London-based Nothing at present launched the Nothing Cellphone (3a) and Cellphone (3a) Professional smartphones, because the successors to final yr’s Cellphone (2a) collection. Right here we now have the Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional, the top-end mannequin that provides a periscope telephoto digital camera for the primary time. It has a bigger FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display screen, quicker Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC and likewise comes with a devoted Important Key.

The value of the telephone has additionally been elevated because it has extra options in comparison with the Cellphone (2a) Plus. Is that this definitely worth the worth? Allow us to dive into the evaluation to seek out out.

Field Contents

• Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional 12GB + 256GB in Gray color
• USB Kind-C to C cable
• SIM Ejector instrument
• Person guide and guarantee data

Show, {Hardware} and Design

Beginning with the show, the Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional has a 6.77-inch Full HD+ versatile AMOLED show with a pixel decision of 2392 x 1080 pixels, 20:9 side ratio and a pixel density of about 387 PPI. The show is vibrant, due to 800 nits (typical), 1300 nits out door and 3000 nits peak brightness, which is enabled when you find yourself watching HDR content material, providing as much as 130% enhancements in peak brightness in comparison with the Cellphone (2a) collection.

The telephone has a 30-120Hz refresh charge show can change between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz based on the content material. It has 480Hz contact sampling charge, and 1000Hz contact sampling charge when in Gaming Mode. It provides a buttery clean consumer expertise, particularly when you find yourself scrolling by way of the UI and when gaming. It additionally has HDR 10+ assist, which works for YouTube.

Below the show choices, there are totally different choices to regulate colors based mostly in your choice. There’s additionally an evening gentle possibility that permits you to cut back the show’s blue gentle emission, so it doesn’t trigger eye pressure when you find yourself studying at evening. It has an always-on show possibility, nevertheless it doesn’t provide a variety of customization, and is much like the Pixel. It doesn’t have MEMC or DC Dimming possibility, however comes with 2160Hz PWM dimming that’s enabled in low lighthing circumstances. The telephone comes with Panda Glass safety.

The telephone has a tiny centre punch-hole that homes a 50-megapixel digital camera, much like the Cellphone (2a) Plus. Above the show there’s an earpiece on the highest edge which additionally doubles up as a secondary speaker.

The telephone has an optical in-display fingerprint scanner. The small bezel under the show is uniform to the edges and the highest, much like the older fashions.  Despite the fact that the underside bezel is minimal, the aspect bezels are thicker in comparison with some mid-range telephones.

Coming to the button placements, the facility button is current on the appropriate aspect and there’s a new Important Key which we’ll focus on later. The quantity rockers are on the left aspect. The twin SIM slot, main microphone, USB Kind-C port and the loudspeaker grill are on the underside. The secondary microphone is on the highest. The telephone nonetheless has a polycarbonate body, and it has a matte end so it doesn’t slip simply.

100% recycled aluminium used within the mid-frame, 100% recycled tin on six circuit boards, Over 85% recycled metal is used for 18 stamping
components in Cellphone (3a), Over 85% recycled metal is used for 21 stamping
components in Cellphone (3a) Professional, Over 60% of the plastic components are sustainably
sourced, Cellphone (3a) Sequence’ packaging is 100% plastic-free, and makes use of 60% recycled fibre, says the corporate. It has a carbon footprint of 51.3 kg, barely lower than the decrease than the Cellphone (3a collection).

The telephone nonetheless incorporates a clear again with a novel design, and the telephone now has a glass again as an alternative of a polycarbonate again, which feels premium and doesn’t get scratched simply. Nonetheless, I’d advocate you to make use of a case to guard the again because it’s a bit slippery.

The primary spotlight of the telephone is the Glyph Interface, which nonetheless has 26 addressable LED lighting zones, in comparison with 33 within the Cellphone (2).

Along with White, the telephone additionally is available in Darkish Gray color. The telephone is simply 8.39mm thick, and weighs 211 grams. Despite the fact that the thickness of the telephone has diminished, the telephone is 21 grams heavier in comparison with the predecessor, primarily as a result of glass again and an extra periscope digital camera.

The telephone has IP64 scores for splash resistance in comparison with IP54 within the Cellphone (2a) collection, so it will probably handle slight spills or gentle rain, however you’ll be able to’t immerse in water. Some rivals provide IP68 and even IP69 scores within the worth vary, however that is primarily consumer’s choice since water harm will not be lined below guarantee.

