Nothing Phone (4a) Pro put to the test in sun, sand and sea

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Design, build quality and scope of delivery

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro takes a rather bold step in terms of design. Instead of the regular Phone (4a) (here to test) only making minor changes, the transparent glass back of the Pro model gives way for the first time to an aluminum unibody, which is visually and haptically of higher quality and conveys less of the typical mid-range feeling.

A degree of transparency remains, however, having been incorporated into the camera module. It no longer resembles a can lid, as was the case with the iPhone 3a Pro, but is now a large, almost square element in the upper third of the back. While it visually occupies a considerable amount of space, it appears more defined and textured against the aluminum casing.

Directly next to the three cameras sits the round glyph matrix, which Nothing from the current flagship, the Phone (3) (here to test) has taken over. The matrix illuminates with 137 individually addressable mini-LEDs. Compared to the Phone (3), which has 489 LEDs, this is significantly fewer, but visually and functionally it makes at least as much of an impression.

What's displayed on the LEDs can be configured via the Glyph interface. This includes four brightness levels, features like personalized notifications per contact, the Glyph timer, and integration with third-party apps like Uber, which allows you to see, for example, the delivery status of your Eats order. If you don't want to use the Glyph features, you can also deactivate the LEDs completely.

One small but noticeable change in everyday use concerns the button layout. The so-called Essential Key, or Nothing's AI button, is no longer located directly below the power button, but has moved to the left side of the device. This significantly reduces accidental presses, especially when quickly pulling the smartphone out of a pocket or operating it blindly. However, the button still cannot be reprogrammed for a different function.

The build quality is also impeccable. The device easily withstands Thailand's tropical heat, long days in the sun, and sudden rain showers. Sand on the beach leaves no visible marks on the aluminum casing, and thanks to its IP65 rating, splashes of water are no problem. According to Nothing, it's even protected against brief periods of light immersion, which I haven't tested.

For added protection, Nothing includes a matching silicone protective case. A pre-applied screen protector and a USB-C to USB-C charging cable are also included. You will need to provide your own power adapter.

The Phone (4a) Pro is available in silver and black, as well as a soft pink, which Nothing has introduced as a new color for this generation. Unfortunately, there's no blue version like the Phone (4a), although it certainly would have suited the aluminum casing.

It attracts attention no matter the color, and during my trip I was asked several times which smartphone it was. Hardly any other device in this price range achieves this effect.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Display

The display in the Nothing is a pleasantly large 6,83-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1260 x 2800 pixels, resulting in a crisp pixel density of approximately 450 PPI. The display glass is Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which can withstand the occasional scratch even without a screen protector. The transition to the casing is seamless, and the bezels (display edges) are comparatively narrow for a mid-range device.

With up to 1600 nits outdoors and a peak brightness of up to 5000 nits for HDR content, the panel is among the brightest in its class. Even in the tropical sun of Thailand, where the light beats down mercilessly on the display at midday, the screen remains very easy to read. Even on the beach or on a boat, you rarely need to cover the display with your hand to see it.

Nothing also improves the refresh rate. Up to 144 Hz ensures noticeably smooth animations, whether scrolling through feeds, switching between apps, or quickly browsing photos. The adjustment is dynamic, although not quite as finely graduated as with LTPO displays, and not every app utilizes the full 144 Hz. However, this is hardly noticeable in everyday use.

 The panel displays colors vividly but not oversaturated. Thanks to 10-bit color depth, color gradients appear smooth and without visible banding. Black tones are, as is typical for AMOLED, deep and rich, which creates a pleasing sense of depth, especially when watching movies or viewing photos.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Performance

Inside, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor powers the Phone (4a) Pro, positioning it in the upper mid-range. Apps launch quickly, switching between applications is seamless, and the smartphone handles multiple apps open simultaneously with ease. Quickly switching between the camera, maps, and messenger apps while on the go feels pleasantly responsive.

A look at Geekbench 6 confirms this impression. With around 1.288 points in the single-core test and approximately 3.889 points in the multi-core test, the Phone (4a) Pro places itself in the upper mid-range. While the gap to flagship chips remains significant, the performance is more than sufficient for typical everyday tasks and multitasking.

