I changed my Pixel 9 Professional with this midrange Android – and might’t return

The Nothing Cellphone 3a, priced at $379, stakes its declare within the aggressive mid-tier smartphone market with a hanging design, killer show, and a noticeably subdued method to AI integration. After spending appreciable time with the gadget, together with a globe-trotting journey to Cellular World Congress 2025 in Barcelona final month, I can confidently say that Nothing’s method works exceptionally nicely at standing out from its midrange rivals.

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Nothing’s {hardware} design is probably the most instantly obvious motive to purchase into the Nothing ecosystem. In just a few brief years, Nothing has established itself as a tech model with an undeniably unique aesthetic that facilities round clear casing that showcases choose inside parts. 

Whereas the transparency primarily reveals framing buildings and hex screws fairly than circuit boards and reminiscence chips, it nonetheless creates a particular visible signature. lol

Distinctive design in a sea of sameness

Complementing the design are the Glyph LED lights surrounding the digicam bar, which elevate the transparency past mere aesthetics into practical artistry. These lights dance and flash for incoming calls, timer alerts, and music playback, including sensible worth to the distinctive design method. 

I notably appreciated how the blinking Glyph helpfully notified me of recent notifications once I had the cellphone tucked in my breast pocket throughout MWC.

The digicam bar is a particular design factor, with its pill-shaped encompass elegantly housing three sensors inside an angled, rectangular body. The 3a’s glass again panel can also be a pleasant premium improve from the 2a’s plastic backing, including an additional contact of sophistication. 

Whereas the polycarbonate body feels snug and easy within the hand, I did discover a small dent from a minor drop {that a} metallic body would seemingly have repelled.

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The quantity and energy buttons share a uniform, flat tablet form that is simply identifiable by contact and gives satisfying tactile suggestions with every press. Setting itself aside is the Important House button, which contains a shinier, rounded design that protrudes barely additional than the others. Nothing is clearly making an attempt to attract customers’ consideration to this new button, hoping they will be tempted to press it!

Total, the design is spectacular, not simply because it is distinctive and in contrast to every other smartphone on the market but additionally as a result of it is such a powerful assertion for a tool that sits firmly within the midrange of Android smartphones. Model and distinctiveness aren’t qualities that midrange smartphones typically exhibit, but with the Nothing Cellphone 3a, they’re amongst its most noticeable promoting factors. 

The Nothing Cellphone 3a show is one other standout function, particularly contemplating its value level. The 6.77″ LTPO OLED panel delivers distinctive high quality with 3,000 nits peak brightness, wealthy colours, and sharp element. Even underneath direct daylight, the display stays shiny and punchy, whereas the 120Hz refresh price ensures easy scrolling and animations for eyes like mine that these premium upgrades have spoiled. This show really rivals what you’d count on from units twice its price.

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What’s notably spectacular is the Nothing Cellphone 3a’s implementation of PWM dimming at 2160Hz, a frequency that is virtually imperceptible to the human eye, making it snug for prolonged viewing. That is considerably higher than many premium units, together with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely, with its a lot decrease 480Hz PWM frequency, which may doubtlessly trigger eye pressure and complications in delicate customers.

Surprisingly restrained software program expertise

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor is a wonderful selection for this mid-ranger, notably because it’s paired with 12GB of RAM. The processor is designed to deliver superior AI capabilities to lower-tier units, however contemplating the Nothing Cellphone 3a has comparatively minimal AI integrations to start with, the processor is greater than ample at driving the software program expertise and gaming. 

I solely observed occasional lag when capturing sure pictures with the cameras, and even then, that was largely detected in low-light conditions.

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With Nothing OS 3.1 (on prime of Android 15), the corporate provides delicate customizations whereas sustaining Android’s core expertise, together with the choice so as to add Nothing-specific widgets to the lock display, a nostalgic callback to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. With Google set to reintroduce lock display widgets in Android 16 for all customers, it is going to be attention-grabbing to see how Nothing adapts its method when the replace arrives within the coming months.

One very large and notable new software program inclusion is Nothing’s Important House function. It is so vital to Nothing that they included the aforementioned {hardware} button to drive the brand new function. It is also one of many solely indicators of recent AI integration creeping into Nothing’s OS, not less than for now. 

Tapping the {hardware} button takes a fast screengrab and lets you append notes with that picture. Holding the button takes the screengrab and fires off an audio notice recording that ends solely when you let go. On-device AI transcribes the audio recording and makes every little thing searchable inside the Important House thread.

After a sluggish begin, I started to lean into this function as a reminder engine, and that is once I understood its worth. Whereas it took a while to construct the behavior, after experiencing its advantages, I started counting on it to doc vital moments all through my day.

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Although promising, Important House nonetheless has room for enchancment. The interface can turn into visually cluttered with a number of entries, and unintentional button presses all through the day add to the disorganization.

I am genuinely excited to see how this function evolves and discover myself wishing my Pixel 9 Professional had an identical devoted button to assist handle my forgetfulness.

Cameras are nothing particular

The Nothing Cellphone 3a digicam system is one space the place its midrange roots turn into obvious. Effectively-lit environments with static topics can produce high quality pictures, however the absence of optical picture stabilization means even slight actions typically produce smeared, grainy outcomes that do not translate nicely to bigger shows. 

Whereas the ultrawide digicam passes rapid scrutiny on the small display, picture high quality deteriorates noticeably upon even minimal zooming, exposing the 8MP sensor’s constraints. The 2x telephoto seems to be good even when cropped to 4x, nevertheless it lacks dynamic vary, which was evident in some out of doors photographs, with the Barcelona skylines changing into a wash of white towards the cityscape beneath. Portrait mode usually required a number of makes an attempt to attain acceptable edge detection round my head.

Good-quality low-light pictures is feasible however inconsistent, demanding distinctive hand stability to compensate for the shortage of stabilization. Finally, the digicam efficiency is the obvious signal that this gadget is a midrange smartphone.

For a sub-$400 gadget with quite a few premium-like options, the 5,000mAh battery proves to be the icing on the cake. With the Nothing Cellphone 3a, attaining a day and a half of battery life is constantly straightforward. 

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50W quick cost assist is a powerful bonus as nicely, particularly in comparison with my Pixel 9 Professional, which fees at nearly half that pace regardless of costing greater than twice as a lot. Whereas wi-fi charging followers may lament its absence, I firmly imagine this can be a stable omission for units on this value vary.

Battery anxiousness was by no means a problem, because the cellphone hardly ever dipped beneath 30% on my heaviest use days. This efficiency held true even whereas navigating Barcelona throughout Cellular World Congress, which speaks volumes about its reliability whenever you want it most.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Regardless of uncommon and comprehensible compromises in digicam high quality, the Nothing Cellphone 3a makes all the proper tradeoffs for a finances gadget. It stands out with its signature design, delivers spectacular battery efficiency, and contains a phenomenal show. 

The Important House function is refreshingly delicate in its AI implementation, not like most rivals, who aggressively showcase their AI capabilities. Nothing’s Cellphone 3a displays exceptional restraint and a transparent imaginative and prescient from a younger firm. Whereas some might dismiss Nothing’s design decisions as pure novelty, experiencing their units firsthand reveals their distinctive signature is greater than superficial.

This text was initially revealed on March 24, 2025, and was up to date on Might 9, 2025.