Nothing Phone (4a) Pro Review: A Close Second

Good performance. Nice screen. Reliable artillery life. Solid triple-camera strategy with 3.5X zoom. Unique bundle design. Glyph matrix is fun.

May person immoderate web incompatibility with Verizon and AT&T. No wireless charging. Only IP65-rated. Software update argumentation could beryllium better.

Thanks to the RAM crisis, it's a weird infinitesimal for smartphones. Samsung accrued the prices of its caller midrange and flagship phones, and Motorola precocious debuted its Moto G Stylus 2026 with a higher price. Some telephone makers are trying to support spec changes to a minimum without raising the MSRP, similar Google's Pixel 10a, which is astir indistinguishable from its predecessor.

London-based Nothing isn't immune to these woes; its caller Phone (4a) Pro costs $499, a tiny bump from past year's Phone (3a) Pro, present rivaling the Moto G Stylus 2026, Pixel 10a, and Galaxy A57. I person been utilizing it for astir a month, and I've been rather blessed with it. It's not my archetypal prime if my fund is $500, but it's a adjacent second, and I'm gladsome determination are inactive immoderate options for US customers who are progressively facing constricted choices successful the market. I americium focusing connected the Phone (4a) Pro successful this reappraisal alternatively than the cheaper Phone (4a), which isn't sold successful the US.

Space Age

Nothing gave the Pro exemplary of its midrange A-series phones a caller look this year, which is simply a bully thing, arsenic the past introduction was very top-heavy with a chunky camera bump. It's a small much tasteful here, though inactive dazzingly unsocial similar astir Nothing products. There's a chiseled space-age consciousness present with the colors, bulbous glass, and the Glyph Matrix—the tiny circular show borrowed from the Nothing Phone (3).

The Glyph Matrix is simply a small simpler here. You tin usage it to spot the clip erstwhile your telephone is look down, a timer counting down, and a artillery indicator. My favourite relation is utilizing it arsenic a pixelated reflector erstwhile I privation to instrumentality a selfie with the superior rear cameras—the Matrix shows an outline of your look truthful you tin enactment up the changeable perfectly. You tin besides acceptable up icons to amusement for circumstantial messages, truthful I person a bosom icon for anytime my woman messages oregon calls me.

The metallic physique feels large for $499, though it's a shame the IP standing is lone IP65 alternatively of IP68 similar its competitors. That usually means it tin grip rainfall but not h2o submersion (like an accidental driblet successful the pool); however, Nothing says the Pro tin grip afloat submersion successful astir 10 inches for 20 minutes. It's not rather arsenic bully arsenic 1 metre for 30 minutes (IP68), but it's something.

Performance has been strong, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (I person the 12 GB RAM and 256 GB retention version, but it starts with 8/128 GB). My benchmark scores inactive enactment it beneath the Pixel 10a, but it tin grip astir apps and games conscionable fine. You volition request to tweak the graphics settings of much demanding titles to play them smoothly. The lone insignificant quibble I person is that scrolling successful prime apps, similar the Marketplace tab successful the Facebook app, is precise choppy, though this could beryllium a screen-refresh-rate bug (it goes up to 144 Hz).

Screen brightness has improved, and I was capable to presumption the Phone (4a) Pro's surface connected a sunny time conscionable fine. However, Nothing's auto-brightness diagnostic could usage immoderate work. It perpetually brightened oregon darkened the surface erstwhile I wanted the nonstop opposite, truthful I often had to set the slider.

Battery beingness has been much than adequate. The 5,080-mAh compartment easy lasts maine a afloat day, and that's with much than 7 hours of screen-on time. I precocious broke my leg, truthful I'm usually sitting successful 1 spot and connected my phone. I often extremity up with 20 percent near by 9 p.m. oregon so, and the Phone (4a) Pro has managed to grip hours of watching Instagram Reels without contented (don't judge). It recharges reasonably quickly, though I inactive deliberation Nothing should person added wireless charging arsenic an alternate mode to foodstuff up; the Pixel 10a supports it.

Initially, erstwhile I acceptable up the phone, it didn't link to my eSIM. I had to manually crook connected eSIM functionality aft mounting it up, and was past capable to link it to my carrier, Google Fi. Thankfully, I haven't had immoderate connectivity problems since. The telephone should enactment connected each large carriers successful the US, though you whitethorn person to bash immoderate other legwork if you're connected AT&T oregon Verizon (and their consequent MVNOs) to get the telephone whitelisted connected the network.

Three Cameras

Outside of design, what makes the Phone (4a) Pro unsocial astatine this $499 terms is that it's 1 of the lone phones with a triple-camera system: a 50-MP main camera, an 8-MP ultrawide, and a 50-MP telephoto zoom offering 3.5X zoom. I'm perpetually utilizing the telephoto cameras connected a smartphone, truthful its availability present connected a midrange telephone is greatly appreciated.

I've been rather blessed with the results from the cameras. Photos look rather earthy and detailed, with pleasing colors and bully exposure. The large flaw is that the cameras don't execute each that large successful debased light, particularly compared to the Pixel 10a. They tin conflict successful high-contrast scenes and are prone to a shutter delay, truthful you person to beryllium precise inactive erstwhile capturing. That said, I person utilized the 3.5X zoom truthful galore times that I tin forgive these flaws, simply due to the fact that it's a rarity connected a $499 phone. Heck, the caller $599 iPhone 17e lone has a azygous camera.

The selfie camera is solid, handling the agleam airy from a model down maine conscionable good portion keeping my look detailed. I besides truly similar utilizing Nothing's built-in camera presets, which is simply a precise casual mode to use a colour people to my photos pre-capture.

Software is the different country wherever Nothing distinguishes itself from its peers. Nothing's instrumentality connected Android is simply a beauteous aesthetic you won't find anyplace else, with a pretty-looking interface and amusive widgets. You won't find arsenic galore adjuvant AI features arsenic a Samsung oregon Pixel phone, but Nothing does person the Essential Key.

Press this button, and it volition seizure a screenshot and parse the information wrong it successful the Essential Space app. Press and clasp it to grounds dependable notes. You tin fetch each this information successful the app astatine immoderate infinitesimal with a elemental search, allowing you to recollect accusation whenever you request it. The problem? It takes a agelong clip to get utilized to utilizing these features, truthful it requires immoderate effort connected your portion for the Essential Key to beryllium useful.

It's a darn shame that Nothing's bundle update argumentation limits this telephone to 3 Android OS upgrades and six years of information updates, erstwhile the same-priced Pixel 10a gets 7 years of broad bundle updates, period. That's wherefore the Pixel 10a is inactive my archetypal prime if my fund were $499, but the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro would beryllium my 2nd pick. I'm hoping Nothing volition marque it adjacent easier to bargain its phones successful the US successful the aboriginal (right now, the telephone is exclusive to Amazon), truthful much radical tin bask its quirky and unsocial designs and that telephoto camera.