Nothing Phone 3a Pro

At Rs. 189,899, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro costs noticeably more than the Phone 3a, and the extra money goes almost entirely into cameras: a 3x periscope telephoto, a slightly larger main sensor, a 50 MP selfie camera with 4K video, and eSIM support in most markets. Everything else, including the chip, screen, battery and software, is the same.

Against its rivals: both picked competitors cost a little less and offer more on paper.

• The Vivo V80 (Rs. 184,999) has a much larger 7200 mAh battery, 90W charging, a 144Hz screen and four years of Android upgrades.
• The Oppo Reno 16 (Rs. 159,999) is far more compact, with a 6700 mAh battery and three 50 MP rear cameras.

Verdict: buy the 3a Pro if you want Nothing's clean, distinctive software together with a genuinely useful zoom camera. If battery life, water protection or long-term updates matter more, the Vivo and Oppo give better value at this price.

Official specs: a 6.77-inch AMOLED panel with 1080 x 2392 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ and 1 billion colours. Nothing rates it at 800 nits typical, 1300 nits in high-brightness mode and 3000 nits peak, with 2160Hz PWM dimming and Panda Glass on top.

Real-world use: a large, flagship-like screen with thin, uniform bezels, well suited to streaming, browsing and games. The always-on display works reliably, showing time and notifications without draining much attention.

Limitations: peak brightness falls a little short of the most expensive phones in harsh sunlight, and the in-display optical fingerprint sensor occasionally takes a moment longer to unlock than ultrasonic sensors on premium phones. At 211 g with a large panel, it is a two-handed phone for most people.

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm) is the same chip as in the Phone 3a, available here with up to 12GB of RAM. Daily use is consistently smooth, with fast app switching and fluid animations thanks to Nothing's tuning.

Smart Game Mode: when an app draws a lot of power the first time you use it, the phone automatically switches it to Game Mode the next time it opens. This is Nothing's own feature, not standard Android.

Gaming: PUBG Mobile offers the Extreme+ frame rate at Smooth graphics, and Ultra HD graphics are also available, so casual and mid-level gamers will be satisfied.

Limitations: long sessions in GPU-heavy games, and very demanding apps, can still cause stutters. Buyers who mainly play intensive 3D games should look at phones with stronger chips.

Official specs: a 50 MP main camera with OIS, a 50 MP 3x periscope telephoto with OIS, and an 8 MP ultrawide. The front camera is 50 MP. Both front and rear cameras record 4K at 30fps.

Real-world use:

• Main camera: photos look natural, with soft background blur for close subjects and colours that are not overprocessed, although some fringing and overexposure appear. It also holds up well in very dark scenes. In most situations it looks only slightly better than the Phone 3a's main camera, mainly thanks to better autofocus.
• Telephoto: this is the real upgrade. The periscope lens gives a more usable long range and works well for close-up macro shots, with quality sensor-crop zoom to 6x and digital zoom up to 60x.
• Ultrawide: the 8 MP camera is weak, and in low light its photos lose almost all detail.
• Selfies: daylight selfies are detailed, with good colours and a natural blur even outside portrait mode. In low light, the front camera falls behind the main camera.

Official specs: a 5000 mAh battery with 50W wired charging. Nothing quotes 50% in 19 minutes and a full charge in 56 minutes.

Real-world use: battery life is excellent for the capacity, and a full charge takes roughly an hour.

Charger: no charger comes in the box. The good news is that the phone supports USB Power Delivery, so a standard PD charger from the market can fast-charge it; you do not need a proprietary Nothing brick.

Limitations: there is no wireless charging, and both competitors at this price carry much larger silicon-carbon batteries with faster charging.

The phone launched with Android 15 and Nothing OS and can be upgraded to Android 16 with Nothing OS 4.0. The interface is clean and free of bloatware.

Useful features:

• Widgets: Nothing's own widgets are well designed. A camera widget can open straight into the 50mm portrait mode, and the weather widget is both useful and attractive.
• Glyph Interface: the rear lights can show charging progress, flash for specific apps and sync with ringtones. Note that the Glyph lights are switched off by default, so turn them on in settings.
• Essential Space: press the Essential Key to save what is on screen, or hold it to record a voice note; the phone then summarises it and can set reminders.
• Lock screen clock styles and widgets can be customised.

AI tools are limited compared with Samsung or Oppo. Updates: Nothing promises three years of Android upgrades and six years of security patches for the 3a series, according to 9to5Google.