Nothing Phone 4a stands out in India’s smartphone market, particularly in the competitive sub-Rs 30,000 segment, which is filled with robust choices. The UK-based brand, Nothing, is making its mark with distinctive features like a transparent aesthetic and high-performance capabilities that appeal to modern smartphone users.
Following the launch of its flagship model, the Nothing Phone 3, the brand introduces its new generation (a) series with the Nothing Phone 4a. Priced around Rs 30,000, this smartphone boasts a variety of eye-catching features such as a fresh Glyph bar, AI-driven Essential Key, a 50MP periscope camera, a 5400mAh battery, and, notably, its captivating transparent design. But is it as impressive as it sounds?
After testing the Nothing Phone 4a for more than two weeks, it was assessed for its balance of performance, camera capabilities, battery longevity, and daily usability to see if it is merely another stylish gadget in a crowded market.
Highlights
Nothing Phone 4a Design and Display
This year, the design of the Nothing Phone 4a has been refined, showcasing a revamped pill-shaped camera arrangement that appears more polished than that of the Phone 3a, along with a new Glyph Bar replacing the older Glyph light interface and subtle pink tint choices.
The Glyph Bar is a new feature that looks sleek and operates effectively, consisting of 63 LED lights arranged in six stacked small boxes.
Despite these updates, the smartphone maintains its signature transparent glass back with a flat build, ensuring its design remains distinctive.
The Phone 4a incorporates a plastic frame flanked by glass on the front and back, measuring 8.55 mm thick and weighing 204.5 grams, contributing to a bulkier appearance. It also provides an IP64 rating for dust and splash resistance, complemented by Gorilla Glass 7 for added durability.
Overall, the Nothing Phone 4a presents an impressive aesthetic that retains its unique identity, capturing attention effortlessly.
In terms of display, the Nothing Phone 4a features a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED screen with an up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10+ support, and a peak brightness of 4500 nits. Offering a 480 Hz touch sampling rate, it also includes a 2500 Hz touch sampling rate in Gaming Mode.
This combination results in a satisfactory viewing experience, with vivid colours, rich contrast, and smooth performance across streaming platforms, social media, and gaming. The display feels bright and responsive, making it well-suited for daily tasks.
Nothing Phone 4a Camera
The Nothing Phone 4a sports a triple-camera configuration featuring a 50MP main camera equipped with a Samsung GN9 sensor, a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide camera. While the camera specifications appear impressive for a mid-range device, the true test lies in its real-world performance.
Under daylight conditions, the Phone 4a delivers commendable results with accurate, well-balanced colours and sharp details, making the photos appear natural with excellent dynamic range and clarity. However, indoors, colours might appear slightly muted.
Additionally, the Phone 4a captures remarkable portraits and close-ups with well-defined focus, natural background blur, and effective edge detection, resulting in an appealing depth effect and authentic subject separation.
Low-light performance on the Phone 4a is also commendable for its price, demonstrating sharp details, accurate colours, and acceptable noise management. The night mode further enhances clarity and reveals additional shadow detail.
The standout feature is the 50MP periscope telephoto lens, which captures distant shots with remarkable sharpness and colour fidelity, although images can degrade beyond the 3.5x zoom limit. The 8MP ultrawide camera performs decently but is not the best in its category.
For selfies, the 32MP camera produces promising images with natural skin tones. Overall, the Nothing Phone 4a hosts an impressive array of camera features within its budget.
Nothing Phone 4a Performance and Software
Powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor, the Nothing Phone 4a comes with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. In real-world applications, the smartphone provides admirable performance for everyday tasks such as browsing, messaging, and content viewing. Casual gaming also runs smoothly without major stuttering or heating issues.
However, pushing the device with titles like BGMI on high settings or extended gaming sessions of over 30 minutes may lead to some heat generation and frame rate fluctuations. Nevertheless, significant lags or slowdowns were not encountered. Overall, multitasking and app switching remain seamless, reflecting consistent performance.
Operating on Nothing OS 4.1, based on Android 16, the Phone 4a ensures a clean and user-friendly experience. While some pre-installed apps like Netflix or Google applications may be included, users will likely choose to install their preferences. The device offers various customisation options, with the black and white visuals appearing quite modern.
AI-driven features are accessible via the Essential Key, facilitating access to Essential Search, Essential Memory, and Essential Apps. Nothing is also developing the Essential Voice feature for speech-to-text functionality.
Nothing Phone 4a Battery
The Nothing Phone 4a houses a substantial 5400mAh battery, a significant enhancement from its predecessor. The smartphone comfortably lasts a full day with moderate to heavy usage, covering calls, browsing, social media, and predominantly OTT content viewing. It supports up to 50W charging, taking approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes for a complete charge, making it slower than anticipated.
