ZDNET’s main dishes
- Nothing 3A phone makes intelligent compromises for a budgetary apparatus, excelling in the design, battery life and display quality.
- Essential Space offers an experience of refreshing and subtle AI, presenting nothing restrained and clear vision.
- While some see the design of nothing as a novelty, practical experience proves that its style of signature is deeper than aesthetics.
No more purchase choice
THE Nothing of phone 3aAt a price of $ 379, arouses its complaint on the market for competitive mid -level smartphones with a striking design, a killer display and a significantly moderate approach to the integration of AI. After spending a considerable time with the device, including a trip to trot from the globe to the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona last month, I can say with confidence that the formula of nothing works exceptionally well to stand out from its mid -range competitors.
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The design of the material of nothing is the most immediately apparent reason to buy the ecosystem nothing. In a few years, nothing has imposed itself as a technological brand with an undeniably original aesthetic which focuses on the transparent case which presents certain internal components.
Although transparency mainly reveals framing structures and hexadecimal screws rather than printed circuit cards and memory chips, it always creates a distinctive visual signature. lol
Distinctive design in a sea of similarity
The LED lights of glyph surrounding the camera bar, which raise transparency beyond simple aesthetics in functional art. These lights dance and flash for incoming calls, timer alerts and music reading, adding a practical value to the unique design approach.
I particularly appreciated the way the flashing glyph usefully informed me of new notifications when I had the phone in my chest pocket during MWC.
Nothing by phone, the 3A design and phone glyph notification system is unique.
Jason Howell / ZDNET
The camera bar is a distinctive design element, with its pill -shaped environment elegantly housing three sensors in an inclined and oblong frame. The 3A glass rear panel is also a nice premium upgrade of the 2A plastic support, adding an additional button of sophistication.
Although the polycarbonate frame is comfortable and smooth in my hand, I noticed a small bump from a minor drop that a metal frame would probably have rejected.
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The volume and power buttons share a uniform flat pill shape which is easily identifiable by touch and offers satisfactory tactile feedback with each press. The essential space button is the essential space button, which has a brighter and rounded design which protrudes slightly further than the others. Nothing clearly tries to attract the attention of users to this new button, hoping that they will be tempted to support it!
Overall, the design is impressive, not only because it is unique and different from any other smartphone, but also because it is such a solid statement for a device that is firmly in the mid -range of Android smartphones. Style and distinctive character are not qualities that mid -range smartphones often present, but with the Nothing Phone 3A, they are among its most visible sales arguments.
The Nothing Phone 3A OLED screen is beautiful.
Jason Howell / ZDNET
Another remarkable feature is the price of the price, especially given its price. The OLED LTPO panel of 6.77 “offers exceptional quality with 3,000 nicks of brightness, rich colors and sharp details. Even under direct sunlight, the screen remains shiny and punchy, while the 120 Hz refresh rate ensures scrolling and smooth animations for mine like these premium improvements have spoiled.
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What is particularly impressive is the implementation of PWM by phone 3A to 2160 Hz, a frequency practically imperceptible for the human eye, which makes it comfortable for prolonged visualization. This is much better than many premium devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, with its much lower PWM frequency of 480 Hz, which can potentially cause eye fatigue and headache in sensitive users.
Surprisingly limited software experience
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 processor is an excellent choice for this Ranger environment, especially since it is associated with 12 GB of RAM. The processor is designed to provide advanced AI capabilities to lower level devices, but since the Nothing 3a phone has relatively minimal AI integrations to start, the processor is more than sufficient to drive the software and game experience.
I only noticed occasional discrepancies during the capture of certain images with the cameras, and even then, it was mainly detected in low -light situations.
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The essential space sometimes cluttered on the phone 3A.
Jason Howell / ZDNET
With nothing os 3.1 (in addition to Android 15), the company adds subtle customizations while keeping the basic experience of Android, including the option of adding widgets specific to the lock screen, a nostalgic reminder on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. With Google set to reintroduce locking screen widgets in Android 16 for all users, it will be interesting to see how nothing adapts its approach when the update arrives in the coming months.
A new inclusion of very important and notable software is the essential space function of nothing. It is so important for nothing that they include the aforementioned material button to control the new feature. It is also one of the only signs of integration of modern AI that slips into the operating system, at least for the moment.
The tapping of the hardware button takes a quick screen and allows you to announce the notes with this image. Maintenance of the button takes the screen and draws a recording of audio notes which only ends once you drop. The disk AI transcribes audio recording and makes any view in the essential space.
After a slow start, I started to look at this feature as a recall engine, and this is where I understood its value. Although it took a while to get into the habit, after having suffered his advantages, I started to count on this one to document the important moments of my day.
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Although promising, the essential space always has room for improvement. The interface can become visually congested with several inputs, and accidental button pressure throughout the day add to disorganization.
I am really excited to see how this functionality evolves and I am found to hope that my Pixel 9 Pro had a similar dedicated button to help manage my forgetfulness.
Cameras are nothing special
The Nothing Phone 3a camera system is a field where its mid -range roots become visible. Well -lit environments with static subjects can produce quality images, but the lack of optical image stabilization means that even slight movements often produce macabre and grainy results which do not translate well into larger screens.
The streets of Barcelona, captured by the 5MP telephoto lens.
Jason Howell / ZDNET
While the ultra -id camera takes an immediate examination on the small screen, the image quality deteriorates significantly on a zoom, even minimal, exposing the stresses of the 8MP sensor. The 2X telephoto lens looks good even when it is cropped to 4x, but a dynamic range is missing, which was obvious in certain outdoor shots, the Skylines Barcelona becoming a washing of white against the urban landscape below. The portrait mode generally required several attempts to obtain acceptable on -board detection around my head.
A good quality of good quality photograph is possible but incoherent, requiring exceptional stability of the hand to compensate for the lack of stabilization. In the end, camera performance is the most obvious sign that this device is a mid -range smartphone.
Boats in a port of Barcelona at night, captured by the main objective 50MP.
Jason Howell / ZDNET
For a device of less than $ 400 with many premium type features, the 5,000 mAh battery turns out to be the icing on the cake. With the Nothing 3a phone, making a day and a half of autonomy is always easy.
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The 50W fast charging support is also an impressive bonus, in particular compared to my Pixel 9 Pro, which charges almost half of this speed despite the cost of more than twice as much. Although wireless load fans can deplore its absence, I firmly believe that it is a solid omission for devices in this price range.
Battery anxiety has never been a problem because the phone has rarely dropped below 30% of my heaviest use days. This performance remained true even during the navigation of Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress, which speaks a lot about its reliability when you need it most.
ZDNET purchase advice
Despite rare and understandable compromises in the quality of the camera, the Nothing of phone 3a Make all the right compromises for a budgetary apparatus. It stands out with its signature design, offers impressive battery performance and has a phenomenal screen.
The essential space function is refreshing and subtle in its implementation of AI, unlike most competitors, who aggressively present their capacities of AI. Just the 3A phone reflects a remarkable restraint and a clear vision of a young company. While some can reject the design choices of nothing as a pure novelty, the experience of their devices reveals from the first hand that their unique signature is more than superficial.
This article was initially published on March 24, 2025 and was updated on May 9, 2025.
