Vibes and great value for under $500

My first experience with a Nothing smartphone was the Nothing Phone 3. For what was intended to be the company’s first “true flagship,” it didn’t exactly blow me away, but I did fall in love with its design. It stood out; it was different.

Now, the newly released Nothing Phone 4a Pro ($499.99 at Amazon) is officially bringing Nothing’s unique style to the mid-range in the US for the first time. Can it deliver? Let’s find out.

I’m going to start by giving Nothing a lot of credit here. The company’s phones, its aesthetic, and the whole brand stand out in a sea of the same, even with some fairly significant changes to the typical Nothing blueprint.

Let’s start with the rear. With the 4a Pro, Nothing has done away with the transparent back, instead only offering a hint of transparency on the camera module. Oddly, the Nothing Phone 4a — a phone that won’t be officially available in the US — does retain the retro-styled transparent back. Regardless, it does come with a big, circular Glyph Matrix on that same camera bump.

I like the idea of seeing notifications for specific contacts or apps on the back without having to pick up the phone. This is bigger than the one on the Phone 3, but it doesn’t seem as high-quality, so everything displayed on it looks a little soft.

Nothing is also really pushing Essential Space — what the company bills as users’ “second memory” — but it’s a feature I can’t really get on board with. I’m not sure what benefit it has to me that I can’t just get from using Google Gemini. I don’t want another app that I have to remember to use. At least Nothing moved the Essential Key to the left-hand side this time around, so I won’t accidentally touch it like I always did with the Phone 3. Now that I know exactly where it is, I never have to use it.

One thing I love is Nothing OS. Again, credit to the company for making a user interface that feels so much like the phone. It’s so seamless; it blends into the design so well. You know immediately that this is Nothing, and maybe it’s probably one of my favorite Android skins you can get.

There are so many widgets to choose from, each with its own style. The icons look great, it’s quick, animations are superb, and I just really like the overall vibe. It’s very different from stock Android, but at the same time, it’s kind of similar. I’m surprised at how well this OS runs on a phone that is only $499.

Nothing OS is also a good reason for me not wanting to keep my phone on silent. I love all the retro bleep and tick sounds and tones — very unique stuff.

For the price point, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro’s cameras are fine. The colors in the shots are nice without being too oversaturated, and I appreciate that you get three lenses: an ultrawide, a main, and a 3.5x telephoto (with up to 140x digital zoom). Having a dedicated zoom lens in particular is a rarity at this price point.

The issues with the cameras surface when you really study the photos, however. I think with all of the lenses, the details aren’t great. Everything is just a little bit soft, and sometimes the photo can yield a very different result, even under the same lighting. The cameras just aren’t quick enough for anything that moves. Trying to get a photo of my dog, Cassie, in focus was almost impossible.

When it comes to nighttime shots, the 4a Pro actually handles dimmer conditions surprisingly well — especially the primary camera. Again, there’s a loss of detail if you crop in, but it’s still the closest competitor to the Pixel 10a for a capable camera phone under $500. Unfortunately, that lower price starts to show in the ultrawide, which doubles down on the muddy details and softness.

At the launch, Nothing spent a lot of time talking about the 140x zoom capabilities of this phone, but, as with any digital zoom, the details get pretty weak very quickly beyond the optical threshold. Put simply, it’s a gimmick, but at least the 3.5x optical zoom is a nice option to have on a more affordable device.

Overall, it isn’t delivering the same quality per shot as the similarly priced Pixel 10a, but you can’t argue with the versatility, and if you’re just going to post these photos on Instagram, you won’t have any complaints.

As for video, it’s a shame to see only 4K at 30fps from the primary camera. The quality is fine overall, but without a smooth 60fps image, it has its limitations. I’ll admit, though, I do like the little red recording light that you see when you are taking a video.

For camera samples, be sure to check out my video review at the top of this article.

Perhaps the biggest upgrade for the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is its availability. There’s no beta program this time; the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is officially available to buy in the US via Amazon. That’s not true of the regular Phone 4a, which isn’t even available directly from Nothing.

However, looking at the spec sheet, there are still significant band limitations for the Pro model. T-Mobile users should be absolutely fine, but for anyone on other major networks or MVNOs, be sure to double-check with your provider before you buy.

And if you do pick this up for $500, you get quite a lot more on top of everything I’ve already mentioned. For a start, it’s the slimmest phone Nothing has ever made, and even though it lost the transparent design almost entirely on this, I do like that industrial unibody metal finish. The display is 6.83 inches and now features a 1.5K resolution. It can reach a peak brightness of 5,000 nits, has a 144Hz refresh rate, and delivers some surprisingly slim bezels for a phone at this price bracket.

The Phone 4a Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, which won’t make it great for demanding games, but for everything else, I’ve had no issues. Then there’s the battery — it’s really good. It’s just over 5,000 mAh, and I don’t remember a day when it’s struggled. In fact, I’ve definitely gone a second day without charging it when I’m using this phone lightly. It has 50W wired charging, too, which is quicker than almost all other $500 phones.

Carrier support limitations aside, many of the complaints I’ve leveled against the Nothing Phone 4a Pro can be waved away, given its price tag. However, there are a few areas where Nothing’s mid-ranger lags behind the top competition.

Perhaps more significant is the mediocre update policy. Three years of updates (albeit with six years of security patches) is pretty weak for the Nothing Phone 4a Pro, especially given that other mid-range and even lower-end devices from Google and Samsung offer up to seven years in some cases.

Overall, though, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is a stylish mid-range phone that’s a bit lacking in polish but a solid alternative to the Pixel 10a and Galaxy S25 FE — if it works with your chosen carrier, at least.