Rating:

7/10

Thanks to the RAM crisis, it's a weird moment for smartphones. Samsung increased the prices of its new midrange and flagship phones, and Motorola recently debuted its Moto G Stylus 2026 with a higher price. Some phone makers are trying to keep spec changes to a minimum without raising the MSRP, like Google's Pixel 10a, which is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor.

London-based Nothing isn't immune to these woes; its new Phone (4a) Pro costs $499, a small bump from last year's Phone (3a) Pro, now rivaling the Moto G Stylus 2026, Pixel 10a, and Galaxy A57. I have been using it for nearly a month, and I've been quite happy with it. It's not my first choice if my budget is $500, but it's a close second, and I'm glad there are still some options for US customers who are increasingly facing limited choices in the market. I am focusing on the Phone (4a) Pro in this review rather than the cheaper Phone (4a), which isn't sold in the US.

Space Age

Nothing gave the Pro model of its midrange A-series phones a fresh look this year, which is a good thing, as the last entry was very top-heavy with a chunky camera bump. It's a little more tasteful here, though still dazzingly unique like most Nothing products. There's a distinct space-age feel here with the colors, bulbous glass, and the Glyph Matrix—the tiny circular display borrowed from the Nothing Phone (3).

The Glyph Matrix is a little simpler here. You can use it to see the time when your phone is face down, a timer counting down, and a battery indicator. My favorite function is using it as a pixelated mirror when I want to take a selfie with the superior rear cameras—the Matrix shows an outline of your face so you can line up the shot perfectly. You can also set up icons to show for specific messages, so I have a heart icon for anytime my wife messages or calls me.

The metal build feels great for $499, though it's a shame the IP rating is only IP65 instead of IP68 like its competitors. That usually means it can handle rain but not water submersion (like an accidental drop in the pool); however, Nothing says the Pro can handle full submersion in roughly 10 inches for 20 minutes. It's not quite as good as 1 meter for 30 minutes (IP68), but it's something.

Performance has been strong, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (I have the 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage version, but it starts with 8/128 GB). My benchmark scores still put it below the Pixel 10a, but it can handle most apps and games just fine. You will need to tweak the graphics settings of more demanding titles to play them smoothly. The only minor quibble I have is that scrolling in select apps, like the Marketplace tab in the Facebook app, is very choppy, though this could be a screen-refresh-rate bug (it goes up to 144 Hz).

Screen brightness has improved, and I was able to view the Phone (4a) Pro's screen on a sunny day just fine. However, Nothing's auto-brightness feature could use some work. It constantly brightened or darkened the screen when I wanted the exact opposite, so I frequently had to adjust the slider.

Battery life has been more than adequate. The 5,080-mAh cell easily lasts me a full day, and that's with more than seven hours of screen-on time. I recently broke my leg, so I'm usually sitting in one place and on my phone. I often end up with 20 percent left by 9 pm or so, and the Phone (4a) Pro has managed to handle hours of watching Instagram Reels without issue (don't judge). It recharges fairly quickly, though I still think Nothing should have added wireless charging as an alternate way to juice up; the Pixel 10a supports it.

Initially, when I set up the phone, it didn't connect to my eSIM. I had to manually turn on eSIM functionality after setting it up, and was then able to connect it to my carrier, Google Fi. Thankfully, I haven't had any connectivity problems since. The phone should work on all major carriers in the US, though you may have to do some extra legwork if you're on AT&T or Verizon (and their subsequent MVNOs) to get the phone whitelisted on the network.

Three Cameras

Outside of design, what makes the Phone (4a) Pro unique at this $499 price is that it's one of the only phones with a triple-camera system: a 50-MP main camera, an 8-MP ultrawide, and a 50-MP telephoto zoom offering 3.5X zoom. I'm constantly using the telephoto cameras on a smartphone, so its availability here on a midrange phone is greatly appreciated.

I've been quite happy with the results from the cameras. Photos look quite natural and detailed, with pleasing colors and good exposure. The big flaw is that the cameras don't perform all that great in low light, especially compared to the Pixel 10a. They can struggle in high-contrast scenes and are prone to a shutter delay, so you have to be very still when capturing. That said, I have used the 3.5X zoom so many times that I can forgive these flaws, simply because it's a rarity on a $499 phone. Heck, the recent $599 iPhone 17e only has a single camera.

The selfie camera is solid, handling the bright light from a window behind me just fine while keeping my face detailed. I also really like using Nothing's built-in camera presets, which is a very easy way to apply a color grade to my photos pre-capture.

Software is the other area where Nothing distinguishes itself from its peers. Nothing's take on Android is a beautiful aesthetic you won't find anywhere else, with a pretty-looking interface and fun widgets. You won't find as many helpful AI features as a Samsung or Pixel phone, but Nothing does have the Essential Key.

Press this button, and it will capture a screenshot and parse the data within it in the Essential Space app. Press and hold it to record voice notes. You can fetch all this data in the app at any moment with a simple search, allowing you to recollect information whenever you need it. The problem? It takes a long time to get used to using these features, so it requires some effort on your part for the Essential Key to be useful.

It's a darn shame that Nothing's software update policy limits this phone to three Android OS upgrades and six years of security updates, when the same-priced Pixel 10a gets seven years of blanket software updates, period. That's why the Pixel 10a is still my first choice if my budget were $499, but the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro would be my second pick. I'm hoping Nothing will make it even easier to buy its phones in the US in the future (right now, the phone is exclusive to Amazon), so more people can enjoy its quirky and unique designs and that telephoto camera.