Collections, Focused Search and Flip to Record.
Performance – Good for general use
For daily tasks like replying to messages, surfing websites, browsing social media, and watching videos, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro felt as smooth as any phone. The specs obviously helped, but the UI is probably a major contributor to its smooth performance. With 12GB of RAM, it can simultaneously run multiple apps smoothly. The one possible weakness is the 256GB storage, which might be a bit low if you download a lot of games or take a lot of photos.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro's performance is similar to flagship phones from 2021 and 2022
Can maintain stable performance in the 3DMark stress test, which runs for 20 minutes
Speaking of games, we tested PUBG Mobile and Genshin Impact to see if the phone can handle them well. Both games are popular in Malaysia, so they're our go-to options for testing games. The former is less graphically demanding, while Genshin taxes a phone's CPU and GPU. As such, we can see how a phone handles such games under high graphics settings.
From our test runs, PUBG Mobile can be played comfortably on high graphics settings. But the same can't be said for Genshin Impact. The phone can't run Genshin on high graphics settings, especially with the frame rate at 60fps. Lowering the graphics settings solved the problem, but it meant choosing between better graphics or smoother gameplay. Of course, gaming performance is not the Nothing Phone (3a)'s main strength, so this is understandable.
No problem playing PUBG Mobile
For Genshin Impact, it is better to lower the graphics settings for a smoother experience
In terms of battery life, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro can last for a day without any problems if you use it for daily tasks. When playing games, a 30-minute session for PUBG Mobile uses around 7% of the battery, while high graphics games like Genshin Impact would use around 11% in 30 minutes.
For charging, this phone supports 50W wired fast charging but the charger is not included. Instead, we used a third-party charger rated at 65W and it took about an hour to fully charge from empty. Like most mid-range phones, it does not support wireless charging.
Charging from 2% to 97% took 54 minutes
Now let's talk about the camera performance. This phone has a full range of lenses for various situations, including the 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera and more interestingly, a 50MP periscope telephoto camera. The latter is a rare entry for a phone in this price range, which gives it a lot of value.
Overall, this phone's cameras can take beautiful and satisfying photos, even in low light. The colours may be too saturated for some users, so the image quality is subject to preference. As for us, the colour saturation didn't bother us that much. The front camera can also produce neat selfies, so that's another plus point.
Main camera
Portrait mode
Ultra-wide
Night Mode
Selfie with Night Mode
For zoom, the periscope telephoto camera provides 3x optical zoom and up to 60x digital zoom. The 3x zoom image quality looks beautiful, and even up to 6x it still looks good. But when you go 10x zoom, the image quality starts to drop.
Even though it doesn't have a macro lens, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro's camera app still offers a Macro mode; we tried taking a few close-up shots and the results were solid. Another interesting feature of this camera UI is the presets. With presets, you get quick access to your frequently used photography settings. You can also create custom presets, and then share them with the Nothing community or vice versa.
3x zoom photos
6x zoom photos
10x zoom photos
Macro photos
As for video recording, you can record videos in 4K resolution at up to 30fps. Not getting 60fps may seem disappointing, but that's expected for a mid-range phone. Regardless, there are a few things you should note about the video recording on this phone.
First, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro can only record 4K videos with the main camera. You can't use the telephoto camera, meaning no beautiful zoomed videos. Of course, you can still record zoomed-in videos with the telephoto camera, but only in 1080p. As for the ultra-wide camera, it also records only in 1080p but not in 4K.
Conclusion – A solid budget option for people looking to try a Nothing device
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro offers a great experience for most users, especially with the NothingOS. The UI is close to stock Android but retains a unique feel, making it great for people who want something different. In addition, the phone's appearance also stands out compared to other mid-range phones, without feeling as over the top as some gaming phones.
The camera also offers a complete photography experience, where you can zoom in closer and still get beautiful image quality. For software, the Essential Space function is still in its early stages, but it's an interesting way to use AI. The company has confirmed that more Essential Space functions will be added in future updates, so we're looking forward to what else Nothing will do with the system.
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro vs (3a)
If you are looking for an alternative to this phone, you can consider the Nothing Phone (3a) (RM1699). It features very similar specifications to the Pro variant, except with a more affordable price and a shorter 2x optical zoom. Apart from that, the Samsung Galaxy A56 (RM1999) is also suitable if you are interested in generative AI functions, or the OPPO Reno13 (RM2299) if you want a sleek phone that can take pictures while submerged in water.
So, does the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro sound like the phone for you? And was this review helpful for you? Let us know in the comments below! Also, stay tuned to TechNave.com for more reviews like this.
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