One of the reasons I’m drawn to Nothing’s smartphones and earbuds is that it always tries to bring something new to the table. The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s excellent screen, great battery life, and handy triple-camera array tick many boxes, and it’s one of the best phones I’ve tried in 2025 so far—especially at this price point.
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro stands out with a vibrant 6.77-inch AMOLED display, strong all-day battery life, and a surprisingly capable triple-camera setup—including a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and 12GB RAM, it handles most tasks with ease, even if it won’t max out the latest games. Nothing’s signature transparent design and refined Glyph interface add flair, while long-term software support and clever features like Essential Space and Smart Drawer round out a tidy, feature-packed phone.
- Trademark unique design
- Good cameras for wide-range of uses
- Great battery life, all day usage
- Screen is nice and vibrant
- Long-term device support
- Essential Space needs some more work
- Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 holds its performance back
- Mixed support in the US
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Price and Availability
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is available in the US direct from Nothing for $459 in grey or black. Your other consideration is network compatibility. The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro should work fine on the big three US carriers, but it’s worth calling customer support before making the switch to make sure your IMEI is whitelisted.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro Feels Both New and Familiar
I really like the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s design, which builds on the circular design first introduced with the Nothing (2a) in March 2024. It’s a cleaner, more polished design by Nothing, and the first to use such a pronounced camera housing. Now, that camera housing is important, as it’s central to the Phone (3a) Pro’s upgraded camera quality, but more on this in a moment.
Nothing’s iconic Glyph interface and its array of LEDs blend around the camera housing; it’s a very different approach from the original Nothing Phone, which lit up like a Christmas tree. You still have the Glyph interface, but like the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s overall design, it feels a bit more grown-up.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has tempered Panda Glass front and a tempered glass rear, and of course, the rear panel lets you take a peek at the smartphone’s internals. Similar to the Glyph interface, most folks are now accustomed to the transparent rear, so it doesn’t have the same “wow” factor as previous versions. Still, I have the grey (3a) Pro and it looks great with its screws and ribbons on display.
Even if it’s not as eye-catching as before, there is no denying that Nothing’s smartphone designs are among the most unique, and it always provides a talking point for those who haven’t seen one before.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is a shade larger than previous models, too, measuring 6.43 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches, weighing a very standard and well-balanced 211g (7.44 oz). For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro weighs 7.0 oz, while the Samsung S25+ weighs 6.7 oz.
Bright, Vibrant Display
Now, onto one of the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s best features: its 6.77-inch AMOLED display. With a refresh rate of 120Hz and increased 1,300 nits brightness (3,000 nits peak), it’s a high-quality, vibrant screen.
I was suitably impressed while watching an 8K HDR video (at 1080p60) to test the Phone (3a) Pro battery, where it was bright and full of rich colors. But it’s also a lovely screen for watching movies and shows, with decent black levels and contrast between colors.
It’s a similar story with games. I took Wreckfest for a spin and found the Phone (3a) Pro kept up perfectly, with only the odd frame dropped here and there. While Wreckfest isn’t the most colorful game, it’s fast and furious and looks good on the Phone (3a) Pro.
NothingOS Software Is Suave, but I’d Love Some Color
I do wonder if Nothing should opt for a different color scheme instead of its monochrome approach. For one, the monochrome doesn’t help to show the best qualities of its AMOLED screen; the black and white, muted color scheme would look good on most screens, so why not go for something more eye-catching, or at least throw some color pops in there to keep it fresh?
For me, the first port of call on my Nothing Phone is to adjust the apps and background to bring some vibrancy to the screen. It also relieves my other pet hate about NothingOS: I can’t always tell what app I’m looking for at a glance. The style is cool, but I find it difficult to differentiate between apps, at least when I want to find something quickly. I’d rather my icons have that color reference for quick selection.
One new tool for NothingOS helps alleviate this issue. Smart Drawer automatically groups similar apps into handy folders, making it easier to navigate to a specific set of apps to find the one I want.
With that said, I am a big fan of how passionate Nothing is about curating a fluid Android smartphone experience, with particular detail given to its enormous range of widgets. It makes it easy to customize your home page and bring useful information to the fore without having to install extra packs, rely on other apps, and so on. Its “AI” wallpaper generator is another handy addition to the customization mixture, too. You choose two of the 30 combo cards and let Nothing’s wallpaper AI work its magic, creating a unique design for your smartphone. It’s not like a wild, mind-blowing experience, but it’s definitely a nice touch.
Nothing continues to smash it out of the park with its long-term device support, offering three years of major Android updates, with six years of security updates. I’m impressed with that.
I Really Want to Love the Essential Space
One feature that will divide Nothing users is the new Essential Space and the Essential Key. It’s about the only place Nothing has pushed AI (wallpaper creation aside), and I can see the potential of this app. Currently, the Essential Space is a handy AI-powered catalog of your screenshots and voice notes that, given time, can begin to remind and prompt you at specific times, send reminders, and generally keep you on top of your life. It’s a great idea and one that any long-term Nothing user should devote some time to.
