I've been testing Nothing's latest – Is the Phone (3a) Pro a Samsung-beating upgrade?

In the run up to Mobile World Congress – a giant mobile phone show held in Barcelona each year – there are a lot of phone reveals. I've already published thoughts on Samsung's Galaxy A56 and Xiaomi's 15 Ultra, reflecting the mid-tier to upper echelons of the best Android phones to come this year. But the brand that might steal the show and, indeed, fans' interest the most? Nothing is certainly in with a shout.

The London-based brand has just revealed its Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro devices – both of which I've had in my possession for over a week and, following on from my above Xiaomi review, I've been using the Pro as my personal device for a long weekend, with a full and final review forthcoming.

The (3a) Pro is a new sub-category that still slots in among the best affordable phones – read my Phone (3a) vs (3a) Pro comparison here – but is it truly a worthy addition? The Pro ups the camera ante, for sure, but it also ups the cost compared to last year's 'cheap phone champion', the Nothing Phone (2a). With that in mind, here are my initial impressions...

How much does the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro cost?

Let's start with the fact that, at launch, 2024's Nothing Phone (2a) was priced at £319 ($349 via the US Developer Program in the USA). It's even less now, with great offers further knocking that asking price down – as you can see in the shopping widget embedded above.

The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, however, will be priced at £449 at launch ($459 / AU849), so it's a big step up. The less camera-adorned Nothing Phone (3a) – i.e. the 'non-Pro' base version – is priced at a more reflective echo of its predecessor, at £329 / $379 / AU$459 (Australian access is via the US Developer Program only).

Pre-orders are open right now, with the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro going on sale from 25 March. The base Nothing (3a), however, will be available sooner – from 11 March. In the UK, mobile operator EE is offering both devices on contract, so you don't have to buy outright.

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro: What's New?

• Periscope 3x zoom: 50MP (Sony Lytia 600), f/2.55, optical stabilisation (OIS)
• Larger display, at 6.77in – also brighter than ever before, at 3000 nits peak
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, 8GB RAM
• Glyph Lighting: 26 individually assignable zones
• Greater dust resistant (IP64 rated)
• New 'Essential Key' button
• Essential Space tasks

There's never been a 'Pro' Nothing phone prior to this release, so the Phone (3a) Pro is an entirely new product category for the brand – albeit one that sits in among the mid-tier 'a' family, alongside its Phone (3a) companion.

Thing is, it's not 'the most Pro' device that Nothing sells, as there's the Nothing Phone (2) – and, presumably, there'll be a Phone (3) to follow later in 2025 (one that's even 'more Pro' despite lacking the accolade in its name)? So I do find the naming somewhat obscure.

Nonetheless, there are a couple ways to view the (3a) Pro: versus the base (3a) model – as per my comparison, here – or as a significant upgrade over the earlier (2a) model. It's certainly the latter, owed to its cameras, with a new 3x optical zoom (using a periscope system) being the most significant of its Pro-specific features.

The design is different, too, with a much larger rear camera enclosure, which brings an end to the 'cute-eyed' Phone (2a)'s looks. The Phone (3a) Pro is much more at home with its Xiaomi 15 and Oppo Find X8 Pro and OnePlus 13 companions, from a style perspective at least.

It still manages to look unique, though, given the transparent rear and a semi-visible internals. It avoids the hyper-glossy exterior that's such a fingerprint magnet for the likes of Samsung's A56, though, which I think is a major positive. Not to mention, the Nothing handset is actually a Samsung-beating lower price – which puts into perspective how good value it really is.

The Phone (3a) Pro's rear camera enclosure is now a massive protrusion, though, a byproduct of that new periscope lens. The base Phone (3a) does also have a significant camera section, to be fair, but it's not a giant circular one – it's gone with a bar-shape instead.

There's more too: of the four physical buttons there's a new Essential Key, which opens the Essential Space – Nothing's approach for AI-supported tasks, based on screengrabs, notes and your manual sorting of these. Nothing isn't shouting "artificial intelligence" from the rooftops, though, which I find a refreshing approach.

