Nothing rivals Samsung with its cheapest Android | Tech News

Android challenger model Nothing made headlines earlier this yr for its Nothing Phone 3, a system that stood out for its uncommon, polarising design and for the very fact it was the model’s most costly cellphone but at £799. In a transfer that might placate critics, the firm has as we speak unveiled the Nothing Phone 3a Lite, a price range option with spectacular specs for the £249 asking price.

The Phone 3 obtained rid of the ‘Glyph’ gentle system constructed into the back of all earlier Nothing telephones, which flash to inform you of notifications and totally different app actions, changing it with a small round LED screen that confirmed pixelated graphics as a substitute.

The Glyphs are back with the Phone 3a Lite, the firm’s cheapest cellphone so far, albeit in its subtlest type but with a single dot gentle within the backside proper nook of the back of the cellphone, versus the curved strip lights in older units.

If you dig its seems, the 3a Lite may show an inexpensive antidote to Samsung’s more pedestrian designs on this price bracket.

The 3a Lite in black or white is unmistakenly Nothing. I’ve been testing the black model for a week or so (I favor the look of the white one) and it feels more premium than the price suggests because of protecting Panda Glass (a rival of Corning’s Gorilla Glass) on the entrance and back. You would possibly count on plastic at this price, however solely the body is.

For all intents and functions, this cellphone is a reshelled CMF Phone 2 Pro, the most recent system from Nothing’s CMF sub-brand. That cellphone has a metallic back with screws for equipment corresponding to wallets and lanyards, however in any other case its specs are an identical to the Phone 3a Lite – though the CMF is cheaper at £219.

Nothing seems to wish to offer a price range cellphone option with Nothing branding somewhat than its non-transparent, vibrant CMF option.

That means the cellphone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chip alongside with 8GB RAM, 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging, a 6.77-inch AMOLED with 120hz adaptive refresh price, IP54 mud and water resistance, and a essential 50MP digicam with OIS flanked with an 8MP ultra-wide. There’s a central cut-out 16MP selfie shooter on the entrance.

Also just like the Phone 2 Pro and the Nothing Phone 3, 3a and 3a Pro, the 3a Lite has what Nothing calls an Essential Key beneath the ability button. When pressed this takes a screenshot or takes an audio observe, which is shipped to the Essential Space app to be summarised and categorised by AI.

I personally don’t prefer it, and press it by accident all of the time. I want you can flip it off or a minimum of reassign it one other operate, however no cube.

Unlike some price range Android telephones there’s no headphone jack, however you get a twin nano-SIM slot and NFC for contactless funds. The cellphone additionally ships with Nothing OS 3.5 based mostly on Android 15, however Nothing tells me it’ll get Android 16 some time early subsequent yr.

The cellphone will get three years of Android updates and 6 years of security patches – not unhealthy for a price range cellphone, matching Samsung’s six years of security patches for its double-the-price £499 Galaxy A56.

The Phone 3a Lite is on sale from as we speak from Nothing.tech with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage for £249, or 8GB RAM and 256GB storage for £279.