If the latest crop of premium pricey Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S25, Xiaomi 15, OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic 7 Pro have all been too expensive for you to consider upgrading, UK tech start up Nothing is hitting back with two new smartphones for much more palatable prices.
The Nothing Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro have just been launched at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, sporting bold, eye-catching designs that are similar to previous Nothing phones but evolve the look for this new generation.
The two phones have very similar specs, sharing the same 6.77-inch AMOLED display, same Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, and similar transparent designs that show some of the internals as well as three ‘Glyph’ lights that flash when the phones are face down to indicate various notifications or app activity.
They also both have 5,000mAh batteries that charge at zippy 50W speeds (but there’s no charger in the box) and are IP64 rated for water and dust resistance.
Both devices have matte plastic sides but glass backs, different to the all-plastic construction of 2024’s Nothing Phone 2a and 2a Plus that should add a little weight but give a more premium feel to what are still mid-range price phones. The 3a starts at £329 while the 3a Pro will set you back at least £449.
That makes the 3a cheaper than Samsung’s recently announced £399 Galaxy A36, while the 3a Pro undercuts the £499 Galaxy A56.
That said, the 3a phones are absolutely ginormous, with similar dimensions to whoppers such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Cheaper no longer means smaller in the phone world.
The difference in price appears to be because of the camera set ups. Both phones have similar 50MP main sensors, but Nothing says the one on the Pro “further elevates the experience with advanced sensor technologies, offering 43 percent faster auto-focus and double the pixel full well capacity, allowing for more detail in harsh lighting conditions”.
The phones also share 8MP ultra-wide lenses, but these are the first Nothing phones to ever have dedicated telephoto zoom lenses. The 3a sports a 50MP 2x optical zoom lens that Nothing says can lossless digital zoom up to 4x.
The Pro’s other upgrade is a 50MP periscope telephoto 3x optical zoom lens that can handle up to 6x ‘in-sensor’ zoom and a 60x ultra zoom.
It’s rare to see a periscope zoom lens on a phone at this price point. Periscope lenses use mirrors stacked on one another to recreate the effect of a traditional camera’s long zoom range, but are normally only found on expensive flagships. Along with the slightly different main camera, that’s the only hardware or software difference between these two phones, so you’re going to have to ask yourself if £120 more is worth the spend.
The camera module on the 3a Pro is therefore quite different to the regular 3a to accommodate the periscope, with a large circular unit that sticks out from the back of the device, with an intentionally asymmetrical, almost abstract art lens arrangement. It’s an acquired taste, for sure, and comes in grey or black.
Over on the 3a, the lenses are more uniformly straight in what, design-wise, is a simple update of the Phone 2a’s design. White and black versions are available, but the real winner here is a lovely blue version that will certainly turn heads.
Another major addition to these two phones is a brand new hardware button on the right edge underneath the power button, which opens a new app called Essential Space.
“Essential Space is a new, AI-powered hub for notes, ideas, and inspirations,” Nothing said in a press release. “Taking the friction out of logging and recalling content, it can capture, process and remember – just like a second memory.”
Pressing the button saves a screenshot to the app, rather like you can do on the Pixel 9 phones with the Pixel Screenshots app. But Nothing takes it further, letting you long press to record a voice note or double tapping the button to head to the app.
You can organise all your notes, and there’s even AI to help you sort them. Buying a 3a or 3a Pro will give you early access to this feature, which Nothing says will be improved in the coming months with new tools such as Camera Capture, Smart Collections, Focused Search and Flip to Record.
The Nothing Phone 3a is available to pre-order today, while the 3a Pro will be available to order from March 11.