Nothing Phone (3a) review: Spec & Performance

• Glyph Lighting: 3 LED lights with '26 individually assignable zones'
• 6.77-inch OLED display, 1080 x 2412 pixels, 120Hz, 3000 nits peak
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, 8GB RAM
• IP64 dust- and water-resistance rating
• 5000mAh battery capacity
• 50W wired charging

A big part of Nothing's design distinction is its inclusion of LED lights on its rear, called Glyphs, which can flash in sequence, for example, for specific notifications. The 'a' series stripped back the number of LEDs to three – the full-fat Nothing Phone 2 has 11 lights by comparison – but these are addressable in 26 zones. This sectioned approach means you can witness the large LED light strip 'fill up' to show, say, a countdown timer maxing out, among other app-based use cases.

The Nothing Phone (3a) series doesn't change the trio of LED lights, it's the same as the series prior – and the Pro model sticks with the same ideal as the base (3a) model. The light positions haven't moved, despite the significant new camera enclosure, maintaining consistency from generation to generation – which is sensible, I think, for brain muscle memory for any current users who are upgrading.

Inside the device, Nothing has shifted from MediaTek chipset to Qualcomm in this generation: it's a Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 paired with 8GB RAM (for the UK, 12GB versions will be available in India, apparently). Having now used the handset for a few days, I must say there's minor stuttering in performance when loading some apps or in certain sequences, which is a shame. Furthermore, as the software is beta, it's unable to run Google Wallet at present, as one example, so until that's fully signed off there's no NFC payment access.

I need to spend more time really living with the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, which I'll be testing more thoroughly during Mobile World Congress, but its performance so far seems very fitting of its mid-tier designation. Same can be said of the battery, which even at 5000mAh capacity has been hitting the red before the end of a day – I'd expect greater longevity per charge, but this will likely improve with more charging cycles in testing.

The screen is a quality scale, resolution and brightness – although the auto-brightness adjustment seems to be unpredictable at present. I've often had to manually adjust it when moving from contrasting environments, or in a dim bedroom in the morning when the sun's come up. I think it just needs a little smoothing around the edges in the software.

Nothing Phone (3a) review: Cameras

• Main: 50-megapixel, f1/.9 aperture, optical stabilisation (OIS)
• 3x periscope: 50MP (Sony Lytia 600), f/2.55, EIS & OIS
• Wide: 8MP, f/2.2
• Front: 50MP, f/2.2

The single biggest reason to consider the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro over the base Nothing Phone (3a) is the cameras. Not only does it have that more significant periscope zoom, however, the main camera is a different sensor – giving the Pro even more ability in its low-light capture, in theory.

I've yet to dig deeply into the camera setup, hence (in part) why this preview isn't at full review status. But I'll certainly be shooting a lot more at various events around Barcelona to get the utmost from this new camera arrangement.

It's got a lot of potential for a mid-tier setup, even though the wide-angle is the weak point – just as you'll find in the Samsung Galaxy A56 and others. I've also noticed when jumping between lenses – the app offers 0.6x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 6x – there's a notable shift in colour and quality.

Nothing Phone (3a) review: Early Verdict

After initial stages of testing, I'm generally impressed by the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro. It's a savvily positioned product, when you consider it has a massive periscope zoom camera – yet costs less than Samsung's Galaxy A56, far less than Apple's iPhone 16e, and when Google inevitably announces a Pixel 9a I suspect that will cost more too.

It's not all roses, though, as the processor and software does show some signs of weakness – in beta there's no Google Wallet payments; there's also some minor stutters when loading some apps – and the price jump from the base Phone (3a) to the Pro is significant.

But if you really want that zoom camera upgrade and are accepting of the large camera enclosure then the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is a great, affordable Android phone with a bunch of positives to upsell it versus its competition.

Also consider

While there aren't many competitors at this price with zoom lenses, at a similar asking price you can obtain quality Samsung (Galaxy A56), Google (Pixel 8a – until the 9a likely appears) and Apple (iPhone 16e) options.

Want to stay within Nothing but don't care for the zoom? Then the base Phone (3a) or last year's now even cheaper Phone (2a) are solid options too.