In March, British design-focused company Nothing launched what is arguably its strongest lineup of devices yet. Alongside the budget Nothing Phone (4a) and Nothing Headphones (a) comes a midrange offering — the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.
This phone is also the closest you’ll get to a flagship offering from Nothing in 2026; the company says it will not release an official phone this year. But that’s okay. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro still delivers a premium experience at a mid-range price point.
The design of the phone harkens back to the random look of the Nothing Phone (3). The phone’s design depends on that, of course, but I’m picking up on that. There’s nothing to put down here. There’s a lot to like about this phone, including the $499 price tag.
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As with all mid-range phones, there are a few compromises – and some may be hard to swallow. For $499, you won’t have a perfect phone.
I’ve been using the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, supplied by Nothing, as my primary phone for 10 days, using the company’s Android software and using T-Mobile’s network in the Chicagoland area. Here’s what I thought.
The whole Nothing package
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
Alongside the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, the company launched two other devices. The Nothing Phone (4a) is a budget offering with a slower processor, slower memory, and fewer cameras than its bigger sibling. Also not available in the US
The other device was the Nothing Headphone (a) – a budget version of Nothing’s first over-ear headphones launched last July, the Nothing Headphone (1). For a low price point, you get a simple design, but in many colors. But by all accounts, they sound great and have the same controls as the flagship headphones, making it a compelling offering for $199.
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As for the Phone (4a) Pro, it’s also the whole package. Technical details up front: It runs on a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor, which is decidedly mid-range, but falls squarely in line with the phone’s price range. There’s also 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage, all powered by a 5,000 mAh battery. Indian SKUs add another 400mAh to that. The 6.83-inch AMOLED screen is great with excellent color reproduction. It refreshes up to 144 Hz, so everything is smooth.
TL; DR on specs: this phone punches above its weight.
The software is good with some trade-offs
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
Design is at the forefront of Nothing’s ethos, and every design choice built into its Android skin is deliberate.
For example, Nothing has a grayscale icon pack for apps that turns your home screen into a black and white version of its former self. I would follow this with an idea – the “digital minimalism” of grayscale apps that supposedly helps us have a healthy relationship with our phones. Your mileage may vary, but my mind is more focused on color than shape, so I haven’t changed the icon pack.
One confusing option: not being able to close the app drawer. I prefer to have all my apps on my home screen, organized into folders. It also does not allow easy creation of folders. Every time I wanted to install an app, I had to go to the app drawer, and drag the app into the appropriate folder. Not a fan of that.
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
Then there’s Essential Space, a kind of digital notebook activated by the Essential Key on the left side of the phone. This is meant to be a repository of your thoughts and reminders. If you need to remember something, the Essential key lets you take a screenshot and lets you add a voice note. AI then organizes your thoughts and notes.
I may not be the common usage here, but in general, I don’t remember things with screenshots; it’s just not the way my brain is wired. There is another design option that I like, though.
Enter the Matrix
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
The Glyph Matrix, which we saw on the Nothing Phone (3), is back on the back of this phone. I love it. However, Nothing has reduced its effectiveness.
First of all, the dot matrix itself has larger pixels which means lower resolution within that matrix. That’s good for things like letters and numbers, but bad for anything else. The Glyph Matrix has a nice trick where you can use it as a mirror to take a selfie with the main camera, and on the Nothing Phone (3), it worked really well.
On the Blank Phone (4a), however, the resolution is so low that you can’t tell what’s in the window when you’re trying to shoot. It is very disappointing.
It’s also disappointing that you can only use the Glyph Matrix when the phone is turned on its face. This is probably a saving measure, as no capacitive button can be pressed at this time. Still, it’s a bit of a mistake.
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
You can have a continuous display of the time, or the battery level, or several other options, but the funny toys from the Nothing Phone (3) version, like the Magic Ball 8, are nowhere to be found.
It doesn’t mean you can get more toys in the community, but that has a real “we can’t wait to see what the developers do with it” power. To borrow a nerdy reference, the Glyph Matrix feels creepy.
Performance and battery
The Nothing Phone comes with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor — a mid-range choice. On Geekbench, the phone generates a single/multiple score of 1,287/3,906. That means it’s fine for most tasks you’ll throw at it – opening apps, playing simple games, watching videos.
It will start to slow down when playing serious titles like “Genshin Impact,” or trying to edit videos. For most people shopping in this price range, that’s fine.
That also means that the phone drains the battery like a champ. I usually got just under two days of average use on a single charge. That’s the kind of patience I like to see on the phone. If you’re a heavy user, you’ll easily go a full day and maybe more without plugging it in.
Cameras are the biggest seller
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
It doesn’t look, on the face of it, like there’s nothing cutting corners with the cameras here. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro has two 50-megapixel sensors on the back with a 3.5x main phone lens, an 8-megapixel ultrawide shooter, and a 32-megapixel camera on the front.
But if you look at the results, it’s clear that these are mid-range cameras.
During the day, in good light, the phone is a very capable shooter, although the ultrawide leaves something to be desired. Details like bricks are missing. That’s not surprising considering the small sensor size – but if you’re looking for consistency between lenses, you won’t find it here.
Macro shots are also dark, even though the phone uses the main sensor for those macros. Many phones are switching to ultrawide lenses for macro photography. There’s no calling for that habit – but because of it, you can’t get as close to your subject as you might want to.
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
At night, things deteriorate quickly. The sources of light are very abundant and the darkness is a big bullet. Video isn’t bad — as long as you don’t walk. Start walking, and the quality of the video decreases significantly, as many judges follow your steps.
Quality photos are taken at night, and would be perfect for sharing on social media. But when you try to make the images bigger, mistakes are easily seen.
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro Price and final decision
Overall, there’s a lot to like about the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro. This is an excellent midrange offering with the usual corners cut – the camera being the main one. It’s not that the camera setup is bad; it’s just in the middle. If this phone lived in a vacuum, that would be a good trade-off.
It costs $499, the same as the recently released Google Pixel 10a. I bring that up because the Pixel 10a didn’t compromise on camera quality; far from it. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro has a telephoto that the Pixel 10a doesn’t have, so there’s that to consider.
Camera list on Google Pixel 10a.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Camera for Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.
Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable
If you value great shots of distant subjects, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is the best buy. But if you value overall camera quality, get the Pixel 10a.
These two phones are also polar opposites when it comes to design. The Pixel 10a is almost boring as it has a flat back and no camera bump. Meanwhile, on the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, you get Nothing’s signature transparent design and a large camera island.
Your tastes will vary, of course, but I really like the boldness of the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, and Nothing hardware in general. If you like to shine, it doesn’t get much brighter than this. If you are looking for the best software, Nothing delivers that as well.
If you’re looking for something different, that’s the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro in a nutshell. This phone is for people who like to stand out and carry a conversation starter in their pocket. It’s also for design fans who want a phone that makes a statement. It’s a true midrange phone, and a great value at $499.
