Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Review - Accessible price, premium visuals
After a month of daily usage, we share our thoughts on the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite, including the unique camera module and Glyph LED-less design.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite in White |
To recap, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite features a 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro octa-core processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB/256GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging via USB-C.
The cameras at the back are a 50MP f/1.88 main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 secondary camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro with an LED flash. While in front is the 16MP selfie camera.
In the Philippines, the price starts at only PHP 15,490 for the 8GB/128GB model.
In our unboxing, we were surprised by the omission of a power brick.
For our review part 1: Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Unboxing, First Impressions, and Camera Samples
Multimedia Experience
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's display and symmetrical bezels |
In front is the 6.77-inch AMOLED with a 2,720 x 1,224 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and is Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protected.
The panel is bright, at 3,000 nits peak brightness. This means it is readable under direct sunlight. The colors pop, while the text and fine details are crisp, too.
It supports 10 multi-touch points, making it good for multitasking or games that support multiple simultaneous touch inputs. It responds quickly and accurately to our taps and gestures.
The bezels around the panel area are not the thinnest, but are nearly symmetrical. On the top bezel is the super slim earpiece, while below it is the punch hole that houses the selfie camera.
Thin bezels and bright display
While it understandably skips LTPO, the AMOLED keeps the profile sleek without major compromises.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's top and bottom |
The phone is equipped with a single bottom-firing speaker for audio. Around the phone are microphones used for noise cancellation in calls and audio recording.
The sound from the speakers is surprisingly loud. However, the distortion is noticeable above 80 percent as well. The sound is easily muffled when covering the speakers.
The microphones do a good job of picking up sounds from a meter away, while the noise-cancellation for calls is good too.
Cameras
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's rear cameras |
The back features a 50MP f/1.88 main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and a 2MP f/2.4 Macro with an LED flash.
The stock camera app includes Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, Slo-Mo, Time-lapse, Pano, Macro, and Expert.
The Expert mode allows for controls of ISO, Shutter Speed, EV, Focus, Metering, and White Balance.
Rear Camera Samples
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite daylight rear camera 1x |
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite daylight rear camera 2x |
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite daylight rear camera ultra-wide |
The images from the main camera are sharp and vibrant, but the sharpness looks artificial. while the colors are somewhat inaccurate.
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The close-up images' areas that are in focus are acceptable in sharpness, while the out-of-focus areas have a nice fall-off. The colors are vibrant but lean towards warmer tones. The noise is also noticeable despite being shot with a well lit indoors.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor rear camera 2x |
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor rear camera ultra-wide |
Indoors, the images are similar to daylight, where it is sharp but looks artificial while the color leans to warmer tones.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor rear camera 1x |
 Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor rear camera ultra-wide  |
| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor rear camera 2x |
For low light, the camera app automatically runs Night Mode-like shots. And like the rest of the photos, it is decently sharp but leans towards warmer tones. The noise on the 2x crop is more noticeable.
Overall, the rear camera produced decent images but leaned towards warmer white balance.
Hopefully, there will be a software update to address the noise issue.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's Selfie camera |
In front is the 16MP f/2.4.5 selfie camera found in the punch hole on the display.
Camera modes include Photo, Video, and Portrait.
Selfie Camera Samples
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite daylight selfie |
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor selfie |
Indoor selfies are a mixed bag. If you look closely, the hair and glasses are sharp, but the mustache and beard are soft. The lips and skin tones are slightly off, too. Light sources also overexpose easily.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite indoor portrait |
Similar to the portrait mode bokeh of the rear cameras, the edge detection has difficulty with hair fibers on my left cheek.
The bokeh blur is decent, but it has these weirdly shaped bokeh balls.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite lowlight selfie |
In low light, the selfie looks okay but is generally soft, and the light sources overexpose easily.
Overall, the front cameras produced okay selfies, but the sharpness, skin tones, and detail are inconsistent.
The rear and front cameras can record up to 1080p at 30fps. The footage is soft with noticeable noise.
The rear camera has an anti-shake feature, but the crop is noticeably larger than we would like.
