The era of phones with boring designs is slowly but surely coming to an end, with upstarts creating new and interesting designs, whether that’s with partners like Pininfarina or Tonino Lamborghini, or through in-house talent like Nothing.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is the pinnacle of the brand’s unique styling, but does the rest of the phone live up to the promise of what we see on the outside?

Price, specs, and availability

One of the most important things to know about the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is that it’s available to buy in the US. Not through a beta program or early access, and not by importing it, but directly through Amazon. It’s a big step, allowing the brand to reach more people quickly.

It costs $599, or £499 in the UK, where it can also be purchased through Amazon, along with Nothing’s own online store.

The mid-range space is dominated by Samsung’s A series phones, with the Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 being the two most recent releases. Otherwise, the Google Pixel 10a is a serious challenger, along with the aging Motorola Edge 2025, and the recently released Apple iPhone 17e.

Perhaps the most awkward competitor from Nothing’s point of view is the Nothing Phone 3, which is considerably more expensive, but if you aren’t a spec fiend, the Phone (4a) Pro is a very tempting, cheaper alternative.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro design and screen mature, still Nothing

I adore the look of the Nothing (4a) Pro. Nothing has taken the best elements of the Nothing Phone 3a Pro and the Nothing Phone 3 to create a hybrid, but instead of pushing the design envelope further, it has kept its designers in check for a more mature, less jarring end result.

The chassis is made of metal, while the cameras and Glyph Matrix are set inside a single transparent pillow at the top of the phone. It’s filled with different shapes and angles, but is more coherent than the Nothing Phone 3a, yet still distinctly Nothing.

Its metal chassis gives the phone a reassuring weight, and the angles are neatly chamfered for excellent comfort levels, while balance is spot-on. The Phone (4a) Pro hasn’t just been designed; it has been thought about, and it comes across in every aspect. For example, the buttons aren’t very big, but have been shaped, so they’re easy to locate and press.

Forced to come up with a criticism, the screen’s typical 800 nits of brightness struggles in cloudy outdoor conditions, despite the 1600 nit outdoor mode, and the screen lacks vibrancy in these conditions. Also, the in-display fingerprint sensor is set low on the screen, which makes it a little awkward to find and press with one hand, but this isn’t an issue unique to the Phone (4a) Pro and affects many lower-priced smartphones.

Which brings me neatly to the best part of the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro’s design. It never once feels like a lower-priced phone. The high-quality materials, fantastic look, and superb ergonomics leave many more expensive phones in the dust.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro Glyph Matrix Surprisingly useful

Nothing has been experimenting with ways to diversify its Glyph lighting system, which defines the brand’s style and ethos. For the Phone (4a) Pro, it has adopted the Glyph Matrix first seen on the Nothing Phone 3, but removed the touch and button-controlled functionality.

What does it do? It can show progress in timers, or by integrating with some third-party apps like Uber, a volume or timer visualizer, and when you put your phone face down on a table, it shows a clock or moon phase.

Don’t think this limits functionality. You can create custom rules for the Glyph Matrix, which work like the If This Then That (IFTTT) system, where you can make certain shapes appear when different notifications or actions happen. It’s really useful for lowering distractions, as you can leave your phone face down and not miss important messages.

I also like the ability to show the clock when the phone is face down, and how it can be linked to turning on silent or vibration modes at the same time. Spend time customizing the Glyph Matrix, and it becomes a surprisingly powerful tool.

Finally, I really recommend playing with the Nothing ringtones and notification alerts. Yes, I know we all keep our phones on silent most of the time, but these are something special. The characterful bleeps, bloops, and chirps match vibration patterns to bring the phone to life in a way others do not, and I never mind leaving the volume on when I use a Nothing phone.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro camera A social media star

The big feature on the Phone (4a) Pro’s camera is the 50-megapixel, 3.5x optical periscope zoom, something we don’t always see on a phone at this price. It’s accompanied by a 50MP main camera, and both have optical and electronic image stabilization (OIS and EIS).

There’s also a wide-angle camera, but Nothing can’t even be bothered to put the megapixel count on its official spec page, so it’s probably best ignored. Let’s find out.

Expect strong, but still natural colors from the main and periscope zoom. The camera does have a tendency to wash scenes out a little, but it’s not always noticeable, and not only is there an editing suite in Nothing’s Gallery app to fix any serious issues, but a host of fun filters to experiment with too.

