Here Goes Nothing! Our First Look At Phone 3a, Phone 3a Pro

Carl Pei, the current CEO of Nothing and the ex-co-founder of OnePlus, knows how to sell a phone or two. He understands that hype is everything a phone needs to find home and with Nothing, he does the same. A standout design to appeal to geeks, a clever combination of specifications to keep those geeks happy and a price tag accessible enough to encourage the early doubters transition into early adopters. Carl ‘Bhai’ got it all covered!

Hence, when it came to revising the Nothing smartphone lineup for 2025, Carl instructed his team to revise the more accessible models first. The Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro, which succeed the Phone 2a and Phone 2a Plus from last year, look more glamorous and feature impressive specs. There’s AI too, if that’s what you deem necessary for a 2025 smartphone (we don’t endorse it). The prices, however, are way more appealing this year – INR 25,000 for the standard model and INR 30,000 for those who love a ‘Pro’ tag. I call it the ‘Pro tax’. 

I am sure you must have seen the media celebrating these Nothing phones in the same fashion as an iPhone and some have even gone ahead with reviews. At Hardwire though, we love to take our time with technology and cars, which is why we are spending some time with the Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro before delivering a verdict.

Until that happens, why don’t you join me in checking out these phones up close and get to know some key details that Nothing’s marketing efforts may have missed?

Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro: Familiar design?

You bet! The Phone 2a’s design stirred quite a bit of emotions and since that got people talking, Nothing settled for minor tweaks to the same design. Although the ‘transparent back panel’ has a new design, there’s an air of familiarity. The circular patch around the camera sensors is still a sight to behold and I like how Nothing took inspiration from Google’s Pixel 7 Pro to accomodate the three sensors on the Phone 3a. 

As for the Phone 3a Pro, Nothing went with the industry trend of chubby camera modules. The circular patch is elevated and holds the three camera sensors in a peculiar fashion. Coupled with the 3a Pro-exclusive grey colourway, it gives strong vibes of 1990s NES accessories. 

Excluding the rear panel, both the 3a and 3a Pro feature flat sides and a conventional narrow-bezel display. The power and volume keys are placed in an identical fashion to the latest iPhones, except for the Essential key that’s placed right under the power button. The Essential key is Nothing’s take on a dedicated AI button, a double-press of which ensures access to the Essential space – an app that holds all screenshots and offers smart AI features to deal with their content later. 

All in all, both these Nothing phones feel well built and, in their monotone colours, look attractive. 

Do they run fast?

Straight out of the box, the Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro boot up and start the app installation process in a generic fashion. We did not observe the phones heating up and in the earlier stages, there was no unusual lag observed – a rarity for a midrange Android phone running on a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. Note that this chipset offers equivalent performance to the Snapdragon 888, which should be ample for a midrange phone today running on Android 15. Nothing is promising up to three years of Android OS updates – not great when compared to what Samsung promises for its similarly priced midrange Galaxy A phones. 

Luckily for us, the Nothing OS experience feels as refined as the user interface on Google’s Pixel phones. The black and white colour scheme with a hint of red and light colour hues is pleasing – a stark contrast to the aesthetical crime that is ColorOS and One UI. Generative AI features aren’t shoved down your throat, which is a pleasant change. The interface design has been done in good taste. 

In the little time I have had so far, the camera systems on the Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro haven’t seemed otherworldly. The colour science holds true to what you see in most midrange Android phones – muted tones made oversaturated in post-processing, texture softening and unreliable exposure management. As long as you don’t have a keen eye for details, these cameras should do good. 

Additionally, the much-hyped periscopic zoom lens offers good quality magnification but the image quality leaves a lot to be desired. Boys and girls, you still need good image sensors and clever post processing for good quality photography. 

Note that at the time of writing, Nothing issued a couple of software updates to the 3a series and once installed, thet should theoretically improve imaging and a lot of other factors. 

Nothing Phone 3a, 3a Pro first impressions

As someone blessed with the opportunity to evaluate new phones for the last nine years, it gives me incredible pleasure to witness these new Nothing phones. At a time when brands like Oppo and Samsung continue to stick to a restrictive principle of ‘less-for-more-money’, it gives us tech critics immense joy to see a brand championing the cause of a well-made and nicely-designed midrange Android phone. 

Hence, Hardwire’s first impression of the Nothing Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro seem positive, so far. Should you buy them though? Keep an eye out for an in-depth analysis by Hardwire’s Moinak Pal and Milind Bharti over the coming days on our YouTube channel as well as our website. 

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