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

Digital Walker recently sent us the new Nothing Phone (3a) Lite for review.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite in White

To recap, Nothing recently expanded its selection with the new Nothing Phone (3a) Lite. 

It features a 120Hz 6.77-inch AMOLED FHD+ screen. Inside are the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro, Mali-G615 GPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast wired charging.

It has a 50MP + 8MP + 2MP rear camera set-up and a 16MP front-facing camera. 

Other features include an in-display fingerprint scanner, IP54 rating, dual nano SIM, 5G, LTE, OTG, NFC, and GPS.

In the Philippines, the price starts at PHP 15,490 for the 8GB/128GB model.

On paper, it looks to be a promising contender for those in need of a unique-looking smartphone with a nice display and decent overall specs for the price.

Let's take a look at it.

Unboxing/Accessories

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite box

The White variant comes in a White box with a high-resolution close-up photo of the camera module and its textures.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite box inclusions

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

Unfortunately, the box does not include earphones or a wall charger.

Build Quality/Design

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's unique design

At first glance, the phone is immediately eye-catching because of its unique see-through glass design. 

Nothing says that it is built for durability with its IP54 rating and its aluminum battery frame.

It measures 164 x 78 x 8.3 mm and weighs 199 grams.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's display and symmetrical bezels

In front is the aforementioned 6.77-inch flexible AMOLED screen, which has a 2392 x 1080 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 1,000Hz touch sampling rate, and 2,160Hz PWM dimming. It supports 10-bit color and is Panda Glass protected.

Sleek symmetrical bezels, nice display!

Around the panel are slim symmetrical bezels. Above the punch hole is the slim earpiece.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's top and bottom 

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

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's SIM Tray with rubber gasket

The SIM tray accommodates up to two nano SIM cards. There is a black rubber gasket.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's left and right sides

On the left are the black Power Key and the black Nothing Essential key. On the right is the black volume rocker.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's rear cameras

At the back are the 50MP f/1.88 main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 15mm ultra-wide camera, a 2MP f/2.3 macro camera, and an LED flash.

While in front is. the 16MP f/2.45 selfie camera with.

The stock camera app includes Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, Slo-Mo, Time-lapse, Pano, Macro, and Expert.

First Camera Samples

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite rear camera 1x

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite rear camera 2x

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite rear camera ultra-wide

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite selfie camera

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite selfie camera portrait

Powering the phone is the 5,000mAh Battery with 33W fast charging via USB-C.

Inside are the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 pro octa-core processor, Mali-G615 MP2 GPU,  8GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB storage.

The phone comes with a single speaker, and it supports dual nano SIMs. 

Other features include NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, and an IP54 dust and water resistance rating.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Specs

Display: 6.77-inch Panda Glass protected flexible 10-bit AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 1,000Hz touch sampling rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, FHD+ 2392 x 1080 resolution at 387 ppi

CPU: 2.5GHz 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro octa-core processor

GPU: Mali-G615 MP2

RAM: 8GB

ROM: 128GB/256GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 2TB

Back Camera: 50MP f/1.88 w/ AF, EIS + 8MP f/2.2 15mm ultra-wide + 2MP f/2.4 macro

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.45

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ USB-C 33W fast charging

OS: Android 15 w/ NothingOS 3.5

Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz) 2x2 MIMO, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4, OTG, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS, QZSS, dual SIM (nano)

Sensors: Accelerometer, electronic compass, light, gyroscope, proximity

Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, IP54 dust and water resistance, X-axis linear vibrator,  Colors: Black, White

Dimensions: 164 x 78 x 8.3 mm

Weight: 199 g

Price: PHP 15,490 (8GB/128GB), PHP 17,490 (8GB/256GB)

Quick thoughts

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's widgets

Out of the box, the screen is tall and bright, with crisp text. But what caught our attention even more were the symmetrical slim bezels. 

It is made of a polycarbonate frame with glass front and rear panels. The design aligns with nothing's design language, but with the clear removal of the Glyphs.

It comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro octa-core processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB storage. 

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite AnTuTu and GeekBench results

It scored a respectable 914,508 in AnTuTu as well.

Inside is a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast wired charging.

At the back are the triple 50MP rear cameras and a 50MP selfie camera.

With a starting price of PHP 15,490, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is clearly aiming for mass-market appeal. But is it good enough? We will see in the full review.

We will also be taking more photos with the phone and running our usual battery of tests.

What do you guys think?