The 3.5x zoom shots are detailed, and colors are consistent with the main camera. Even the 7x in-sensor zoom is usable, provided you don’t crop the images down.

As for the wide-angle camera, it’s not as bad as Nothing seems to want you to think, and the consistency and detail are actually superior to some other, more expensive phones. The gallery below shows photos taken with the 3.5x zoom.

On the video side, it can shoot up to 4K at 30fps, and uses Ultra XDR to improve contrast and color. It looks fine, but stabilization isn’t all that effective, and there’s an obvious blur in high contrast areas or when lighting suddenly changes while taking video while walking. Files are big too, with one minute of 4K video taking up at least 430MB. A nice touch is the red LED on the back of the phone, which shows when you’re recording.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro’s camera is excellent. It’s versatile, capable, and there’s plenty of character in its filters and different modes, available with a swipe up on the viewfinder. Its social media-friendly status suits the phone’s fashion-forward design too.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro software and performance Still Nothing, but only if you want it to be

Like the design of the phone, Nothing OS 4.1 is fun and different. Unlike the design, it doesn’t have to be this way, as you can opt for a standard Android look if the monochrome, pixel-art-style of Nothing OS isn’t for you.

Give it a try, though, as once you push past the slightly confusing look, it’s enjoyable to customize the style of the software. There’s plenty of customization, from the lock screen to nothing-designed clocks and widgets, plus a unified look for the Quick Settings and app icons.

Nothing’s approach to on-device AI is different from the mainstream. There’s the Essential Space, where screenshots can be saved, but more interesting is the Playground. It’s a place where you can vibe-code your own apps, create Glyph Toys, and make your own camera presets and even equalizer settings for headphones. Your creations can then be shared through Nothing’s marketplace.

There’s a sense of fun and community that you won’t find in a Samsung or Google phone, but if that’s not for you, it’s all easily ignored. The three years of major software updates is a little disappointing. It falls behind the seven years offered by Google on the Pixel 10a, and six years on the Samsung Galaxy A57. Nothing does provide six years of security updates, though.

Finally, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor is fine for general use and some gaming, and the upgrade to LPDDR5X RAM is welcome. I’ve been using the 12GB/256GB version, and the system feels smooth and responsive, with no issues editing a photo while watching a YouTube video in split-screen mode.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro battery and charging Ups and downs

I’ll start with the positive here. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro has very fast charging. From an entirely flat battery and using an Anker Prime wall charger, 50% arrived in about 20 minutes, 75% in 35 minutes, and it was fully charged in just under an hour.

The Anker charger showed a peak of 45W, which slowed to around 22W once the battery reached about 80% charge. This is great performance, and relevant to real-world use too, as the 20 minutes to 50% will undoubtedly come in useful to those who sometimes forget to charge their phones.

However, while the wired charging is fast, some will miss wireless charging, but this is a rarity in the mid-range. concerningly, the battery life has not been impressive. I’ve struggled to get five hours screen time from the 5,080mAh cell, and that’s without any gaming, just general use, including navigation, apps, and photography.

For some other figures, a 30-minute 1440p YouTube video over Wi-Fi takes 4%, and the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme 20-minute benchmark test took 10% from the battery. Overall, it’s certainly not terrible battery life, and enough for a single day of regular use, but I’ve found the phone needs a top-up during the second day, which doesn’t seem fitting for such a large capacity cell.

I’ll note that a software update did arrive right at the end of my testing period, and while it didn’t mention anything specifically in the notes, there’s a chance it may have a positive impact on battery life.

Should you buy the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro?

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is a great buy. It has its own character, just like Nothing phones before it, and this increases its appeal for those not willing to accept the minimal upgrades Samsung and Google have made to competing devices this year.

From the fun, customizable software to the versatile camera, it’s a phone made for people who spend time on social media and enjoy creativity, something which even extends to AI features like the vibe-coding inside the Playground app.

For the first time, it’s a Nothing phone that can be strongly recommended to US buyers, too, due to easy availability through Amazon. While the battery life lets the side down a little, and the screen never gets as bright or vibrant as I’d like when viewed in sunlight, the rest of the phone makes up for it.

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