Nothing Phone (3a) vs Nothing Phone (3a) Pro: what's the difference?
Intro
Instead of refreshing the now aging Nothing Phone (2), the UK-based tech startup gave us a pair of midrangers again. The new Nothing Phone (3a) and Nothing Phone (3a) Pro have distinctly different looks, but their internals are surprisingly similar. To the point one might wonder — is it worth to spend the extra money on a Pro?
To be fair, it was a similar situation with last year's Nothing Phone (2a) and then Nothing Phone (2a) Plus. In that case, the latter came with a slightly more powerful processor. The (3a) series have the same SoC, but come with different cameras. This is underpinned by the design of the (3a) Plus' camera module, which is much funkier than the "regular" one.
OK, so, let's delve in and see what differences those phones hold.
Nothing Phone (3a) vs Phone (3a) Pro differences explained:
| Nothing Phone (3a) | Nothing Phone (3a) Pro |
|---|---|
| Closer to the old Phone (2a) design | New funky design with circular camera module and scattered lenses |
| 6.8-inch, OLED, 120 Hz display | Same 6.8-inch, OLED, 120 Hz display |
| Triple camera with 2x zoom lens | Triple camera with 3x zoom lens |
| 8 GB / 128 GB 12 GB / 256 GB | 12 GB / 256 GB |
| 5,000 mAh battery | 5,000 mAh battery |
| 50 W wired charging No wireless charging | 50 W wired charging No wireless charging |
Table of Contents:
Design and Display Quality
Old design, new design
Quirky! (Image credit - PhoneArena)
One of the few major differences between those devices is the design of the back. While the Nothing Phone (3a) looks like a Phone (2a) with an added camera, the (3a) Pro goes all wild with a big, circular camera module and a staggered lens pattern. The "internals" beneath the transparent back are also in a different arrangement.
Speaking of the transparent back — it's now glass on both phones, unlike the (2a) series, which had plastic there. The frames are still plastic though. We do like how the buttons feel, especially on the (3a) Pro, with a nice hefty click every time we press them.
There are a total of 4 buttons — 2 for volume on the left, a power button on the right, and the new Essential Key under it. The Essential thing is Nothing's implementation of AI on these phones. It's not rich on nonsense features, throwing pasta at the wall, it's a focused experience about creating reminders and sorting all of your notes in one space. More about it in the software section.
Basically the same screen (Image credit - PhoneArena)
On the front, both of these phones look identical. They have a 6.77-inch OLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and exactly the same thin bezel and camera cutout.
Display Measurements:
The specs say 3,000 nits peak brightness, which doesn't mean much for real world use, it's an HDR capability flex. That's why we measure at 20% APL, where those screens gave us 1,200 and 1,400 nits respectively for the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro. Not bad, they are visible in broad daylight, despite the screens being a bit reflective. Minimum brightness is around 2.2 nits, which is not low enough for comfortable bedside viewing, but on par with the class of device.
Both displays are tuned the same and we quite like the colors. They drift a bit towards the blues, but that's an OLED problem. Otherwise, inside the software, you can pick between a more realistic Standard mode and an Alive mode, which boosts the saturation to a tasteful degree.
Both phones have optical under-screen fingerprint scanners, which work similarly well.
Performance and Software
A Snapdragon, but not the best
And basically the same internals (Image credit - PhoneArena)
With the (2a) and (2a) Plus, Nothing used a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro and a Dimensity 7350 Pro. Not bad chips, but MediaTek is kind of considered the underdog in the phone chipset world. Now, we have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 in both the Phone (3a) models. It sounds like it should be more powerful, but actually... the Dimensity 7350 Pro in the Phone (2a) Plus is still holding out quite well against these new phones.
Performance Benchmarks:
That's weird, one might say — why the switch? Could be because of the Qualcomm AI engine. Again, these new Nothing phones have a tinge of AI in them in the Essential Space.
So, what is it? The Essential Space works kind of like Google's Screenshots app on the Pixel phones. When you press the Essential Key, you take a screenshot and send it to the Space. There, the AI will "decode" what's on the image and transcribe any information. It can pull actionable info from it and automatically create reminders. For example, when we took a screenshot of Chrome warning us that 2 of our passwords had been compromised, Essential Space correctly assumed it's something we needed to be reminded of and created a 60-minute reminder event.
You can go even further by holding the button — it will still take the screenshot, but you can record a voice memo while holding. The AI will transcribe the audio, too, and take relevant action. In the future, there should be a search bar that allows you to search for specific voice notes you took. Nothing says it's going to be called "Focus Search", so maybe it will be a bit more than a search bar, can't say yet. You will also be able to use the camera to capture pictures straight to the Essential Space, and record entire meetings and have it transcribe them.
As for the rest, it's still Nothing UI in its flat, monochrome beauty. The black-and-white icon pack is back, the extra large folders that allow you to expand your homescreens are, too. It runs rather smoothly, despite the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 not being a champ at the benchmarks. So long as you don't play Warzone Mobile on them, you'd be fine.
