Nothing Phone (4a) Pro review

Introduction

While Nothing definitely started with a very simple and straightforward lineup, things have sort of ballooned lately, and that's without even counting the CMF sub-brand offshoot. So, beyond the mainline numbered models and the "a" variants, there are now middle-ground options as well, like the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is actually not that different from the regular Nothing Phone (4a). A slightly better build with better ingress protection, a bigger display with a higher refresh rate, a slightly more powerful chipset and of course, an iteration on the recognizable Nothing design, complete with a dot-matrix mini-LED arrangement on the back, called the Glyph Matrix. That about covers all of the improvements, though there are other subtle things scattered here and there as well.

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.7x76.6x8.0mm, 210g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 7i), aluminum frame, aluminum back; IP65 dust tight and water resistant (low pressure water jets), Manufacturer-rated water-resistant (up to 25cm for 20 min), 137 individually addressable mini-LEDs, Aircraft-grade aluminium unibody.
• Display: 6.83" AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, 2160Hz PWM, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1600 nits (HBM), 5000 nits (peak), 1260x2800px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 440ppi; Ultra HDR image support.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM7750-AB Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x2.8 GHz Cortex-720 & 4x2.4 GHz Cortex-720 & 3x1.8 GHz Cortex-520); Adreno 722.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 16, Nothing OS 4.1, up to 3 major Android upgrades.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.9, 80mm, 1/2.75", 0.64µm, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120-degree, 1/4.0", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 22mm (wide), 1/3.42", 0.64µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, OIS, Dolby Vision HDR, Ultra XDR; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5080mAh; 50W wired, 50% in 22 min, 100% in 64 min, 7.5W reverse wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.4; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

Of course, there is a price increase associated with the Pro moniker as well - around EUR 100, which is not an insignificant amount, especially in this price bracket. So much so, in fact, that we have to wonder whether the phone has what it takes instantly.

Luckily, we have a detailed review ahead and the chance to really get into the weeds and only make a value judgment at the end.

Unboxing

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro arrives in a fairly typical two-piece cardboard box with an outer sleeve. Inside, the handset sits in a dedicated cradle that keeps it well-protected during transit. The insert itself appears to be made entirely of cardboard, aligning with Nothing's eco-friendly packaging approach.

There is no charger bundled in the box. Nothing includes a note on the packaging recommending a 50W USB Power Delivery charger, but we'll get into that in more detail in the charging section.

You get a Nothing-branded USB Type-C to Type-C cable, though it's a standard 3A passive, non-e-marked unit, along with the company's signature SIM ejector tool.

This year, Nothing has also added a thick, transparent soft TPU case to the retail package, which is a welcome extra and rounds out the accessory bundle rather nicely.