Nothing Phone (4a) Pro Review: Performer with standout design

Recently, Nothing Inc's Phone (4a) and (4a) Pro series hit stores in India.

It comes in three options-- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 39,999, Rs 42,999 and Rs 45,999, respectively.

Design, build quality and display

The premium Phone (4a) Pro takes a little inspiration from the premium Phone 3 (2025). It flaunts the triple camera module with Glyph Matrix display. The latter has 137 individually controllable micro-LEDs that offer a smart, expressive way to notify the user.

It supports several animations and even displays the names of callers. When the phone is in silent mode, and the main screen is facing down on the table, the user will be able to know who is calling or has messaged.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

It also supports Glyph Toys, a playful extension of Glyph Matrix, which brings quick tools such as Battery indicator, Timer, Digital Clock, and more.

The device also features the Essential Space key on the right side. When pressed, it opens Essential Space to offer the option to take instant notes. With an Artificial Intelligence-based algorithm, it can also generate personalised suggestions, summaries, or action points.

Besides the silver, it is available in black and pink colours.

However, the similarities between the Phone 4a Pro and Phone 3 end there. The see-through back cover has been replaced with a unibody metallic enclosure made of aerospace-grade aluminium.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

The device comes with an IP65 water-and-dust-resistant rating, meaning it can survive low-pressure water jets and moderate rain outdoors.

Additionally, the display is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 7i, and the company offers a free silicone case to safeguard the phone from getting cracked during an accidental fall.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

On the front, it sports a 6.83-inch 1.5K (1260 x 2800p) flexible AMOLED display with 144Hz adaptive refresh rate, supports HDR10+ content and offers up to 5,000 nits peak brightness.

The display is good for consuming multimedia content indoors. The in-screen fingerprint, as advertised, works smoothly without any issues.

Performance

The Phone (4a) Pro houses a 4nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 octa-core with Adreno 722 GPU and a 5,400mAh battery. The device can clock CPU speed up to 2.8Ghz and can easily handle generative Artificial Intelligence applications, including Gemini, ChatGPT and popular games available on Google Play Store.

It also features a 5,300 mm² large vapour chamber to efficiently dissipate heat while performing heavy-duty tasks.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

It comes with 8GB / 12GB LPDD5X RAM and 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 storage options.

It runs Android 16-based Nothing OS 4.1. It has a very clean UI and has no third-party apps, only Google's core applications.

With a full charge, the Phone (4a) was able to last a whole day under normal usage. It supports a 50W wired charger and can reach from zero to 100 per cent in around an hour. The device also supports 7.5W reverse wired charging as well.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Photography

Phone (4a) Pro features a triple camera module-- main 50MP camera (with 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/1.88 aperture, Optical Image Stabilisation) with an 8MP ultra-wide camera (with 120-degree field-of-view, f/2.2) and a 50MP periscope camera (with 1/2.75-inch sensor, a 3.5x telephoto lens, OIS, 7x in-sensor zoom, up to 140x hybrid zoom) with LED flash on the back.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

The camera is powered by the TrueLens Engine 4 computational photography system and the Image Super Resolution(ISR) algorithm. It can capture Ultra XDR photos with sharp details of the subjects and the surrounding scene under natural sunlight.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

In a low-lit environment, as you can see the samples, it takes pretty amazing pictures.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

At close range, it manages to pretty images with all the minute details.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

The device also supports several native AI-powered tools. Users can remove reflections, erase objects, and do more.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

The digital zoom works fine with less loss of quality till 20X, but beyond that, the photos begin to accumulate noise.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

On the front, it houses 32MP (with a 1/3.44-inch sensor, f/2.2).

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Both the front and the back cameras can record decent-quality 4K videos at 30 frames per second.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro's camera sample.

Final thoughts

For its price, Nothing Phone (4a) Pro delivers good on all key parameters such as build quality, performance, camera hardware, decent full-day battery life, and the design language make its unique among competitors.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

Compared to the previous iteration, the launch price of the Phone (4a) Pro is high, but it is the case with all brands in the industry. Due to high demand for RAM and storage chipsets for AI data centres, semiconductor majors have prioritised their supply to them.

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