Nothing (3a) and Pro are available for pre-order from JB Hi-Fi on 4 March and retail sale on 11 and 25 March, respectively. These are interesting, well-priced Qualcomm Snapdragon-based phones.
Nothing has developed a cult following and hit Australia last year with its (2a) Nothing (2a) – a nothing special smartphone for the masses. It was good, but other brands offered better features. This time around, they are in the sweet spot.
Nothing (3a) and Pro specs
The (3a) series has seriously beefed up the mid-range. Where the features are the same, we leave the adjacent field blank.
| Nothing (3a) | Nothing (3a) Pro | |
| Website | AU Product page | Front Camera |
| Colours | Black, White and Blue | Grey and Black |
| Price | $599 8/128 $689 12/256 | $849 12/256 |
| Display | 6.77” 120Hz flexible AMOLED 10-bit/1.07 billion colours 2412 x 1080 800 nits typical 1300 nits maximum 3000 nits peak HDR Always on Display 2160Hz PWM – no PWM issues Panda Glass | |
| SoC | Qualcomm SD 7 Gen 3 4nm TSMC Adreno 710 940MHz X63 Modem AI capability | |
| RAM/Storage GB | 8/256 plus virtual RAM BOOST 12/256 | 12/256 |
| SIM | Dual SIM | SIM and eSIM |
| Rear Camera | 50+50+8 PDAF/OIS+ Telephoto PADF 2x optical 4K@30 | Same with 50MP Sony LYTIA 600 IOS, 3x optical Periscope |
| Front camera | 32MP 1080p@60 | 50MP 4K@30 |
| Wi-Fi | 6 AX– 2.4 and 5GHz | |
| BT | 5.4 LE | |
| GPS | GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| USB-C | 2.0 480Mbps | |
| Fingerprint | Optical under glass | |
| Battery | 5000mAh 50W | |
| IP | 64 | |
| Size | 163.5 x 77.5 x 8.4 mm x 201g | 211g |
| Other | Nothing OS 3 overlay on Android 15 3 OS upgrades 4 years of security upgrades Basic AI Circle to search Nothing AI and Essential Space Glyph lights |
This is the precursor to a premium 3 phone later this year.
CyberShack’s view: Nothing (3a) and Pro are serious contenders
We have both for review, but it is unlikely that we will finish these before mid-April. Based on specs alone, these look to be solid performers. They have a Qualcomm modem for decent city, suburb, regional, and rural use and cameras that perform well above social media standards.
They get extra points for 2160Hz PWM, which means PWM-sensitive people can use a fabulous 10-bit/1.97 billion screen. Read PWM – Is your phone making you sick?
2 comments
Phil
The Nothing web site is sparse, eg has *nothing* about Australia support, repair, or the Australian Consumer Law I can find, nophone only email, and not anything suggesting they will operate under Australian legal norms if it ever came to that. Not very reassuring for an otherwise interesting phone.. Seems they have no real company here so you roll your dice and hope for the best?
Ray Shaw
We have asked Nothing directly about this and as yet no formal response “We’ve noted your question regarding warranty and repairs and will get back to you on this as well”. However as JB Hi-Fi is the authorised sales outlet they must comply with ACL. I have raised the matter again as I have both the 3 a and Pro and cannot publish the review until I get this information.