Nothing's latest mid-range smartphone, the Phone 4a Pro, swaps the transparent glass of its predecessors for a solid aluminium body, offering a rare premium feel in this price bracket. Priced at £499, it sits between the regular Phone 4a (£349) and the flagship Phone 3 (£699), competing with devices like the Google Pixel 10a.
The phone features a large 6.83-inch OLED display and a distinctive dot-matrix LED screen on the rear camera island, which can show notifications, time, timers, and even act as a selfie preview. While some Glyph features remain gimmicky, the rear display proves surprisingly useful for quick status checks.
Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip, the Phone 4a Pro handles daily tasks smoothly but warms up during gaming. Battery life is a standout, lasting over two days with moderate use and still having 20% left after heavy days. It runs Nothing OS 4.1 on Android 16, offering a highly customisable interface with retro dot-matrix themes and AI tools like Essential Voice for dictation.
The camera system includes a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP 3.5x telephoto lens, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 32MP selfie camera. The main camera performs well in good light but struggles in dim conditions, while the telephoto lens is the highlight, producing sharp, colourful images. However, the phone lacks HDR support for apps like Netflix due to certification issues.
Nothing promises only three years of Android updates and six years of security patches, which is below the best in class. The Essential Space app now syncs to the cloud, but its usefulness is limited to Nothing phones. Overall, the Phone 4a Pro offers a unique design and strong battery life, but its camera and update policy hold it back from greatness.