Digicam

• 50MP major digital camera with f/1.88 aperture, 1/1.56″ Samsung sensor, OIS
• 8MP 120° ultra-wide digital camera with Sony IMX355 sensor, f/2.2 aperture
• 50MP periscope telephoto digital camera with 1/1.95″ Sony LYT-600 sensor, f/2.55 aperture, OIS
• 50MP entrance digital camera with 1/2.76″ Samsung sensor f/2.2 aperture

The digital camera UI has seen a change, with extra choices on the display screen. There are alternatives for Evening, Macro, Portrait, Picture, Video, and extra possibility that has slo-mo, time-lapse, pano, and knowledgeable mode. The knowledgeable mode is professional mode, which helps you to modify white stability, focus, shutter pace (1/8000s to 32 seconds), ISO (50 to 10500) and possibility to pick major, ultra-wide and telephoto lens. There’s additionally RAW possibility.

Coming to the picture high quality, daylight photographs got here out effectively with good dynamic vary and the pictures are natural-looking. After pixel binning expertise, you get 12.5MP output from the principle and the telephoto digital camera. HDR photographs are higher with improved dynamic vary. The 8MP ultra-wide digital camera is a downgrade in comparison with 50MP within the Cellphone (2a), however the colours are nearly comparable. The 50MP periscope telephoto digital camera does an excellent job. 3x optical zoom and 6x in-sensor zoom are good. Despite the fact that the there’s as much as 60x zoom, high quality is nice as much as 20x.

As an alternative of ultra-wide macro possibility within the older fashions, the corporate has added telemaco possibility which helps 15cm macro. The 50MP entrance digital camera is an effective improved from the 2a, and also you get full 50MP output. Edge detection in portrait is nice, however when the lighting will not be good, portrait photographs look darkish. Lowlight digital camera efficiency is nice, and the auto evening mode helps to maintain the noise low.

Try the digital camera samples.

It may well file movies at 4k decision at 30 fps from each major, telephoto and entrance cameras. It additionally has sluggish movement 108op at 120 fps. OIS in the principle digital camera and telephoto does its job. Video high quality from the principle digital camera is good. There isn’t a HDR video possibility. Aside from the LED flash, you can too use the Glyph LED lights for each images and movies.

Software program, UI and Apps

The Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional runs Android 14 out of the field, with Nothing OS 3.1 on prime. It has February 2025 Android safety patch. The corporate has promised 3 Android OS updates, similar because the older fashions and for the primary time, it can get 6 years of safety patches. Aside from the fonts and UI, it offers a inventory Android expertise with none bloatware.

Nothing OS 3.0 has Lock display screen customization, AI-powered Sensible Drawer, Enhanced pop-up view, Redesigned Fast Settings, widget library, auto-archive operate, partial display screen sharing and extra.

The important Key under the facility button launches Important House, an AI-powered hub for note-taking, concepts, and inspirations. You possibly can press the Important Key to seize and ship content material to Important House, long-press to file a voice observe, and double-tap to move straight to all of your saved content material.

Out of 12GB LPDDR4X RAM, you get 11.7GB of usable RAM, and about 5GB of RAM is free when default apps are operating within the background. It additionally has reminiscence extension or digital RAM for as much as 8GB. Out of 256GB, you get about 224.8GB of free storage. It has UFS 2.2 storage, similar because the Cellphone (2a) collection. Aside from the Google apps, it doesn’t have any third-party apps.

The Glyph interface is identical as older fashions with quantity indicator, timer, third-party integration for apps like Uber, Zomato and notifications. There are additionally new ringtones and notification tones.

Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock

The telephone has an in-display optical fingerprint sensor which instantly unlocks the telephone simply by protecting your finger on the sensor. You don’t get any animation choices. The telephone additionally has face unlock that may unlock the telephone in seconds, however it isn’t as safe as fingerprint.

Music Participant and Multimedia

YouTube Music is the default music participant. It doesn’t have Dolby Atmos or another customized audio options. Audio by way of the stereo audio system is nice and loud. Audio by way of the headphones is nice as effectively. This has Widevine L1 in an effort to play HD content material on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and different streaming apps. HDR works on YouTube, however you don’t get HDR playback on Netflix.

