Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro Review: Should You Pay Extra Over the 4(a)?

The Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro is one of the most interesting premium mid-range phones to arrive this year. It builds on the foundation of the regular Nothing Phone 4(a), but adds a more premium design, a slightly faster chipset, improved storage, and a more flexible camera setup.

I have been testing the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro for more than a month now. During this period, the phone received two software updates, and the experience has noticeably improved compared to the early software build. Initially, there were a few UI stutters and camera inconsistencies, but after the updates, the phone feels smoother and more refined.

But the main question remains: is the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro worth paying extra for, or should most users simply get the regular Nothing Phone 4(a)? And how does it stand against competitors like the Galaxy A57 and Vivo V70 in this price range?  

Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro Specifications: 

• Design & Build: 163.7 x 76.6 x 8 mm, 210g, Gorilla Glass 7i front, aluminum frame and back, IP65 rated, 137 individually addressable mini-LEDs
• Display: 6.83-inch AMOLED, 1260 x 2800 pixels, 144Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, HDR10+, 5000 nits peak brightness
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4
• Memory: 8GB / 12GB RAM, 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
• Software: Nothing OS 4.1, based on Android 16, up to 3 major Android upgrades
• Rear Camera: 50MP main with OIS + 50MP 3.5X periscope telephoto with OIS + 8MP ultrawide
  Front Camera: 32MP selfie camera
• Security: Optical in-display fingerprint sensor, face unlock
• Audio: Stereo speakers, no 3.5mm headphone jack
• Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, GPS, USB Type-C 2.0, OTG
• Battery: 5,080mAh international / 5,400mAh India
• Charging: 50W wired charging, 7.5W reverse wired charging
• Colors: Black, Silver, Pink

Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro Price

India	Nepal	US
Rs. 47,999 (8/256GB) Rs. 51,999 (12/256GB)	Rs. 83,999 (12/256GB)	$499 (8/128GB) $599 (12/256GB)

Design and Build

The first thing I noticed after holding the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro is that it immediately feels more premium than the regular Phone 4(a).

And a big reason for that is the metal body. The regular 4(a) still feels nice, but this Pro model has that more expensive feel in the hand. It genuinely feels like Nothing has tried to make this phone feel more like a flagship than just another mid-range device.

I also like the new camera plateau design. It gives the phone a very distinct identity, and in a market where so many phones are starting to look the same, this one still feels refreshing. 

But it is not perfect. The phone is slightly wide, and during the first few days, I did feel that extra width in my hand. You get used to it, but this is not the most compact or one-hand-friendly phone.

Anyway, I also like the button placement this time. The power and volume buttons are now on the right, while the Essential Space button sits on the left. In my daily use, this reduced accidental presses for me, which was a small but useful improvement. 

However, for a Pro phone, the IP65 rating feels disappointing. At this price, especially when some competitors are offering IP68 or even IP69 protection, Nothing should have done better. 

The camera plateau also feels a little delicate. When I pressed around it, I could hear a faint cracking sound, so long-term durability is something I would be slightly careful about.

Glyph Matrix

The Glyph Matrix is still one of the things that makes the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro feel different from every other phone in this segment.

This time, Nothing has made the Glyph Matrix bigger than before, and on paper, that sounds like a clear upgrade. But in real life, I did not find it as polished as the one on the Nothing Phone 3. The LEDs are bright, the animations are visible, and it definitely grabs attention, but the overall finish does not feel as sharp or premium.

That said, I still like the idea behind it. In daily use, it can show notifications, incoming calls, timer progress, and even volume changes without needing to fully turn the phone around. It is not a feature that will completely change how you use your phone, but it does add a bit of character.

Display

The Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro has a good OLED display for everyday use. The OLED panel looks sharp, colors are pleasing, and the slightly slimmer bezels make the phone feel more modern from the front. 

Compared to the regular Nothing Phone 4(a), this display does feel a little more refined. Touch response feels better, colors look slightly more vibrant, and the overall viewing experience feels slightly more premium.

Watching YouTube, scrolling through social media, reading articles, or just navigating through Nothing OS feels enjoyable on this screen. The display gets bright enough outdoors as well, so visibility was not a major issue for me.

But there is one small catch with the 144Hz refresh rate. Yes, the phone supports 144Hz, but it only works in selected apps like Chrome. In most parts of the system UI, the phone runs at 120Hz. Honestly, this is not a big problem because 120Hz already feels smooth, but the 144Hz marketing does feel a little limited in actual use.

