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₹ 29,799
Nishant Padhiar | 24 Mar 2025 12:38 PM
Three years on and the design language pioneered by Nothing still draws considerable attention. As long as you put it face down during your brainstorming meetings, that is. The Phone (3a) Pro is the apotheosis of the transparent design language, or so it seems. Compared to the Phone (3a) it just feels more sophisticated in an industrial sort of way and the huge circular camera bump certainly lends gravitas to the “pro” moniker.
Nothing was literally created to offer something other phones weren’t addressing. A great feel, not just a feelgood aesthetic and the (3a) Pro, with its sandblasted frame and transparent body with smooth, tempered glass provides that in spades. The triple-lens camera module could look like it could spoil that party, but in actual use, I found myself using it as an anchor for the index finger while holding the phone and keeps it from slowly sliding down.
The 50MP periscope lens is what causes this massive bump over the Phone (3a) and offers the Pro version a 3x optical zoom capability (or 6x lossless), but it also allows for macro photography with the same lens. The front camera gets a bump to 50MP over the 32MP unit of the (3a) and that’s where the differences end.
Elsewhere, it remains identical to the (3a) in terms of display quality, screen size, battery, processor..the works. Nothing’s foray into AI comes via the Essential Space button on the side and it’s a great concept that lets you capture screenshots and get contextual information on it, summarize it as notes and even add a voice note to it to refer back. Great place for collecting thoughts or random things you find on your feed that need saving for ruminating on later. It should’ve been customisable though, like the Action button on iPhones but it’s a start and a good one at that.
Since it uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor as the 3a, performance is identical in terms of everyday use that includes shutter speed, processing time for images, gaming or streaming video content. Sure, the shutter speed could’ve been speedier, especially with the Flash on and the 4K video recording could’ve been smoother with a 60fps option, but all these minor gripes dull in light of the asking price here.
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The Glyph fill light is actually great for portrait shots without whitening faces or objects and I found myself using it a lot more often than keeping Flash off, like I would normally. The Glyph patterns and functionality again, remain identical to the 3a and while no longer a novelty, Nothing persists with them and whether you find them useful for monitoring Swiggy or Uber progress, try them out for photography at least!
Having double the zoom capacity to the 3a clearly makes this the preferred choice if you’re a content creator on a budget. Or just like shooting from afar and creating more depth in your photos. The image processing for the most part does a great job with white balance and colour consistency and the macro mode uses the telephoto lens to give you a 3x or 6x frame, equivalent of a 170mm zoom, which is a great tool to have.
Besides the slight over sharpening and the occasional blurriness, it’s a decent camera. Even the 50MP selfie cam collects a lot of detail and has superb resolution, much more than some competition that costs twice as much! Useable effects like different filters and bokeh patterns are well implemented while keeping the interface clean and devoid of gimmicks.
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I implore you to read the Nothing (3a) review here, but for the fast facts, the (3a) Pro is a even better midrange phone for slightly more money. It gives you more camera capabilities, more memory for a slightly snappier experience and a unique look that makes you look like a serious outlier within the smartphone community.
Nothing’s obsession with a transparent design language is easy to get onboard with, especially since it extends to other products in their portfolio. But the Glyph lights and the monochromatic dot matrix look isn’t for everyone even now. Ignore those gimmicks though and it still remains a solid offering with a strong personality.
Unique design and dependable performance make it a great alternate choice for a solid midrange phone.