Twin SIM and Connectivity

It has the same old set of connectivity options resembling 5G with assist for n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n38, n40, n41, n77, n78 bands, twin 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ax (2.4 + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, GPS + GLONASS and NFC assist. It additionally has USB OTG assist. The telephone additionally has service aggregation. We didn’t face any name drops and the earpiece quantity is nice.

The Nothing Cellphone 3a Professional’s physique SAR is 1.13W/Kg and head SAR is at 1.19/Kg which is sort of much like Cellphone (2a), and is effectively below the restrict in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).

Efficiency and Benchmarks

The telephone is powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 4nmMobile Platform, which guarantees 33% quicker CPU efficiency in comparison with MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Professional within the Cellphone (2a). This has Octa-Core Qualcomm Kryo CPUs that has 1 x Kryo Prime CPUs (Cortex A720-based) at as much as 2.5GHz, 3 x Kryo Efficiency CPUs (Cortex A720-based) at as much as 2.4GHz, 4x Kryo Effectivity CPUs (Cortex A520-based) at as much as 1.8GHz. It additionally guarantees 92% AI enhancements in comparison with the predecessor.

There’s Adreno 810 GPU that first rate gaming efficiency, and guarantees 11% higher graphics in comparison with Mali-G610 MC4 GPU. The telephone has superior cooling system, says the corporate, however the actual dimension is has not been revealed. We didn’t face any points or body drops within the graphic-intensive video games like COD, BGMI and Genshin Influence.

In 3D Mark wild life stress check, it scored 99.3% which is healthier than most rivals with the identical chip. The temperature elevated from 27 to 38 levels, which isn’t a lot. That mentioned, try some artificial benchmark scores under.

This exhibits an excellent enchancment in efficiency in comparison with the Cellphone (2a) and even Cellphone (2a) Plus, and is on par with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.

Battery life

Coming to the battery life, the telephone packs a 5000mAh (typical) built-in battery, similar because the Cellphone (2a) collection. Because of the opitimization, it lasts for greater than a day even with heavy use on 5G. With minimal use on Wi-Fi, it ought to final for two days. I received 7 hours of display screen on time with 2 days of use, with blended use of largely Wi-Fi and occasional 5G use in 120Hz.

With the 50W quick charging, it will probably cost from 0 to 50% in about 20 minutes and as much as 100% in about 1 hour with the cost. I attempted the Samsung’s 25W PPS charger, which took about 20 minutes extra time to cost the telephone. It doesn’t have wi-fi charging assist.

Conclusion

At a beginning worth of Rs. 29,999, the Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional provides improve in nearly all of the areas in comparison with the predecessor, and the principle spotlight is the periscope telephoto digital camera that you simply hardly ever see in telephones within the worth vary. Despite the fact that the battery dimension is identical, the battery life has been improved, due to the optimization.

You continue to don’t get a charger within the field, and the corporate solely sells 45W charger, so you’ll have to go for the 65W CMF charger or get a third-party charger.

Pricing and availability

The Nothing Cellphone (3a) Professional is priced at Rs. 29,999 for the 8GB + 128GB mannequin, 8GB + 256GB mannequin is priced at Rs. 31,999 and the top-end 12GB + 256GB mannequin prices Rs. 33,999. With Rs. 2000 financial institution provide, the efficient beginning worth is Rs. 27,999.

It is going to be out there from Flipkart and Flipkart Minutes ranging from 11 March. The Flipkart deliveries and gross sales on Vijay Gross sales, Croma and all main retail shops will begin from 15 March.

Alternate options

In the event you want a periscope telephoto digital camera, the realme 14 Professional+ is the direct competitor with a curved display screen, and a much bigger battery, however the telephoto zoom is healthier in Nothing. In the event you don’t want the periscope telephoto digital camera, or a 50MP entrance digital camera with 4K recording, you’ll be able to go for the Cellphone (3a). For efficiency, there’s OnePlus Nord 4, POCO F6 and extra fashions which might be cheaper.

Professionals

• Good show
• Clean efficiency
• Good cameras
• Good construct with glass again
• Good battery life with quick charging

Cons

• No charger within the field
• Additional worth just for digital camera change in comparison with Cellphone (3a)