For storage, Nothing uses LPDDR5X RAM (8 GB or 12 GB) and UFS 3.1 (128 GB or 256 GB). This means photos are instantly available in the gallery, apps open quickly, and even large files load without any noticeable delay.

The iPhone 4a Pro handled the Thai heat well. The aluminum casing also played a role, distributing heat evenly across the back. Neither navigation in direct sunlight nor spontaneous gaming sessions by the pool affected its performance.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Software

Nothing OS 4.1 is based on Android 16 and remains true to its minimalist approach. Instead of cluttered menus and pre-installed apps, you get a clean, streamlined interface with plenty of black and white, dot-matrix elements, and a structure that's immediately intuitive. Animations are smooth, transitions are seamless, and even after several days of intensive use, nothing feels sluggish.

Things get interesting with the so-called Essential functions. The Essential Key on the left is like a quick access key. A single press is all it takes to save screenshots, notes, or voice recordings directly to the Essential Space.

Especially when traveling, things can quickly accumulate. Screenshots of restaurants, directions, spontaneous ideas, or memories are all neatly organized in Essential Space, without requiring much effort. It's comparable to a digital notebook that runs in the background.

Essential Search allows you to quickly search through this collection of data. A quick swipe and you can find apps, photos, or saved content without having to click through multiple menus.

New is the so-called Playground, a kind of community area for small tools and extensions. Here you can download camera presets, Glyph features, or so-called Essential Apps. The latter are small mini-tools that can be created using voice input and placed directly on the home screen.

The whole thing feels a bit like a playground for your own ideas. Quickly building a widget for travel information or trying out a preset for specific photo situations fits well with the experimental character that Nothing has always pursued.

The Phone (4a) Pro is expected to receive major Android updates for three years and security patches for six years.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Camera

Nothing equips the Phone (4a) Pro with a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50 MP main camera (Sony IMX 896), a 50 MP periscope camera (Samsung ISOCELL JN5), and an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle lens (Sony IMX 355). This is all supported by TrueLens Engine 4 with Ultra XDR, Motion Photos, Portrait Optimizer, and AI segmentation.

main camera

The main camera uses a 50 MP sensor in a 1/1,56-inch format with an f/1.88 aperture, OIS, EIS, and 2x2 OCL PDAF. In everyday use, it is clearly the most reliable camera of the three. Especially in daylight, it produces sharp, detailed images with a pleasantly natural color balance.

This is particularly noticeable with classic vacation scenes. Temples, street scenes, or seascapes appear vibrant without unnatural color oversaturation. At the same time, the HDR processing works well. Even when there are only a few meters between blazing sun and deep shadows, many details are preserved. Point and shoot, and you're done—it usually works reliably with the main camera.

The 2x in-sensor zoom, however, isn't always entirely convincing. It's sufficient for quick crops, but on closer inspection, some shots appear somewhat soft or slightly dreamy. For truly excellent zoom photos, it's therefore better to use a telephoto camera directly.

As soon as it gets dark, night mode activates automatically. Especially in night markets, bars, or on brightly lit streets, the main camera delivers pleasingly good results. Shadow areas remain cleanly rendered, colors appear accurate, and the dynamic range is also respectable for this class of camera.

As is typical for smartphones, strong light sources remain problematic. Neon signs, streetlights, or reflective surfaces can cause overexposure or slight flares. While this is also a known issue with significantly more expensive devices, it becomes particularly noticeable with high-contrast nighttime scenes.

periscope camera

Nothing has also improved the periscope camera. The 50 MP sensor offers 3,5x optical zoom, 7x in-sensor zoom, and theoretically up to 140x ultra-zoom. It also features OIS, EIS, and PDAF.

This periscope camera is incredibly fun to use when traveling. Details on rooftops, figures on facades, or spontaneous street scenes can be captured from a comfortable distance, and for portraits, the 80mm focal length is often much more interesting than the main camera because it captures subjects with natural bokeh.

