I found an Android phone that can convince iPhone users to make the switch – and it’s not a flagship
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There’s no greater reality check for a tech journalist than when you’re at a family gathering, set your phone on the dining table, and the gravitational pull of innovation does its thing. The curious eyes, familiar questions, and impatient hands of younger cousins are almost always guaranteed when I’m testing the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc. But lately, this phenomenon has been happening less and less.
Even foldable phones have lost some of their appeal to mainstream eyes, which I blame on stagnant, never-decreasing prices. But the latest device I’ve been testing, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro
From right to left: Nothing Phone 2a Plus, Phone 3a Pro, and Phone 3a
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
The rest of the design is akin to last year’s Phone 2a and 2a Plus, especially if you opt for the similar-looking gray finish (see above). However, holding the two generations in hand reveals some major hardware shifts: The back cover is now made of glass instead of plastic, and the large camera bump makes the Phone 3a Pro much more top-heavy.
In a surprising turn of events, I’d argue that the Phone 3a Pro is Nothing’s least ergonomic handset yet, with a bulge that only accentuates the phone’s uneven weight distribution. Whether scrolling news stories on the subway or navigating the New York City streets with one hand, I’d often have to shift my fingers around to get a secure grip on the phone. A clear case, especially one that makes the camera bump feel more flush, may remedy this.
On the opposite end — and you’ll have to excuse my geekery for a moment — I quite adore the button placement on the Phone 3a Pro. The right-side power and Essential keys and left-side volume rocker are situated around the center of the frame, so they’re always just a click away, whether you’re holding the phone with your left or right hand.
Notably, the new Essential key, which serves as an AI-assisted archiver, is treated with a gloss coating instead of matte, so it’s easier to discern.
The camera system this year includes a 50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, and 50MP telephoto with 3x zoom.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
The big camera upgrade, and what separates the Phone 3a Pro from the Phone 3a, is the new 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The addition of a dedicated periscope camera means you can capture more distant subjects without relying on digital cropping. I snapped several photos with the new camera while roaming the streets of Barcelona. I found the output to be competitive with my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, both of which cost about three times the price.
That’s only if you’re not pixel-peeping, of course, as the Phone 3a Pro can capture moments in relatively natural color and contrast levels but falls short in sharpness and detail. This is especially the case with low-light photography when the dimness of the environment makes it difficult for the camera to reproduce images accurately.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
It helps that Nothing OS is on the cleaner end of the Android spectrum, with virtually no bloatware or excessive features. (You can even opt for a Stock Android aesthetic instead of Nothing’s dot-matrix theming, though I’d recommend being more adventurous when using a phone like this.)
Lastly, the Phone 3a Pro is both an endurance and charging champ, with a 5,000mAh battery that rivals flagships and a 50W wired charging rate that beats them. However, you don’t get a compatible charging brick in the box, and the omission of wireless charging will leave users coming from competing midrange phones like the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) and Google Pixel 8a scratching their heads.
