Nothing has had an eventful 12 months. The London-based tech outfit got here out with a new flagship telephone (our assessment right here) this 12 months after a 2-year lengthy hiatus. On high of that, it bolstered its midrange portfolio with two new A-series choices. Its subsidiary model, CMF, additionally put out a successor to the highly-rated and widely-acclaimed Phone 1 (our assessment right here). As 2025 attracts to an finish, Nothing has yet one more card left to play – a new entry-level smartphone that rivals its CMF cousin, Phone 2 Pro (our assessment right here). While the 2 smartphones share a lot of similarities, the important thing level of distinction is the design. If you’re a fan of Nothing’s see-through aesthetic, this new product shall be proper up your alley. Here is our assessment of the brand new Nothing Phone (3a) Lite.

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Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Review: Design and Display

Here’s what you get contained in the Phone (3a) Lite’s retail field:

• Smartphone
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Clear plastic cowl
• SIM ejector
• Safety booklet

The Phone (3a) Lite’s again panel follows Nothing’s signature see-through design language. The clear glass panel provides you a take a look at the screws and the battery part. The crimson accent is positioned at its ordinary spot in the top-right part. While there isn’t an intricate sample overlaid on the internals, the Lite mannequin appears to be like undeniably like a Nothing providing. The three digital camera sensors get particular person cutouts as an alternative of a digital camera island. The Glyph lighting is lowered to a small LED mild in the bottom-right nook of the panel.

The plastic body homes the facet button and the Essential key on its proper edge. The quantity rocker is positioned on the alternative edge. At the underside lies the hybrid SIM tray (with microSD help, major microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille. The noise-cancelling microphone is positioned up high. The machine is rated IP54 for defense in opposition to mud and water splashes.

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The 6.77-inch AMOLED show on this machine is an identical to the one on its CMF cousin. This 120Hz panel can attain 1,300 nits in High Brightness Mode. While enjoying HDR content material, it could possibly hit a peak brightness of three,000 nits. It is ready to overcome vibrant out of doors situations to keep up legibility. The contact response on supply right here may be very clean. The optical fingerprint sensor beneath the show is quick and snappy. The even bezels across the display screen lend it a premium look.

During the assessment interval, we used the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite as our major media streaming machine. We used it to look at TV and film titles throughout OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar. The AMOLED show produced sensible visuals full of vibrant colors and exemplary dynamic vary. However, the audio output from the lone bottom-firing speaker is a bit boxy. A stereo speaker setup would’ve been ultimate.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite Review: Performance and Cameras

The Phone (3a) Lite is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset. This is similar SoC that lies on the core of the CMF Phone 2 Pro. There are 2 storage variants on supply, each rocking 8GB RAM:

• 128GB: Rs 20,999
• 256GB: Rs 22,999

Here’s the smartphone in Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu 3D benchmark assessments:

• Geekbench 6: 998 (single-core) | 2,928 (multi-core)
• AnTuTu 3D: 923,576

The Phone (3a) Lite makes mild work of routine duties like calling, on the spot messaging, net looking, media streaming, navigation, and extra. Browsing the telephone feels quick, seamless, and snappy. Apps don’t take a lot time to load, and the smartphone does a sensible job of juggling a number of duties with out throwing a stutter or lag. During our week with the machine, we didn’t come throughout a single performance-related situation. The splendidly tuned haptic motor ties your entire expertise collectively. Like its CMF counterpart, this smartphone’s vibrational suggestions is the most effective in the phase.

While Nothing’s entry-level providing isn’t marketed as a gaming telephone, it does a good job of dealing with titles like BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile. We have been in a position to take pleasure in a constant and lag-free gaming expertise at medium graphics and a 60fps body charge. There have been no body drops to be seen. The inside temperature of the machine began rising as soon as we pushed past the 30-minute mark.

Over the years, we’ve come to count on a clear and clean software program expertise from Nothing. We’re comfortable to report that this expertise is prolonged to its most reasonably priced telephone in the marketplace as nicely. There are a couple of bloatware apps on this machine – one thing we will look previous due to the reasonably priced price ticket. However, Nothing has not reduce any of the aesthetic parts. You get entry to the total vary of widgets, alongside lockscreen customisations, and the signature dot-matrix font. The Essential Key, which data info and tucks it away in the Essential Space, can be current on this machine.

The spotlight of the Android 16-based Nothing OS 3.5 is how mild and ethereal it feels. The refined animations and results play into the ‘snappy’ feeling. Everything feels nicely optimised. The LED mild on the again will be customised to show important notifications. You can assign completely different ringtones and lighting patterns to your favorite contacts. ‘Flip to Glyph’ silences the telephone and alerts you in regards to the incoming calls and notifications by means of the LED mild. Due to the shape issue limitations, you’ll be able to monitor orders or create new tones on the brand new Glyph interface. When it involves software program help, Nothing has promised 3 main OS upgrades and 6 years of safety patches for this machine.

The Phone (3a) Lite packs a 5,000mAh battery beneath its hood. It gives a commonplace 1-day battery life on a full cost. On days with 5-6 hours of display screen time, we have been left with virtually 15% cost in the tank. If you’re extra conservative together with your utilization, you’ll be able to lengthen the battery life to 1.5 days. The smartphone helps 33W wired charging. It takes as much as 90 minutes to succeed in a full cost.

The rear digital camera array contains a 50MP major shooter, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro sensor. Unlike its CMF cousin, it doesn’t carry a telephoto lens. A 16MP front-facing digital camera is positioned in a punch-hole cutout on the show.

The 50MP major shooter captures good footage in out of doors daylight situations. The photographs showcase balanced colors with pure tuning. We like that it doesn’t artificially increase the colors to seem extra vibrant. The distinction and dynamic vary are passable. In restricted lighting situations, the Night Mode does a good job of lighting up the shot and eliminating the grain.

The 8MP ultrawide lens takes notably softer photographs, however that’s one thing to be anticipated from most units in this worth bracket. What this lens lacks in element, it tries to make up for in color. The actual shock was its performance in restricted lighting situations, the place it produced largely grain-free and well-lit pictures.

Portraits taken with the Phone (3a) Lite are vibrant and well-focused. The smartphone does a good job of separating the topic from the background and making use of a first rate stage of background blur. The 16MP front-facing digital camera captures clear selfies, albeit with a tinge of tone and texture correction results. This digital camera can document 1,080p movies at 30 and 60fps. The major shooter can document 4K footage at 30fps. The video recording chops of the ultrawide lens are restricted to 1,080p decision at 30fps.

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Verdict

The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is supposed for customers who’re impressed by CMF Phone 2’s specs, however are delay by its modular design. Nothing’s entry-level providing calls for a premium of Rs 2,000 over its CMF counterpart, whereas lacking out on the telephoto lens. This is a worthwhile trade-off in our books, because the glass again panel and Nothing’s iconic see-through design language carry much-needed aptitude to the machine. The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro on the coronary heart of this machine is a dependable processor that gained’t depart you hanging for energy in on a regular basis use. Nothing’s software program expertise and protection are nonetheless the most effective in this phase. For of us who like a rock-solid performance served with a facet of character, this machine is a nice purchase beneath Rs 25,000.

Buy on Amazon for Rs 20,045

Pros

• Great design
• Smooth show
• Reliable processor
• Amazing haptic suggestions

Cons

• Lacks a secondary speaker