The optical fingerprint sensor is reliable, but I wish Nothing had gone with an ultrasonic sensor here. At this price, especially when Vivo V70 has already started offering ultrasonic fingerprint scanners in this segment, the optical sensor feels a bit outdated. Also, the placement is slightly low, so reaching it does not always feel natural.

Speakers and Haptics

The speakers on the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro are good enough for casual use, but they are not the most impressive in this segment.

For watching videos, I had no major complaints.  But when I played music, especially bass-heavy tracks, the weakness became more obvious, and the sound can feel a little thin at higher volumes. Haptics, on the other hand, are excellent.

Software Experience

Software is where the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro started winning me over. When I first used the phone, the experience was not perfect. There were occasional UI stutters, and it felt a little strange because the regular Nothing Phone 4(a) actually felt more stable in some side-by-side moments.

But after two updates, the phone feels much better. Animations are smoother, and the overall UI now feels more polished. 

And honestly, Nothing OS continues to be one of my favorite Android skins in this segment. It is clean, visually different, and does not feel overloaded with unnecessary features. The widgets, icon style, animations, and small UI details give the phone a very strong personality.

The Essential Space button is also more useful than I expected. I used it mostly for quick screenshots and voice notes. 

Essential Search is useful too, especially for quickly finding apps, settings, contacts, and files. However, the AI side of Essential Search still does not work properly in some regions, so that part of the experience is still limited.

Connectivity

Despite having a metal body, the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro does not suffer from noticeable connectivity issues. Cellular reception remained stable during my testing, likely helped by the long antenna strips placed around the sides and back of the phone.

Performance

In normal daily use, the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro feels fast enough. I used it for social media, messaging, browsing, camera testing, and watching videos, and most of the time, the phone felt smooth and responsive. 

Compared to the regular Nothing Phone 4(a), the Pro does feel slightly faster, especially while opening apps and multitasking. But the difference is not huge. This is not the kind of performance jump that everyone will immediately notice.

Gaming is where the phone starts feeling less “Pro”. PUBG can run at up to 90fps, and Mobile Legends can go up to 120fps, but PUBG still does not feel perfectly optimized. I noticed some frame drops, and after around 30 minutes of gaming, the phone also started getting slightly warm.

So this is a very good everyday phone, but not a proper gaming phone. If gaming is your main priority, there are better performance-focused options from brands like Poco and OnePlus.

Battery Life and Charging

Battery life on the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro has been reliable for me, but I would not call it class-leading. The global variant gets a 5,080mAh battery, while the India variant has a bigger 5,400mAh battery. In my usage, the phone comfortably lasted a full day, even with a mix of social media, camera testing, YouTube, messaging, browsing, and some gaming.

On heavier days, I was getting around 7 to 8 hours of screen-on time, which is honestly good enough for most users. 

Charging is decent too. With a 65W charger, the phone took around one hour to fully charge, which is fine, but not exactly the fastest in this segment. Many Chinese phones now offer much bigger silicon-carbon batteries and faster charging, so Nothing is not really winning the battery race here. 

Cameras

The camera system on the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro is very similar to that of the regular 4(a). The Pro uses a Sony IMX896 sensor for its main camera, while the regular Phone 4(a) uses a Samsung GNJ sensor. But both sensors are the same size, so this is not a massive hardware upgrade.  

design body

Anyway, after the recent updates, the camera performance of the Nothing Phone 4 Pro has improved, especially in highlight control and overall consistency. But there are still areas where Nothing needs more refinement.

The biggest issue for me is processing speed. The phone takes a noticeable amount of time to process photos, especially portraits. Sometimes, what I saw in the viewfinder and what I got in the final image were not exactly the same. The final image would change slightly after processing, which can be a little annoying when you think you have already captured the shot.

Color consistency is another area where the phone still needs refinement. The main, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras don’t always produce the same colors. During both day and night, I noticed that switching between lenses can give you slightly different tones.

Main Camera

The main camera captures good-looking photos in daylight. Most of the time, photos come out with a neutral tone, slightly boosted contrast, and good details. I like that Nothing does not go too extreme with colors. 

Compared to the regular Phone 4(a), the Pro captures cleaner images. Highlight control is better, details are slightly improved, and textures look more natural. The regular Phone 4(a) sometimes pushes contrast too much, which can make photos look more dramatic at first glance, but when you zoom in, they can also look a bit dirty in difficult lighting.

After the update, I also noticed better highlight management, especially in scenes with bright skies or harsh light. But it is still not perfect. In some challenging scenes, the phone brightens shadows too much, and that can make the photo look slightly hazy. It is not a deal-breaker, but this is one area where Nothing can still improve with future updates.

