Nothing Phone 3a Review: Is It Worth Buying?

Could we perhaps interest you in a Nothing Phone 3a review? The small brand has been redefining the smartphone market over the last few years, bringing something innovative with each release. The Nothing Phone 3a design is nothing short of controversial as the smartphone has garnered a lot of attention for doing something new with its already unique design. 

A few weeks ago, Nothing began building up curiosity around the smartphone and then came right out and revealed the design of the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro, and netizens began weighing in on the conversation almost at once. Despite the mixed reviews of the Nothing Phone 3a design, the specs on offer here are just as worth discussing. A possible contender for the title of best mid-range Android in 2025, let’s take a close look at what we have here.

Image: The Nothing Phone 3a’s design is far more exciting than anything any smartphone maker is doing right now.

Nothing Phone 3a Review: Specs, Cameras, and an Essential Space Feature?

The Nothing Phone 3a series was officially released at the MWC 2025 event, giving a wider range of users a good first look at the brand’s latest smartphones. The Nothing Phone 3a’s price puts it smack-dab in the middle of the mid-range category, and while the Phone 3a Pro is just as affordable, we’re reviewing the 3a today. 

Nothing Family !!!#nothingphone3a #nothingphone3aPro @nothingarabia @nothingindia pic.twitter.com/4nmfQ5lnDM

— Shazzam (@callmeshazzam) March 4, 2025

Nothing Phone 3a Design: Does It Have the Glyphs? We Yearn for the Glyphs

The signature glyph interface on the back of the phone makes a return once more with the Nothing 3a, but the expansive display is just as eye-catching so let’s start there. The Nothing Phone 3a display showcases a 6.77-inch OLED screen with a 2,392×1,080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 3,000 nits brightness for HDR content. 

The dot-selfie camera cutout is unobtrusive and the bezels, while noticeable, are not overpowering. Locking and unlocking the smartphone happens through an under-display fingerprint sensor as well.

The back of the Nothing Phone 3a is where the design choices truly take shape. The light-up glyph interface is placed on a clear-backed smartphone, with a large, round camera module similar to what the Xiaomi 15 Ultra (sister to the Xiaomi 15 we reviewed recently) or the Huawei Mate XT offers. The Nothing 3a Pro commits to the circular camera more vociferously, while the Nothing Phone 3a downplays it with a more subtle design choice with the pill shape that is still unique.

NEW VIDEO – The Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro FEEL like flagships, and cost $379 and $459. I’m impressed (now do an actual flagship pls)https://t.co/XxvhTJjYOi pic.twitter.com/MRlvjC57Ln

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) March 4, 2025

The glyph light system surrounds this large camera segment in three sections, giving users a different way to receive smartphone notifications or experience music visualizations. The smartphone is available in three colors—white, black, and blue. The Blue is reserved for the UK and India. While we thought we’d be partial to the white, there is something quite commanding about the black variant of the phone.

The Nothing Phone 3a’s design may not be for everyone, but we’re in love with the appearance of the smartphone.

Image: Do the Nothing phone 3a specs keep up with the investment in design?

Nothing Phone 3a Specs: What Are the Top Hardware Upgrades?

The Nothing Phone 3a specs start from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset and build up from there. It’s no Snapdragon 8, but the chip is a good option for a mid-range phone to feature, especially now that we’re bringing in AI. The chip powers Nothing OS 3.1, which is based on Android 15. The upcoming upgrade to Android 16 should bring some features to the Nothing OS eventually.

Nothing Phone 3a’s storage options include 128GB and 256GB variants and you also get to pick between 8GB RAM and 12GB RAM. The company is offering 3 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security upgrades, which is similar to the terms we saw on the recent Xiaomi 15. The 5,000 mAh battery is also similar and should last you through your day without a worry.

Here’s a full list of the Nothing phone 3a specs.

Nothing Phone 3a Camera: The Triple-Lens System Works Well 

The Nothing Phone 3a’s pill-shaped camera layout with the circular design and the surrounding glyphs look great, but do they also work well? The Nothing Phone (3a) camera system includes a 50MP main camera (f/1.88), a 50MP 2x telephoto lens (f/2.0), and an 8MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2). 

The more expensive Nothing Phone 3a Pro has a periscope telephoto lens that is an absolute star on a budget-friendly phone, and while we don’t see it on this one, it still has a good system nonetheless. Nothing’s TrueLens Engine 3.0 promises good quality low-light photography, as well as HDR performance. 