Performance
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite AnTuTu and GeekBench results |
Inside the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro octa-core processor, Mali-G615 MP2 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB storage.
During the AnTuTu test, the phone's temperature increased by 7 degrees while the battery lost 4 percent power.
In GeekBench, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite scored 1,001 in the single-core test and scored 2,928 in the multi-core test.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite 3DMark and CPDT Results |
In 3DMark, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite scored 3,143 overall score with an average fps of 18.82. The internal storage got 775.32 MB/s in sequential read speeds and 421.24 MB/s in sequential write speeds.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite GeekBench AI and PCMark battery benchmark results |
In GeekBench AI, it scored 931 in Single Precision, 921 Half Precision, and 2,074 Quantized Score.
Nothing Phone (3a) Lite benchmarks:
- AnTuTu - 914,508
- Geekbench 6 - 1,001 (single-core), 2,928 (multi-core)
- GeekBench AI - 931 (Single Precision), 921 (Half Precision), 2074 (Quantized)
- 3DMark - 3,143 overall score, 18.82 average fps
- CPDT - 775.32 MB/s sequential read speeds and 421.24 MB/s sequential write speeds
The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite scores in AnTuTu, Geekbench, and Geekbench AI offer scores that are within the range of what is expected in its price range. However, the write speeds of the SSD are underwhelming.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Genshin Impact Graphics |
Our takeaway is that when playing demanding games on the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite, such as Genshin Impact, the game is playable even at the lowest graphic settings, but it will experience frame rate drops when multiple animations flood the screen.
In our experience, the phone can handle the majority of tasks like navigating through the OS, opening apps, web surfing, and social media without struggling.
The phone has an optical In-Display fingerprint sensor and face unlock for security. The initial setup and subsequent uses are quick, and it detects our biometrics instantaneously. It works even if your finger is a little sweaty.
The face unlock only struggles when the camera is dirty. The screen brightens up when used in the dark. It detects the face and unlocks the phone super fast, too.
Regarding connectivity, we have the following: WiFi 6, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, and Dual Hybrid SIM support.
Connections are usually stable for WiFi, and we get 4 to 5 bars of mobile data signal most of the time.
Inside the phone is a massive 5,000 mAh battery. In our usual PCMark Battery Benchmark, it lasted for only 10 hours. In our time with the phone, we would unplug the phone at 8AM and use it all day, and get less than 15 percent of battery at 10 PM.
The battery charges via USB-C with the included 33W wall charger, which charges the phone 100 percent in under 100 minutes.
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| Nothing OS |
It is running on NothingOS based on Android 15, which further leans into Nothing's visual identity and tweaks it visually. Performance improvements and new AI features are present, too.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Glyph Interface and Intelligence tools |
The new Glyph Interface on the Phone (3a) Lite is minimal. We had hoped there were more LED lights.
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Intelligence tools, ChatGPT widget, and Essential News widget |
The OS adds new widgets, including ChatGPT and Essential News.
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Next is Wallpaper Studio, where users can generate their own ideal wallpaper.
The new Essential Key can be customized by the user instead of launching the Essential Space.
Pros - Eye-catching design, Dimensity 7300 Pro, IP54, 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz 3,000 nits FHD+ AMOLED screen, decent camera performance
Cons - Simplified Glyph interface, single speaker only, 2MP macro
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)
Verdict
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| Nothing Phone (3a) Lite's widgets |
The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is the latest and most affordable entry into the Nothing design and software.
Unfortunately, there is only a single RED LED light for the Glyph Interface of this phone. Though it has the iconic design, the lack of LED lights takes away one of the brand's appeals.
One of its major highlights is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro, which offers good performance, while the 5,000mAh battery provides ample power for a heavy day of usage.
Except for its macro camera, its cameras can take decent photos in daylight and low light.
Overall, we recommend the Phone (3a) Lite for people who want the Nothing Phone design and software at a more accessible price point.
What do you guys think?
Build/Design - 4
Multimedia Experience - 4
Cameras - 3.75
Performance - 4
Average - 3.94/5
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