Nothing has unveiled its new Phone (4a) series smartphones, the Phone (4a) Pro, and the Phone (4a). Both new smartphones are pretty much the evolution of the previous Phone (3a) series, with plenty of upgrades on all fronts.
Being the mid-range offering from Nothing, it is nice to see that the Phone (4a) Pro version pulled something from the Phone (3) flagship, and the series is finally getting a metal unibody design (on the Phone (4a) Pro), which is rare in mid-range smartphones. In addition to the metal unibody, the Phone (4a) Pro also got a faster SoC, bigger display, slightly better camera system, and the new Glyph Matrix, while the standard Phone (4a) sticks to the plastic and weaker SoC, but still got a better screen, updated Glyph Bar, and updated camera system.
Nothing gives the metal unibody, OLED screen, Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, and Glypx Matrix to the Phone (4a) Pro
The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro will put significant pressure on the mid-range smartphone market, as it offers plenty of features. The biggest update, at least compared to the previous generation, is the metal unibody design, which makes it slimmer and gives it an IP65 rating. Nothing also gave it a whole new 6.83-inch 2800×1260 resolution OLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and 5,000nits of brightness. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 7i.
The Phone (4a) Pro is also now powered by the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 SoC, which is said to be significantly faster compared to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, up by 27 percent on the CPU side, 30 percent on the GPU side, and 65 percent in AI performance. Nothing has paired up the SoC with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
The camera system also got a slight upgrade, but still retains the main 50MP Sony sensor behind an f/1.88 lens with OIS. It also comes with a 50MP Samsung sensor behind a telephoto 3.5x OIS lens. The ultra-wide still uses a Sony IMX355 8MP sensor, while the front camera now has a 32MP sensor.
The rest of the specifications include a 5,080mAh battery with 50W wired charging, Nothing OS 4.1 based on Android 16, usual connectivity options, stereo speakers, and under display optical fingerprint sensor. Another big update is the Glyph Matrix, similar to the one on the Phone (3) flagship, which is a circular dot matrix display with 137 LEDs (489 LEDs on the flagship Phone (3)), but these are now brighter, and the circle is larger.
The Nothing Phone (4a) keeps the plastic and older SoC, but gets a better camera system
The standard Nothing Phone (4a) is unfortunately sticking to plastic, most probably to keep the price in the €350 to €400 range. Nothing also decided to go with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC, which is faster than the one on the previous generation, but still not as much. On the other hand, Nothing at least paired it up with 8GB and 12GB of RAM and 256GB of faster UFS 3.1 storage.
The display on the Phone (4a) is a 2720×1224 resolution 6.78-inch OLED panel with slightly lower 4,500nits of brightness, but still gets a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 7i. The camera system is similar to the Phone (4a) Pro, with a 50MP main Samsung sensor with an f/1.88 OIS lens, 50MP 3.5x telephoto, 8MP ultra-wide, and the same 32MP front camera.
It also comes with a 5,080mAh battery with 50W wired charging, the same connectivity options, and a fingerprint sensor.
The Phone (4a) comes with Glyph Bar, which is basically 63 LEDs arranged in a bar, but it is much brighter compared to the previous generation Glyph interface.
Both are coming in March and the Phone (4a) Pro is going to the US for the first time
The Nothing (4a) will go on pre-order as of today, while the Phone (4a) Pro starts on March 13th. The Phone (4a) starts at €350 for the 8GB/128GB version, while the Phone (4a) Pro starts at €480. This is also the first time it is coming to the US, at least the Phone (4a) Pro version, starting at $499.