I’ve used the Nothing Essential Space on the Nothing Phone (3a), the (3a) Pro’s more budget-focused sibling, to mixed success. Note that I’m mentioning using it on the other device as I’ve had longer using the regular (3a) model than the Pro, and really, time is what the Essential Space needs. To make it work, you have to be quite dedicated to adding your screenshots of meeting times and other information you need regular reminders of, plus the odd voice note to bring it to life.
The reality is that, as someone who works from home and spends most of the day in front of the computer, this feature is somewhat lost on me. My reminders are in my calendar, a note, or in my WhatsApp messages with my wife, where most of our weekly planning takes place. However, I can see Essential Space as an absolutely brilliant tool for anyone with a busy schedule, who needs a constant stream of reminders, and who can get into the rhythm of taking those screenshots to give Nothing’s AI tool the required data.
But that’s mainly a user issue and perhaps not the problem of the Essential Space. I did find it useful at times for reeling off some ideas for articles that I wanted to quickly get down before they enter the ether; the flipside is that would a regular voice note work the same?
One other problem arises from the Essential Space, and it’s the new Essential Key—I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve tapped this button instead of the power button. For me, the Essential Button should have been placed on the opposite side, underneath the volume keys, to avoid confusion and protect the sanctity of the power button. I eventually got used to its location between the regular iPhone (3a) and iPhone 3a Pro, but I still have to occasionally double-check that I’m tapping the right button.
Plenty Powerful Performance
Nothing has opted to power the Phone (3a) Pro with a decent Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 along with 12GB RAM. It’s a good combination that delivers enough power for most tasks, but you’re not going to be enjoying the most hardcore games on high settings.
For example, in my battery test with Wreckfest (battery information in the next section), the game was limited to 30 FPS with some textures and other graphics turned down. The game played absolutely fine, but it’s a drop off from say, the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. You’ll notice the drawdown in FPS in games like Genshin Impact or other similarly demanding titles.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro isn’t really found wanting, mind. It’s still plenty powerful for most tasks, and I didn’t notice any slowdown with multiple apps open, multiple browser tabs, and so on. So, it’s not a performance powerhouse, but it’s more than enough for most folks.
Impressive Battery Life, Handy Fast Charging
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro battery life is another big plus point, and I’ve been impressed with both its fast charging and power usage under load.
It picked up a handy 34 percent battery in a 15-minute test, and 55 percent battery in 30 minutes. A full charge took just under an hour.
Then, it only lost 8 percent charge during a one-hour 1080p60 HDR test at 75 percent brightness, which is great for all-day usage, especially if you can drop the brightness a bit to save some extra power. The Phone (3a) Pro saw a 6 percent drop while playing Wreckfest for 30 minutes at 100 percent brightness, which is again great for those out and about and away from a charger.
I will note that Wreckfest was capped at 30 FPS and had some settings turned down, but it’s a solid showing from the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s battery either way.
Handy, Adaptable Camera Options
The larger housing on the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is home to three cameras: a main 50MP, a 50MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide.
It’s a strong combination, as most smartphones at this price point don’t feature such a powerful optical zoom on the telephoto lens. It means the Phone (3a) Pro is actually quite a versatile option, and can shoot a wide range of shots, all with good quality. I find the color quality rather good, though I think some extra AI processing is taking place to boost the overall output.
I particularly liked the macro shots the Phone (3a) Pro takes, as it captures a high level of detail without adding too much of a processed style to the final image.
The zoom quality is also good, capturing a good amount of detail while correcting for the distance between you and your subject. It also captured moving subjects well, allowing some of the finer details to shine through.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro features a 32MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The standard shots from this front-facing camera are sharp, and having the option to adjust the aperture to create some depth is a nice touch.
Overall, the Phone (3a) Pro’s triple camera array is a strong combination that delivers high-quality images, almost no matter the subject.
Should You Buy the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro?
If you can pick the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro up for its $459 retail price, or less in a sale, you’re onto a winner. Its 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen is excellent, and its battery life will keep you going all day and more.
While the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 isn’t the most powerful chip, for this price, you’re getting a fantastic smartphone that will handle almost everything you throw at it. Add the fantastic cameras, and Nothing has crafted yet another excellent smartphone that could be 2025’s best budget smartphone.
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro stands out with a vibrant 6.77-inch AMOLED display, strong all-day battery life, and a surprisingly capable triple-camera setup—including a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and 12GB RAM, it handles most tasks with ease, even if it won’t max out the latest games. Nothing’s signature transparent design and refined Glyph interface add flair, while long-term software support and clever features like Essential Space and Smart Drawer round out a tidy, feature-packed phone.
