The Nothing Phone 4a is a standout Android phone | Tech News

I’ve been testing the new Nothing Phone 4a for a week, and similar to I stated with 2025’s Nothing Phone 3a, I believe it is the best price range phone you’ll be able to buy within the UK – as long as you agree that we will deem £349 as ‘budget’.

Maybe we should always call it mid-range. But in comparison with telephones just like the £1,279 Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra or the £1,299 Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the Nothing Phone 4a actually looks like a cut price.

It has inferior efficiency and digital camera chops in comparison with these pricier gadgets, however except you need to reside on the very innovative of Android phone technology, the Phone 4a has more than enough going for it.

This contains a great design, stellar two-day battery life, strong triple cameras, and extremely considerate, minimal Android software program.

UK-based Nothing leads with design, and in a sea of boring-looking smartphones (right here’s you, Samsung Galaxy S26) the Phone 4a stands out as a vibrant, pleasant breath of contemporary air, each in its {hardware} and software program.

I’ve been testing the phone for a week previous to its launch in white, however it additionally is available in black, blue and pink, the latter two colors tastefully tinted in hue.

You won’t just like the look, however I applaud Nothing for doing, properly, one thing. iPhones, Galaxies and Pixels are principally interchangeable matte glass, pastel colored slabs. The Phone 4a is massive with a large 6.780inch OLED screen however just like the firm’s different telephones, the clear glass back reveals a fashionable aesthetic that someway additionally feels retro, just like the see-through Game Boys and Tamagotchis of the late 90s, however more grownup.

I’ve been totally impressed with what £349 will get you, though I’ve been testing the £399 model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. £349 will get you 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.

Maybe the best method of describing how impressed I’m with the Nothing Phone 4a is that though I’m privileged enough to make use of many of probably the most premium smartphones on the market, I’d fortunately keep utilizing the Phone 4a after the review period is over. Usually I’d need to gravitate back to one thing pricier, however the Phone 4a ticks most containers.

Just like earlier Nothing telephones, I nonetheless discover the digital camera a little underwhelming. Photos are over-processed, with fairly a lot of HDR (that’s high dynamic vary) utilized when viewing on the phone that makes photographs seem … crunchy, for need of a higher phrase. The £499 Pixel 10a produces more pleasing photographs, however it additionally prices more.

You can click on on these hyperlinks to see some of my favorite pictures I took on the Phone 4a in full decision (photographs open in new window).

Nothing has managed to squeeze a 3.5x optical telephoto lens into the 4a although, which is great to see. The Pixel 10a has no telephoto lens in any respect.

Smartphones have typically grow to be boring and costly as a result of they’re a commodity, perhaps even a utility at this stage. When industrial design performs it secure for a really mass market, telephones are pale, unimaginative blocks of glass. You can’t say the Nothing Phone 4a is that.

People additionally maintain onto them for longer, so Apple and Samsung keep churning out £800 to £1,000 flagships yearly to persuade people to improve. The actuality is you’ll be able to spend much less than £400 and get every thing you need. Not as soon as when testing the Phone 4a did I believe it was too sluggish. And by no means too boring.

I’m no large fan of AI, so fortunately I may ignore the Essential Space app Nothing ships on the phone. It’s a quasi-screenshot app that may summarise screenshots or voice recordings and even ship notifications about them in case you add a ‘to do’ when capturing them. The phone has an AI button however as a result of it is high up on the left hand edge, I forgot it was there and by no means pressed it by accident.

Nothing is additionally pushing into letting its prospects design their own apps and widgets with the Nothing Playground project. You could make your own online or obtain different people’s to make use of on the phone. It’s a intelligent concept with great potential.

The battery on the 4a lasted for 2 and half days even with in depth screen time, images, calls and more. That’s because of a massive cell and the mid-tier Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset. So except you need to play Genshin Impact all day long, you’re completely high-quality right here.

You solely get three years of Android updates (to Android 19 in 2029), however six years of security updates to take you to 2032. That’s just one 12 months much less than the best Samsung and Google telephones.

Despite the cool design, you do compromise on construct high quality at this price. The sides are plastic, and the haptics – the vibration motor that sends out buzzes whenever you use the keyboard and do different issues in Android – feels unfastened and a bit low-cost in comparison with different dearer telephones. It’s additionally solely IP64 rated, so won’t survive an unintended dunking within the pool.

But these are small nitpicks on what is in any other case an reasonably priced Android phone with luggage more persona than the most recent Galaxy or Pixel various.