You have access to 4K recording at 30 FPS or 1080p recording at 30 or 60 FPS, which is just enough for an average user’s recording needs. You can also look forward to recording time-lapse and slow-mo videos if that piques your interest. The Nothing Phone 3a camera system is decent for a mid-range offering.

Image: The Glyph system and the new Essential Key are the two most interesting features of the Nothing Phone 3a.

Nothing Phone 3a Feature Review: What Are Some Unique Aspects of the Phone

The Nothing Phone 3a design with the Glyph interface is an obviously unique factor that you can expect to enjoy with the smartphone. It showcases 26 individually addressable zones that can be used as a timer, volume indicator, torch, notification system, camera countdown timer, or a measure of progress. The glyphs are also enjoyable as a music visualizer to keep with the beat of the music you love. 

Another interesting feature on the Phone 3a is the Essential Space button and system. The Essential Key on the right side of the phone allows users to take a quick screenshot immediately and add notes to record with the image. Long-pressing the same button allows for the recording of a voice memo. All of this gets stored in the Essential Space app which can be brought up with a double tap. AI assistance comes into play in making the feature more usable.

This integration makes it a whole lot easier to keep track of your activities, thoughts, and responses to things in the moment, adding a light sprinkle of organization to a smartphone that already has one of the best user interfaces on a smartphone. This is perhaps the most interesting factor in our Nothing Phone 3a review, apart from the design. With time, we expect the system to evolve into something even better.

Nothing Phone 3a Release and Availability: Will It Come to the US?

The Nothing Phone 3a has been released as of March 4, 2025, and will start shipping on March 11, 2025. The smartphone is available to order in many regions, however, the US isn’t one of them. If you are in the US and want to buy the new Nothing phones, you will have to go through Nothing’s US Beta Program in order to secure it.

The company has not been able to find interoperability with US networks, which has made it impossible to open the smartphone up to consumer sales directly. This vastly limits the market that Nothing operates in, but the company does not appear to be in a rush to address the issues as the past models have suffered the same fate already without change. We’re sure that many of you reading this Nothing Phone 3a review now have to walk away disappointed.

Nothing Phone 3a Price: How Much Will It Cost?

The 8GB RAM and 128GB storage model of the Nothing Phone 3a is priced at £329 / €349 The more expensive 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant costs £379 / $379 / €379. 

For comparison, the iPhone 16E costs $599 while the Pixel 8a starts at $499, just like the new Galaxy A56. The mid-range category is alive and well with competition like this.

Image: The Nothing Phone 3a is an obvious contender for one of the best mid-range Android smartphones in 2025.

Is the Nothing Phone 3a Worth Buying? Best Features of the Smartphone

Yes, all things considered, the Nothing Phone 3a is a great phone that is well worth the investment in its functionality. If you need a recap of the Nothing Phone 3a review to understand why we feel this way, here are the top features of the Nothing Phone 3a.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor which is not industry-leading but still quite capable
• Nothing OS 3.1 based on Android 15 offers one of the best user interfaces we’ve ever seen
• Offers 3 years of Android updates and 6 years of security patches
• The glyph light-up system is both useful and fun
• Beautiful 6.77” FHD+ flexible AMOLED display
• 3000 nits peak brightness, 120 Hz Adaptive refresh rate, 1000 Hz touch sampling rate
• Essential Space and Essential key add a new layer to the user experience
• On-device generative AI support
• The 5,000 mAh battery offers a comfortable battery life allowing up to 26 hours of YouTube viewing at a stretch
• The design is unique and redefines smartphone design
• Enjoyable triple-camera setup with TrueLens Engine 3 support
• Priced at $374/£329/€349 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage

Final Verdict on the Nothing Phone 3a Review

The Nothing Phone 3a is nothing short of a marvel, even if it does have some limitations such as the inferior chipset and lack of operations in the US. The phone itself is a wonderful investment at $379, giving users everything from gaming support to photography. The Essential Space is an extremely useful feature and while we think there’s still room for improvement, it is a good starting point for the function to evolve.

Phone (3a) Series reviews are in!

📸 Big camera upgrades, and the media is noticing. Better detail, improved low-light, and that signature Nothing experience. This is just the start.@MKBHD – “It is impressive how close this $379 phone gets to feeling like a $1000 flagship”…

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) March 4, 2025

We would easily put the Nothing Phone 3a in our list of the best mid-range Android smartphones for 2025, and we’re even more excited to see how the brand evolves from here.

We love the Nothing Phone 3a specs and design but how do you feel about it? Let us know. For regular explorations of the evolving world of technology, subscribe to Technowize so you can stay up-to-date with us.