Nothing Phone (3a) Unboxing, First Impressions and Camera Samples

nothing unveiled the Phone (3a) Series. In this article, we will unbox the non-Pro variant and share our impressions of the new mid-ranger.

nothing Phone (3a)'s rear design with Glyph Interface

To recap, it builds on the previous generation and polishes the design while bumping up the specs. The new phone comes with a 120Hz 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, a 4nm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, an Adreno GPU, 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB, and a 5,000mAh battery with 50W fast charging.

Its cameras include a 50MP main camera, a 50MP 2x telephoto, and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. The 32MP selfie camera is on the front.

The 8 GB/128 GB model has a starting price of PHP 19,990 in the Philippines.

If you find that interesting, let's take a look at it.

Unboxing/Accessories

Outer packaging

The device came with the iconic box of nothing with close-up shots of the phone's details. Around the box are the nothing branding, key features and regulatory information.

Box inclusions

Inside are the Phone (3a), USB-C to USB-C cable, SIM ejector and the documentation.

Build Quality/Design

rear design of the Nothing Phone (3a)

In terms of build quality, it has a solid structure with a hard polycarbonate frame. The front and rear panels are made of glass. Below the rear glass panel are the select components such as strips and screws that were designed to be visible which gives the brand its identity.

The phone comes in either Black, White and Blue. It measures 163.52 x 77.5 x 8.35mm and weighs 201 grams.

nothing Phone (3a)'s display

In front is the 6.77-inch Flexible AMOLED with a 2,392 x 1,080 resolution, a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and a 3,000 nits peak brightness. It supports up to 1,000Hz touch sampling rate and a 2,160Hz PWM Dimming. 

The brand says this also supports 1.07 billion colors and an In-Display fingerprint scanner. 

The bezels around the panel are symmetrical and on the upper part of the panel are the punch hole and the slim ear piece.

Selfie camera

Looking at the top part you'll see a speaker grill, some sensors, and a microphone.

nothing Phone (3a)s top and bottom

On top is a microphone port while at the bottom are the speaker grills, USB-C port, a microphone port and the SIM tray.

Left and right side

On the left are the volume up and volume down buttons while on the right are the power button and the AI button. The AI button is domed-shaped with a glossy finish.

nothing Phone (3a)'s triple rear cameras

On the capsule-shaped camera module at the back are the 50MP f/1.88 main camera with 1/1.56-inch Samsung sensor, OIS, EIS and AF, a 50MP f2.0 2x telephoto camera with a 1/2.75-inch Samsung sensor, EIS and 30x digital zoom, and an 8MP f/2.2 120-degree ultra-wide angle camera with 1/4-inch sensor with an LED flash.

Like previous generations, it features the Glyph Interface LED lights that serve multiple functions and can work as fill light.

The stock camera app comes with modes such as Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, Slo-Mo, Time-lapse, Pano and Expert.

The Expert or Pro mode allows for controls for EV (+-2), ISO (50-10,500), Shutter Speed (32 secs-1/8000), White Balance, and AF. The user also has the option to pick between each camera (UW, 1x and 2x), RAW and its various Filters. Our favorite is Lenticular.

First Camera Samples

rear camera daylight 1x

rear camera daylight 2x

rear camera daylight 4x

rear camera daylight ultra-wide

rear camera close-up

nothing Phone (3a) Selfie

nothing Phone (3a) Selfie Portrait

Based on our initial shots, the Nothing Phone (3a) produces decently detailed and sharp images for our daylight images. It also gives decent dynamic range and colors on most occasions as well. Although there are "few instances" that it will give less accurate colors in some areas of the image despite pressing focus on the subject. If you look closely at skin tones of the humans in the frame, it looks warmer than it should be.

Usually, we can get the desired result when using the 1x and 2x optical zoom. For ultra-wide, you'll notice it will be slightly less sharp and it will overexpose easier. The 4x zoom produces a sharp image but with a lot of artefacts. 

For selfies, its 32MP camera also provides good results in proper lighting conditions. We will have to test it out.

Nothing Phone (3a) Specs

Display: 6.7-inch Panda Glass protected flexible 10-bit LTPO AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, HDR10+, FHD+ 2392 x 1080 resolution at 387 ppi

CPU: 2.5GHz 4nm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno

RAM: 8GB/12GB

ROM: 128GB/256GB

Back Camera: 50MP f/1.88 w/ PDAF, OIS + 8MP f/2.2 Sony 120-degree ultra-wide + 50MP f/2.0 Samsung 2x optical zoom + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.2 Samsung sensor

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 50W fast charging

OS: Android 15 w/ NothingOS 3.1

Connectivity: WiFi 6 2x2 MIMO, 5G SA/NSA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4, OTG, NFC, GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS, dual SIM (nano)

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, IP64 dust  and water resistance, stereo speakers, 2x HD microphones, Glyph Interface, USB-C, Colors: White, Black, Blue

Dimensions: 163.52 x 77.50 x 8.35 mm

Weight: 201 g

Price: PHP 19,990 (8GB/128GB), PHP 22,490 (12GB/256GB)

Quick thoughts

For a starting price of PHP 19,999, you'll be getting several good features like a flicker-free and fast high-resolution display, a capable Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, 8GB/12GB RAM and 128GB/256GB Storage, 50MP cameras, and an attractive design.

The Glyph Interface has added functionality which we've found useful out of the box and we will have to do more intense testing on these.

Our initial camera results were decent with the 1x, 2x and the ultrawide. The 4 to 30x digital zoom.  

Stay tuned for the full review.

What do you guys think?