Nothing Phone (3a) - Yay or Nay?

Introduced to the world in early March, Nothing Phone (3a) was built based on improvements on the acclaimed Phone (2a). Boasting a bunch of new and improved features, Nothing Phone (3a) is here to bring its mid-range lineup up by a notch.

Overall Look and Feel

The Phone (3a) has a slightly more sophisticated look and feel, with significantly upgraded glass back panels, even more defined symmetry in the internal structure, and more polished visual details from front to back. The signature exposed aesthetic is still present in this iteration of the Phone, and brings more focus to the new camera system.

Phone (3a) Camera

The Nothing Phone (3a) comes with the brand’s most advanced camera system thus far, featuring an amped up 50MP main sensor and a Sony ultra-wide sensor. For the first time on a Nothing Phone, the Phone (3a) features optical zoom. Phone (3a) features an extended camera module with a row of three cameras, as compared to Phone (2a).

Phone (3a) Telephoto Camera

Powered by TrueLens Engine 3.0, Phone (3a) comes with a powerful 50MP sensor coupled with a quick f/2.0 aperture for focused shots at its 50mm equivalent focal length. The Phone (3a) allows you to achieve quality shots at 2x and 4x zoom. For objects that are significantly further, the Phone (3a) harnesses AI clarity-enhancing algorithms for up to 30x ultra zoom.

Phone (3a) Front Camera

The Phone (3a) comes with a powerful 32MP front camera, enabling selfies and wefies to be crystal clear.

Display

Phone (3a) is now slightly taller and features less rounded corners, as compared to the past Nothing phones. At 6.77 inches, Phone (3a) boasts Nothing’s largest and brightest display to date. Graphics look pretty clear with full HD+ resolution, and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Interestingly enough, Phone (3a) has a standard touch sampling rate of 48Hz, which is a 100% increase as compared to Phone (2a). This allows you to have a smooth and responsive gaming experience on the Phone (3a). Phone (3a) also boasts up to 1300 nits with auto brightness, giving you no stress when viewing content on it even under the bright sun. You’d definitely be happy to know that peak brightness also now reaches up to 3000 nits, a whopping 131% increase from Phone (2a).

Glyph Interface

The glyph interface is similar to Phone (2a), where it pulls more focus to the powerful camera system on Phone (3a). Leveraging Nothing OS 3.1, the Glyph Interface combines form and function as the trio of lights reacts to counting down on your timer, alerting you when a preferred contact is in touch, and more.

Overall Performance

The Phone (3a) is 92% better at processing AI tasks than Phone (2a), making AI-related tasks more seamless. The CPU is up to 33% faster than Phone (2a), and gaming on Phone (3a) feels faster, and more immersive. Powered by Nothing OS optimizations and Snapdragon® 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform, Phone (3a) delivers even faster performance for daily tasks.

Battery

Phone (3a) leverages on the optimized Snapdragon® 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform features, and uses 8% less power for your daily tasks. This allows you to enjoy at least 30 minutes more power, every single day. With the 5000mAh battery, and with average usage, Phone (3a) can deliver up to two full days of usage on a single full charge. The fast charging capabilities now sit at 50W, and gives you a full day’s power (50%) in just under 20 minutes of fast charging.

Nothing OS 3.1

The new and upgraded OS is finetuned for utility and even more customization. There are significant updates to the Nothing Gallery, Camera, and Weather apps. Nothing OS 3.1 unlocks new personalization features such as going with a monochromatic theme to get rid of distractions, hiding of app labels to have an aesthetically pleasing and clean home screen, and more.

Essential Space + Key

Introducing Essential Space, a brand new, AI-powered hub that allows you to easily snap content with Essential Key and store images, videos, and even voice notes. Situated strategically on the right side of Phone (3a), Essential Key allows you to capture and send content straight to Essential Space. To record a meeting or conversation, long-press Essential Key. Double-tapping it brings you straight to Essential Space to access all of your content quickly.

Yay or Nay?

At an affordable entry price, Nothing Phone (3a) is definitely a fun phone to own and show off to friends and family. There’s no chance that you can find a phone that looks this interesting on the market right now. The aesthetics and OS allows for Phone (3a) to be a good smartphone to perform daily tasks, and even game, with much ease.