This flashy Android cellphone made me overlook in regards to the flagships – and the worth is horrifying good

There is not any higher actuality examine for a tech journalist than whenever you’re at a household gathering, set your cellphone on the eating desk, and the gravitational pull of innovation does its factor. The curious eyes, acquainted questions, and impatient palms of youthful cousins are virtually at all times assured once I’m testing the newest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and so on. However currently, this phenomenon has been taking place much less and fewer.

Additionally: The most effective Android telephones to purchase in 2025

Even foldable telephones have misplaced a few of their attraction to mainstream eyes, which I blame on stagnant, never-decreasing costs. However the newest system I have been testing, the Nothing Telephone 3a Professional, appears to have reinvigorated issues. Maybe it is the clear again design, the glowing Glyph lights, or absolutely the island of a digicam bump that screams, “I take good images.” Everybody appears to have a distinct reply to this one.

After testing the Nothing Telephone 3a Professional for nearly a month now, I get the discourse. However one factor’s for sure: At $459, you possibly can’t discover a extra well-rounded handset than this.

Nothing’s merchandise have led the best way in industrial design — so far as creativity and element are involved — because the firm’s inception, and the Telephone 3a Professional isn’t any totally different. Whether or not you go for the all-black end or the marginally extra thrilling grey, the cellphone sports activities a clear backing that shields the varied screws, information ribbons, and elements beneath. 

Like earlier Nothing telephones, the Glyph interface is current, a novel meeting of LED lights that blink to point incoming notifications, alerts, and timers.

Additionally: Nothing Telephone 1 evaluation: You ain’t seen Nothing but

Nothing made a a lot larger deal of its glowing again cowl design when it first launched the Telephone 1 virtually three years in the past, however since then, the sensible interface has taken a again seat. I do not thoughts that, because it nonetheless serves its objective of being a display-off standing indicator with out placing on a disrupting mild present each time. 

In reality, the power to set a relentless beacon just for particular (hopefully necessary) notifications, like textual content messages from my spouse, has allowed me to remain extra targeted on different duties. It is the perfect factor because the authentic notification LED on telephones. Bear in mind these?

The remainder of the design is akin to final 12 months’s Telephone 2a and 2a Plus, particularly when you go for the similar-looking grey end (see above). Nonetheless, holding the 2 generations in hand reveals some main {hardware} shifts: The again cowl is now manufactured from glass as a substitute of plastic, and the massive digicam bump makes the Telephone 3a Professional way more top-heavy.

Additionally: I assumed the price range cellphone market was in shambles – then I held Google’s newest Pixel

In a shocking flip of occasions, I might argue that the Telephone 3a Professional is Nothing’s least ergonomic handset but, with a bulge that solely accentuates the cellphone’s uneven weight distribution. Whether or not scrolling information tales on the subway or navigating the New York Metropolis streets with one hand, I might usually need to shift my fingers round to get a safe grip on the cellphone. A transparent case, particularly one which makes the digicam bump really feel extra flush, could treatment this.

On the other finish — and you will have to excuse my geekery for a second — I fairly adore the button placement on the Telephone 3a Professional. The suitable-side energy and Important keys and left-side quantity rocker are located across the heart of the body, so that they’re at all times only a click on away, whether or not you are holding the cellphone along with your left or proper hand. 

Notably, the brand new Important key, which serves as an AI-assisted archiver, is handled with a gloss coating as a substitute of matte, so it is simpler to discern.

The Important key, which powers Nothing’s Important Area, is among the extra sensible AI options I’ve examined. A click on of the button takes a screenshot, the AI mannequin kinds out any textual content or visible data, and you’ll connect a notice or voice recording for future reference. It is similar to Google’s Pixel Screenshots app, however the means to make instructions takes Nothing’s interpretation a step additional.

Additionally: I attempted Google’s Pixel Screenshots and it is every thing I might need an AI function to be

Whereas in Barcelona for Cellular World Congress, I might steadily save the placement of native eating places and assembly venues by dictating, “Remind me to return right here at the scheduled time.” About half-hour earlier than an occasion befell, I might get the reminder on the cellphone together with the screenshot. Whereas the function works as supposed, it isn’t good. 

In a super world, Important Area may be synced to third-party companies like Google Calendar or Gmail. Then, I might get reminders even when I did not have my Nothing cellphone in hand.

Regardless, I commend Nothing for holding its AI initiatives delicate, not less than to begin. As a substitute of pushing the Telephone 3a Professional as the following finest system that can assist you summarize emails and draft textual content messages, the corporate is upstaging each different facet of it, together with its digicam system and efficiency.

The massive digicam improve, and what separates the Telephone 3a Professional from the Telephone 3a, is the brand new 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The addition of a devoted periscope digicam means you possibly can seize extra distant topics with out counting on digital cropping. I snapped a number of images with the brand new digicam whereas roaming the streets of Barcelona. I discovered the output to be aggressive with my Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely and Xiaomi 15 Extremely, each of which value about 3 times the worth.

Additionally: I changed my $3,500 Sony digicam with 200MP Android cellphone – and it is spoiled me huge time

That is provided that you are not pixel-peeping, after all, because the Telephone 3a Professional can seize moments in comparatively pure colour and distinction ranges however falls brief in sharpness and element. That is particularly the case with low-light pictures when the dimness of the setting makes it troublesome for the digicam to breed pictures precisely. 

Keep in mind that this can be a $459 cellphone, so I might nonetheless price its output within the B tier; the primary vast and telephoto lenses will serve you significantly better than what you get from equally priced Motorola and Samsung handsets.

Concerning day-to-day efficiency, the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, paired with 12GB of RAM, on the Telephone 3a Professional received by most duties I threw at it, together with loading and quick-scrolling via social media feeds, responding to emails, streaming films and movies, and cell gaming. Apart from the occasional stutter and dropped frames when searching text-heavy companies like Reddit, I by no means felt annoyed when utilizing the cellphone.

It helps that Nothing OS is on the cleaner finish of the Android spectrum, with nearly no bloatware or extreme options. (You may even go for a Inventory Android aesthetic as a substitute of Nothing’s dot-matrix theming, although I might suggest being extra adventurous when utilizing a cellphone like this.)

Additionally: Nothing’s new price range Android telephones make Samsung and Apple look unhealthy

Lastly, the Telephone 3a Professional is each an endurance and charging champ, with a 5,000mAh battery that rivals flagships and a 50W wired charging price that beats them. Nonetheless, you aren’t getting a appropriate charging brick within the field, and the omission of wi-fi charging will depart customers coming from competing midrange telephones just like the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) and Google Pixel 8a scratching their heads.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

That is to say, the Nothing Telephone 3a Professional checks loads of packing containers, greater than any cellphone in its worth vary, however its most original options, from the polarizing design to the Important key, make it simply as compelling for tech fanatics utilizing flagship telephones. Over the course of testing, I even witnessed a number of iPhone customers considering switching to the Telephone 3a Professional, whether or not it was for the digital well-being that the Glyph lights promote or the modern consumer interface. 

There’s one catch with the Telephone 3a Professional and Nothing telephones generally: the US Beta Program, a sign-up-to-buy process that is solely accessible via Nothing’s net retailer. (You may cause that that is a technique the corporate is chopping prices with its US telephones.) 

Whereas shopping for straight from Nothing nonetheless comes along with your customary producer’s guarantee and a 30-day return interval, the aftersales assist (learn: discovering alternative elements and connecting to totally different mobile networks) is notably much less structured than at your typical service retailer. Commerce-in offers are additionally much less aggressive, and in comparison with the normal installment plan, you will be shopping for the cellphone off-contract and unlocked.