The Nothing Phone (3a) comes in either 8 GB + 128 GB or 12 GB + 256 GB combos. The Pro is only available in 12 GB + 256 GB. If you want to pick either one of them in the US, you need to join the US Beta Program and you will only have access to the 12 / 256 GB models. Prices are $379 for the Phone (3a), $459 for the Phone (3a) Pro.
Camera
Triple cameras, but slightly different
We found the difference! (Image credit - PhoneArena)
These come with 50 MP main cameras, with sensors engineered by Samsung, but they are slightly different. The one on the Phone (3a) Pro is ever-so-slightly bigger. The zoom cameras are also different — 2x telephoto lens with 50 MP Samsung sensor on the Phone (2a), 3x periscope lens with 50 MP Sony sensor on the Phone (3a) Pro. And then, the ultra-wide cameras use the same 8 MP sensor.
PhoneArena Camera Score:
The cameras perform similarly, but the Phone (3a) Pro is slightly better. Specifically when preserving details in indoors shots, or with zoom. Well, it does have the slightly better zoom setup, after all.
Main Camera
While both struggle somewhat with high dynamics, the Phone (3a) Pro has slightly more natural, warmer colors. But the contrast, at least in outdoors shots, is handled a bit better by the Phone (3a), while the (3a) Pro may crush some shadows.
In low light, they kind of hold it together pretty well for their price class, though they do begin to wash out colors and skintones. The (3a) Pro does a bit better at preserving detail, which we assume is otherwise starting to get smudged by noise reduction.
Zoom Quality
And there it is — a more powerful 3x lens gives you a jumping off point for better zoom photo quality. These max out at different levels, too — the Phone (3a) can reach 30x, the Phone (3a) Pro goes up to 60x. You can see fully zoomed-in shots in the full samples gallery below.
Ultra-wide Camera
They have absolutely the same ultra-wide cameras, so it's no surprise that the samples look the same. The 8 MP sensors underneath are not amazing, and details quickly become soft and hazy. The resolution also means that you can't record 4K video with the ultra-wide cameras of these phones, only the main and zoom cameras.
Selfies
Pretty good selfies. The Pro has a 50 MP camera here, the Phone (3a) — a 32 MP one. So long as the light is good, both will give you nicely detailed photos, though the skintones from the (3a) Pro are slightly livelier.
More Camera Samples
Battery Life and Charging
Practically the same... right?
No wireless charging (Image credit - PhoneArena)
Same processors, same battery capacities, same screens and refresh rates. Everything that matters when it comes to battery endurance is basically the same with those two phones, so would we be surprised if they had pretty much the same results? Well... no.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
With infinite webpage scrolling, looped YouTube streaming, and gaming, both of these phones give us exactly the same endurance results. OK, there are minor deviations, but that's to be expected — sometimes Mercury is in retrograde. But the point is, you can expect a good 10 hours of screen on times from both the Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro.
For charging, you can top these up with 50 W wallplugs. It'll take you 56 minutes to go from 0% to 100% with either one of those phones.
Audio Quality and Haptics
The stereo speakers of the Phone (3a) series were a pleasant surprise. We didn't expect much from them, since the Phone (2a) had already set our expectations — it was tinny, and middy. Good enough for alarms, not much else.
Both the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro come with upgrades in this department. They aren't exactly on par with an iPhone 16 Pro Max or Galaxy S25 Ultra, but they do sound pleasant. The eq curve has been balanced out a bit, and some bass has been added. They don't sound picky or tinny, and they have a bit of oompth to them — not bad at all!
Specs Comparison
As stated, these two phones are mostly the same... but still, here's a quick look at the core Nothing Phone (3a) vs Phone (3a)Pro specs:
| Nothing Phone (3a) | Nothing Phone (3a) Pro |
|---|---|
| Size and Weight 6.44 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches (163.52 x 77.5 x 8.35 mm) 201 g | Size and Weight 6.44 x 3.05 x 0.33 inches (163.52 x 77.5 x 8.39 mm) 211 g |
| Display 6.8-inch AMOLED 120 Hz | Display 6.8-inch AMOLED 120 Hz |
| Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm) | Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm) |
| Versions 8 / 128 GB 12 / 256 GB | Versions 12 / 256 GB |
| Cameras 50 MP main F1.9 8 MP ultra-wide F2.2 50 MP 2x telephoto F2.0 32 MP front | Cameras 50 MP main F1.9 8 MP ultra-wide F2.2 50 MP 3x periscope F2.5 12MP front |
| Battery 5,000 mAh | Battery 5,000 mAh |
| Charging 50 W wired - | Charging 50 W wired - |
Which one should you buy?
Mostly the same experience (Image credit - PhoneArena)
At the end of the day, those are mostly the same phone. Same hardware and screens, same experience with the software and Essential Space. The Pro has a slightly better camera and — in my opinion — a more attractive design on the back. But yes, that is highly subjective.
So, it boils down to this — if you think that a slightly better camera is worth $80, then just get the Pro. Otherwise, you will be perfectly fine with the regular Nothing Phone (3a), and you will save some cash on top!
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