Nothing Telephone (3a) and Telephone (3a) Professional hands-on evaluation

Introduction and specs

Nothing took the stage at MWC 2025 to introduce the new Phone (3a) pair of devices. These are pretty unique looks-wise, yet also oddly familiar and recognizable, all the while remaining unmistakably “Nothing”. It’s an odd combo, we’ll admit, but one thing is for sure: the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro are big on looks, and there is nothing else quite like them on the market.

While the Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro look pretty different from the back, they actually share most of their essential specs and are more similar than you might think.

Both phones use the same 6.77-inch AMOLED display and run on the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. Their battery capacities are identical, and their external proportions and materials are very similar. Both also have a triple rear camera setup, up from two cameras in the Nothing Phone (2a) family.

Nothing Phone (3a) specs at a glance:

Body: 163.5×77.5×8.4mm, 201g; aluminum frame, glass back and front; IP64 dust tight and water resistant (water splashes), 3 LED light strips on the back (notifications, camera fill light, 26 addressable zones).
Display: 6.77″ AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1300 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak), 1080x2392px resolution, 19.93:9 aspect ratio, 387ppi; Ultra HDR image support.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM7635 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×2.5 GHz Cortex-A720 & 3×2.4 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 710 (940 MHz).
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM.
OS/Software: Android 15, up to 3 major Android upgrades, Nothing OS 3.1.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 50mm, 1/2.74″, 0.64µm, PDAF (25cm – ∞), 2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120-degree, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm.
Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 22mm (wide), 1/3.44″.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 5000mAh; 50W wired, 50% in 19 min, 100% in 56 min.
Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.4; NFC.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Circle to Search.

Speaking of the cameras, though, that’s probably the key difference between the two phones. Nothing equipped the regular Phone (3a) with a traditional 2x telephoto, while the Phone (3a) Pro gets a 3x periscope-style snapper. That is probably the reason for the drastically bigger camera island on the Pro model. There are some selfie camera differences as well, but we’ll get to all that when we discuss the cameras.

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro specs at a glance:

Body: 163.5×77.5×8.4mm, 211g; aluminum frame, glass back and front; IP64 dust tight and water resistant (water splashes), 3 LED light strips on the back (notifications, camera fill light, 26 addressable zones).
Display: 6.77″ AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1300 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak), 1080x2392px resolution, 19.93:9 aspect ratio, 387ppi; Ultra HDR image support.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM7635 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×2.5 GHz Cortex-A720 & 3×2.4 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 710 (940 MHz).
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM.
OS/Software: Android 15, up to 3 major Android upgrades, Nothing OS 3.1.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.6, 70mm (15cm – ∞), 1/1.95″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120-degree, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm.
Front camera: 50 MP, f/2.2, 24mm (wide), 1/2.76″.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 5000mAh; 50W wired, 50% in 19 min, 100% in 56 min.
Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.4; NFC.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Circle to Search.

Camera differences aside, Nothing seems to be striving for as much of a unified experience and feature parity between the Pro and non-Pro models. There is actually a new side button on both phones called the Essential Key. It’s a very nifty concept. Head on over to the software section for a quick overview.

Of course, the signature Glyph interface is alive and well and present on both devices.

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