The 3,5x zoom looks sharp and detailed, and even 7x is surprisingly usable during the day. Beyond that, as expected, the image quickly becomes soft and heavily dependent on software. The 140x zoom is ultimately more of a gimmick.

The telephoto camera isn't without its limitations, however. Compared to the iPhone 3a Pro, the sensor is smaller, while the focal length is longer. This provides greater reach, but reduces sharpness in challenging lighting conditions, resulting in softer overall detail.

Ultra wide angle camera

With 8 MP, f/2.2 and a 120 degree field of view, it is practical for landscapes, beaches or narrow streets, but its quality falls noticeably behind the main and telephoto cameras.

In good lighting conditions, the photos are quite decent. They're perfectly adequate for a quick snapshot of a beach scene. However, as soon as you zoom in, you quickly notice that details are reduced and the edges become noticeably softer.

Interestingly, the ultrawide camera manages to capture more detail in some low-light scenes than one would expect given its older hardware. However, miracles shouldn't be expected. For night photography, the main camera remains the clearly superior choice.

Front camera

Nothing also takes a different approach with the front camera compared to its predecessor. Instead of the 50 MP sensor of the Phone (3a) Pro, a 32 MP camera with a smaller sensor is now used.

On paper, this seems like a step backward, but in everyday use it's less dramatic than it initially sounds. Selfies turn out sharp, skin tones look pleasing, and the dynamic range is really good, especially in daylight. It's more than sufficient for social media, video calls, or quick vacation snapshots. Only in low light do you notice that the software smooths more heavily and fine details are lost sooner.

TrueLens Engine and Presets

In the background, Nothing's TrueLens Engine 4 works, combining HDR, scene recognition, Ultra XDR, portrait optimizer, and AI segmentation. The image processing is mostly unobtrusive. Photos look natural immediately after being taken, without appearing oversaturated or artificially sharpened.

In addition, there are presets that don't just act like filters applied after the fact, but actually influence the look of the photo during the shooting process. This is especially useful on vacation when you want to quickly try out different moods for your photos, whether you're shooting at the beach, in a big city, or at dusk.

Video

The iPhone (4a) Pro remains rather basic when it comes to video. The main and telephoto cameras can record 4K at 30 fps, along with 1080p at 30 or 60 fps. The ultrawide camera is limited to 1080p. HDR video is available, and image stabilization is always active.

In practice, videos are okay, but not the device's greatest strength. Colors and dynamic range are accurate, but the clips appear somewhat softer in daylight than the photos.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Connectivity

When traveling, you quickly realize how important good connectivity really is, and the iPhone (4a) Pro is now well-positioned in this regard. In terms of mobile network connectivity, the device supports 5G in dual-mode (NSA and SA) as well as a wide selection of LTE and 5G bands.

It also features two nano-SIM slots and, for the first time, eSIM support. In Thailand, this has made switching to a local data connection significantly easier, as a data plan can be conveniently booked digitally without having to search for a physical SIM card on site. In addition, it offers Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC.

For navigation, the iPhone 4a Pro uses several satellite systems, including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS, and QZSS. In densely populated Bangkok with its skyscrapers, the positioning remained remarkably stable. Even between narrow streets, the navigation didn't constantly jump around but guided the user reliably through the heavy traffic.

For sound, Nothing relies on dual stereo speakers with clear, sufficiently loud audio for videos or games on the go. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the display and reacts quickly. However, it's positioned relatively low, which means your thumb has to move a bit further down to unlock the phone.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Battery

A full day of vacation in Thailand is a pretty good stress test for a smartphone battery. With a 5.080 mAh capacity, it's quite good, but it still usually needed to be plugged in by evening. However, usage was anything but restrained. Camera, maps, and screen-on time were significantly higher than what's typical for everyday use.

With normal use, you can expect a battery life of approximately 1.5 days. It charges via cable at up to 50W, which fully charges the battery in about an hour. Around 50 percent charge is reached after about 20 to 25 minutes. A quick top-up charge is therefore sufficient to extend the battery life by several hours. Wireless charging is not supported, which is not surprising in this price range.