Nothing revamps its Samsung rival Android phone | Tech News

Android telephones can be found in all sizes and styles for these on all kinds of budgets, however few stand out on store cabinets in 2026. Although telephones from Samsung, Google and Motorola are very superior and succesful, it might be argued they lack the character that outlined the best Android telephones of the 2010s.

If you agree, you would possibly like the most recent new phone from tech startup Nothing. The UK-based firm has been round for a few years, releasing Android telephones and audio merchandise, and at an occasion in central London this week it launched three new merchandise together with the Nothing Phone 4a Pro – and it’s a headturner.

At £499 it’s the identical price because the Google Pixel 10a and Samsung Galaxy A56, however has luggage more character. It’s additionally £300 much less than Nothing’s 2025 flagship Nothing Phone 3. This new system doesn’t substitute that phone. Instead, Nothing says it received’t release a new flagship in 2026, opting to replace its mid-range with the 4a sequence, earlier than a Phone 4 even exists.

£499 will get you 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, although pay £549 and also you’ll improve to 12GB RAM and 256GB. These are aggressive costs contemplating the specs on offer, with the phone powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.

The Phone 4a Pro goes on sale later this month from Nothing’s online store.

Where the Samsung Galaxy line is difficult to inform from Samsung telephones from the final 5 years with plain glass backs and vertically aligned triple digital camera lenses, the Phone 4a Pro is forged all in steel with a clear digital camera module that additionally comprises what Nothing calls a Glyph Matrix. This is a round panel with 137 mini-LEDs that may mild up to show numerous user-customisable issues.

When positioned face down, the little screen may be programmed to show the time, Caller ID or to flash along with your chosen emoji when sure contacts get in contact. It’s like the fashionable equal of the BlackBerry’s crimson notification mild.

Previous Nothing telephones – and even the Nothing Phone 4a additionally unveiled this week – all opted for an eye-catching absolutely clear design on the back, exhibiting designs meant to seem like, however not truly, inside elements. The 4a Pro is as an alternative a silver, black or pink steel throughout, for a barely subtler look. But put this phone subsequent to the Galaxy S26 or the Google Pixel 10a with their sparse glass backs, and Nothing’s design stands out each time.

Triple cameras with 50MP most important and 50MP 3.5x optical periscope offer 140x digital zoom, whereas the massive 6.78-inch AMOLED screen impresses on this price vary by offering a 144Hz refresh charge. With a high peak brightness of 5,000 nits, the screen needs to be seen even within the brightest outside situations.

Nothing’s software program additionally stands out in comparison with Android rivals. Nothing OS 4.1 primarily based on Android 16 is refreshingly light-weight, with customisable icons that show in black and white to make your apps much less distracting, whereas the Glyph screen on the back can show the time and different info in order for you it to.

The phone even has a devoted AI button on the sting to ship screenshots or voice recordings to Nothing’s Essential Space app, the place AI can rapidly categorise your scattershot snaps and ideas and helps you type by means of them.

If £499 is a bit above your funds, you could possibly spend £349 and get a debatably even more distinctive wanting phone with the new Nothing Phone 4a. I’ve already used and reviewed that handset, which retains Nothing’s clear back design. It has very related specs that needs to be more than enough for all however probably the most demanding of Android followers.