Ultra-wide Camera

The ultra-wide camera is easily the weakest part of the camera setup. And honestly, for a phone at this price, an 8MP ultra-wide feels underwhelming. The photos are usable, but they don’t have the detail or sharpness I would expect from a premium mid-range phone.

When you zoom in, the weakness becomes obvious. Textures look soft, corners are not very sharp, and in challenging lighting, the camera tries to protect highlights but ends up crushing the shadows.

Compared to the regular Phone 4(a), the Pro’s ultra-wide can look slightly cleaner in some scenes, but the improvement is small. This is not a camera that feels like a proper “Pro” upgrade.

At night, the ultra-wide struggles even more. Harsh lights are not handled very well, and darker areas show visible noise. You can still get usable shots if there is enough light around, but I would not rely on this ultra-wide camera for important photos.

Telephoto Camera

The 3.5x telephoto camera is my favorite camera on the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro. The photos have a more interesting perspective, portraits look more composed, and normal zoom shots feel much more useful than basic digital zoom.

Compared to the regular Phone 4(a), the Pro captures slightly cleaner and more detailed telephoto shots. The difference is not massive, but the Pro handles noise better and preserves details more effectively.

I also liked the colors from the telephoto camera. Dynamic range is good, colors look pleasing, and even in low light, the results were better than I expected. For portraits, the 3.5x focal length gives a nice background separation, so the subject looks more natural. 

But there is one limitation. The minimum focusing distance is around 35cm, so you cannot get too close to your subject. I really wish Nothing had enabled telephoto macro here because this lens could have made the camera system feel much more versatile.

Lowlight

Night photography has improved after the software updates, but it still feels like a work in progress. Before the update, the main camera struggled more with blown-out highlights and inconsistent dynamic range. After the update, highlight control is better, and night photos look cleaner overall.

The telephoto camera surprised me at night. It manages colors well, handles highlights better than expected, and gives you usable zoom shots even in darker scenes. The ultra-wide, however, is still weak in low light. It loses detail quickly, noise becomes visible, and harsh lights can look messy.

Selfies

Selfies from the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro are good enough for social media. In normal lighting, skin tones look pleasant, colors are nice, and the overall image looks clean. But this is not the best selfie camera in the segment.

The biggest issue for me is that the selfie camera is not wide enough. When taking group selfies or selfie videos, I immediately felt that limitation. You need to stretch your hand a bit more, and even then, the frame does not feel as wide as I would like.

Video Recording

Video is not the strongest part of the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro. The main and telephoto cameras can record up to 4K 30fps, but the experience is not as polished as I expected. Sometimes, when I started recording in 4K, there were small frame drops at the beginning before the footage stabilized.

The 3.5x telephoto video is useful, but stabilization is not as good as the main camera. I also noticed focus hunting sometimes, where the footage slightly pulses as the camera tries to refocus.

Another limitation is that you cannot switch between 1x and 3.5x while recording.  And the biggest disappointment is the selfie and ultra-wide video. It is capped at 1080p, which feels weak for this price. In this segment, 4K 30fps front camera video should have been there.

So for casual videos, the Phone 4(a) Pro is usable. But if you are serious about vlogging or content creation, I would still pick a second-hand iPhone 15 or 16 instead.  

Verdict

After using the Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro for more than a month, it is one of the most enjoyable premium mid-range phones I have used recently.

It does have some clear weaknesses. The ultra-wide camera is not good enough for this price. Video recording is just average. The fingerprint sensor should have been ultrasonic. And the IP65 rating feels underwhelming, especially when many cheaper phones are now offering better protection.

But despite all of that, I actually enjoyed using this phone. The metal body gives it a proper premium feel. Nothing OS feels clean, smooth, and polished after the recent updates. The haptics are excellent. The 3.5x telephoto camera is genuinely useful. 

So should you buy this over the regular Nothing Phone 4(a)? For most people who want the best value, I still think the regular Nothing Phone 4(a) makes more sense. You get most of the Nothing experience for less money, and for normal day-to-day use, the difference is not massive.

But if you care about the better build quality, the more premium in-hand feel, the slightly better camera processing, and especially that useful telephoto camera, then the Phone 4(a) Pro does justify the extra price to some extent.

Pros and Cons of Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro 

Pros	Cons
Premium, unique, and refreshing design body	Only IP65 rating
Smooth Nothing OS experience after updates	Not ideal for heavy gaming
Good main + tele camera performance	Weak 8MP ultrawide camera