When Nothing was launched, Carl Pei, one of the co-founders and former OnePlus employee, made a very clear observation: Tech has become boring, and we can only agree with the latest launches. Nothing then had a mission: to reconnect with fun.
A very fine mission, but just as difficult as it is noble. Once Nothing had laid its foundations (transparency, the LED system called Glyph, a refined interface), the young London brand could sometimes give the impression of having said everything it had to say. The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, recently announced, comes back to the initial promise. We were able to get our hands on it before its presentation at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona and it’s unlike anything else we’ve seen.
A design that says “look at me”
Most of the magic happens on the back of the smartphone. Gone is the curved glass of the Nothing Phone (2a), back to a flat glass that, as usual, invites transparency and lets you guess at the insides of the smartphone.
The first thing that catches your eye is the usual cable that’s supposed to connect the USB-C port at the bottom of the smartphone to the motherboard. The one you see isn’t always the one actually used by the system, but the nod will please the geek target that Nothing is chasing. Just like the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus last year, the tablecloth takes on silver highlights that immediately make the smartphone you have in your hands look like an object that seeks attention and assumes it.
The back is dotted with dozens of small details, spaces and nuances that we enjoy discovering. The presence of visible screws is also nice.
A deconstructed photo block
Then the eye falls on the elephant in the middle of the room: the photo block. We have seen photo blocks, but one thing is certain, there are no two like the one on the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro.
It also has a window and suggests a sort of coil, where the photo modules are as if nailed into place. The two elements placed end to end give a real impression of texture, while everything is flat to the touch, it is really successful.
The word that comes to mind when contemplating this photo block is deconstructed. No element is treated in the same way. The telephoto lens, almost centered, pierces a thick plate that gives the impression of being aluminum. To its left, the wide-angle module is the most sober of the lot and simply pierces the gray coil that serves as a base. Finally, the ultra-wide-angle is housed on the upper part of the photo block on a piece of rounded plastic where we also find the flash. This one is off-center on the left and gives the impression of having been added by hand.
The rest of the design is just as convincing
The entire photo block is as if placed on the back of the smartphone. It is surrounded by a plastic washer with a slightly silver and shiny treatment. Around it, we find the three LED strips that are part of the brand's identity. Placed in a triangle, they also come in three different sizes.
If you leave the back a little to slide on the edge, some may be surprised to feel plastic under their fingers. Given the very competitive price of the phone, under 500 euros, this should not be surprising either. Especially since in terms of finishing, it is not done haphazardly. Nothing has reintegrated the same plastic as that used in the Nothing Phone (2a) which had already proven itself with its very matte side.
The whole thing is quite comforting to hold in your hand, even if due to a large 6.77-inch panel, it still has a fairly massive size. The aluminum buttons bring a little premium feeling.
Nothing OS 3.1 and a little AI-based surprise
And among the said buttons, surprise, we discover an additional button located on the right just below the lock button. This one performs various actions depending on how you press it:
- one click takes a screenshot with the possibility of adding a note
- A long click causes an audio recording that will keep track of what you were looking at
- A double click opens essential space, one of the major new features of NothingOS 3.1
Because yes, the two Nothing Phone (3a) come with the new version of the manufacturer's interface. We find this refined experience all focused on monochrome and which gives pride of place to widgets. Small new feature, it is possible to let the smartphone automatically organize your applications by theme. In addition, the Google search bar is still located at the bottom of the screen, like on the Pixels.
The new major feature of NothingOS 3.1 is therefore Essential Space. In theory, it is a dedicated space that will keep all the captures made with the button, then will use AI to make the experience more enjoyable. If you record audio, for example, it will create an automatic transcription. In the future it should evolve and get a little closer to a more personalized Gemini, but for that, we will have to wait for Nothing to advance a little further in development.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro will benefit from 3 years of Android updates and 6 years of security updates.
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro price and availability
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro will be marketed at a price of 479 euros in a single configuration, 12 GB of RAM + 256 GB of storage. Pre-orders are open from March 11 and in-store sales begin on March 25, 2025.
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