Nothing is turning heads again with its new Phone 3a Series

Summary

Nothing has announced its all-new Phone 3a Series at the Mobile World Congress 2025 trade show event.
The mid-range line consists of two handset models: the Phone 3a and the Phone 3a Pro.
Public opinion is divided on the Phone 3a Pro’s unique camera hump design, which was leaked ahead of the official unveiling.

Nothinghas officially unveiled its latest line of mid-range handsets, with the new series consisting of a standard Phone 3a, as well as a more expensive Phone 3a Pro model. Both devices were showcased at the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) tradeshow event in Barcelona, Spain.

“Nothing today introduced the Phone (3a) Series, elevating its mid-range lineup with advanced features. Building on the acclaimed Phone (2a), it boasts an advanced triple-camera system with optical zoom, a powerful Snapdragon processor, a brighter, more responsive display, and Nothing OS innovations like Essential Space — all wrapped in two uniquely refined designs,” says Nothing in a press release.

Both phones offer 6.77-inch 1,080 x 2,392 pixel AMOLED display panels, IP64 water and dust resistance, and the promise of three years of Android software updates in addition to four years of security patches. They’re both powered by the same mid-range QualcommSnapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, and come with 5,000mAh batteries and 50W charging capabilities.

Nothing’s next Android phone has leaked (and its camera hump is next level)

Ahead of launch, a torrential downpour of leaks is giving us a peak under the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro curtain – here’s the pre-release low-down.

For the most part, it’s the camera tech that separates the two Phone 2a Series products apart — the standard 3a comes with a 50-megapixel main lens, a 50-megapixel 2x zoom shooter, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor. The 3a Pro leverages more advanced periscope technology, and therefore achieves a more powerful optical zoom range of 3x.

Additionally, both Phone 3a Series models ship with a new buttonin the form of the ‘Essential Key,’ which is a multi-purpose tool for invoking Nothing’s new Essental Space AI hub. This hub is designed to store a variety of useful content such as screenshots and voice memos. The button can also be used to quickly initiate screenshotting and sound recording, making it a potentially handy inclusion.

…both Phone 3a Series models ship with a new button in the form of the ‘Essential Key.’

The Phone 3a ships with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and with a choice between black and white colorways. The phone is listed at $380. The more premium Phone 3a Pro, in contrast, costs $460 in an equivalent 12GB + 256GB configuration, and comes in both grey and black flavors.

The Phone 3a is available for pre-order in the US on March 4, with deliveries starting on March 11. If you have your eyes set on the 3a Pro, you’ll have to wait just a little longer: pre-orders open on March 11, with shipments starting March 25.

Nothing Phone 3a
The Nothing Phone 3a is a mid-range handset with a 6.77-inch display, a triple rear camera setup, and the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset.
Nothing Phone 3a Pro
The Nothing Phone 3a Pro is a mid-range handset with a 6.77-inch display, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, and a uniquely designed rear triple camera design.

Opinion is divided on the Phone 3a Pro’s design language

The phone’s unique camera hump design was leaked ahead of launch

Nothing

If there’s one thing that’s for certain, it’s that the Nothing Phone 3a Pro is a physically distinctive device. In addition to the usual Nothing design flair — a translucent rear panel with a unique array of glyph lights — the Phone 3a Pro features a prominent circular camera hump with offset lenses.

For better or worse, the Phone 3a Pro’s wholly original design was leaked ahead ofNothing’s official hardware unveiling, in the form of both renders and full-blown promotional videos. As a result, internet users worldwide were able to check out the device’s physical design from every angle, with Nothing being unable to set the narrative ahead of launch.

Personally, I’m quite fond of the design.

The design has proven controversial, with outspoken fans and detractors sharing opinions across social media. Many feel the design is too garish, while others are happy with Nothing’s decision to break from the standard smartphone camera mold.

Personally, I’m quite fond of the design. I appreciate its intentionality, and I feel that it works well with the overall design language that Nothing is going for. Many competing Android phones ship with camera protrusions that I would describe as tacked-on, without much consideration for the broader harmony of the given device’s appearance. While the asymmetrical lenses on the Phone 3a Pro will take some getting used to, I appreciate the style overall.

Nothing’s Phone 2a Plus dazzled me with personality, performance, and pricing

Nothing is back at it again.

In person, the Phone 3a and 3a Pro offer a premium user experience

It all comes down to Nothing’s excellent Android software skin

Nothing

When I reviewed the Nothing Phone 2a Plus last year, I was immediately delighted by the phone’s solid build quality, charming design language, and slick operating system. Thankfully, in my brief testing of the Phone 3a Series so far, I can confirm that Nothing has once again crafted a solid set of handsets.

While decidedly mid-range in terms of processing grunt, IP certification, and camera performance, the physical build of both Phone 3a models is top-notch. The devices feel solid and weighty in the hand, and both packages feel well put together with no creaking or chassis flex.

By and large, the thing that sets the Phone 3a Series apart from other mid-range Android offerings is Nothing OS. In my eyes, Nothing has brilliantly balanced user customization and system simplicity — two opposing forces that often interfere with one another on competing skins such as Samsung’s One UI.

…the addition of the Essential Key has proven surprisingly useful in daily operation.

I’m partial to Nothing’s dot matrix pattern aesthetic, though icon and widget readability suffers slightly due to the homogenized UI design. The interface itself is incredibly fluid, and at no point have I felt like I’ve been compromising on performance due to the inclusion of a mid-range chipset. Your mileage may vary — I’m not a mobile gamer, and so I hardly ever leverage the computational power that more expensive handsets provide.

While I’ve found the Phone 3a and 3a Pro’s glyph interface to be somewhat superfluous, the addition of the Essential Key has proven surprisingly useful in daily operation. I tend to take a lot of screenshots, so the easier it is to initiate the process, the better.

I also appreciate having voice memos easily accessible at a moment’s notice. In my testing so far, the button has proven to be a reliable and handy inclusion — I hope to see more device manufacturers follow suit in reviving the multi-function key from the extinct phone features grave. I’ll have more on the Nothing Phone 3(a) in the coming days.