I found an Android phone that can convince iPhone users to make the switch – and it's not a flagship

There’s no greater reality check for a tech journalist than when you’re at a family gathering, set your phone on the dining table, and the gravitational pull of innovation does its thing. The curious eyes, familiar questions, and impatient hands of younger cousins are almost always guaranteed when I’m testing the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, etc. But lately, this phenomenon has been happening less and less.

Also: I thought the budget phone market was in shambles – then I held Google’s latest Pixel

Even foldable phones have lost some of their appeal to mainstream eyes, which I blame on stagnant, never-decreasing prices. But the latest device I’ve been testing, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, seems to have reinvigorated things. Perhaps it’s the transparent back design, the glowing Glyph lights, or the absolute island of a camera bump that screams, “I take good photos.” Everyone seems to have a different answer to this one.

After testing the Nothing Phone 3a Pro for almost a month now, I get the discourse. But one thing’s for certain: At $459, you can’t find a more well-rounded handset than this.

Nothing’s products have led the way in industrial design — as far as creativity and detail are concerned — since the company’s inception, and the Phone 3a Pro is no different. Whether you opt for the all-black finish or the slightly more exciting gray, the phone sports a transparent backing that shields the various screws, data ribbons, and components underneath. 

Like previous Nothing phones, the Glyph interface is present, a unique assembly of LED lights that blink to indicate incoming notifications, alerts, and timers.

Also: Nothing Phone 1 review: You ain’t seen Nothing yet

Nothing made a much bigger deal of its glowing back cover design when it first launched the Phone 1 almost three years ago, but since then, the smart interface has taken a back seat. I don’t mind that, as it still serves its purpose of being a display-off status indicator without putting on a disrupting light show every time. 

In fact, the ability to set a constant beacon only for specific (hopefully important) notifications, like text messages from my wife, has allowed me to stay more focused on other tasks. It’s the best thing since the original notification LED on phones. Remember those?

The rest of the design is akin to last year’s Phone 2a and 2a Plus, especially if you opt for the similar-looking gray finish (see above). However, holding the two generations in hand reveals some major hardware shifts: The back cover is now made of glass instead of plastic, and the large camera bump makes the Phone 3a Pro much more top-heavy.

Also: The best Android phones to buy in 2025

In a surprising turn of events, I’d argue that the Phone 3a Pro is Nothing’s least ergonomic handset yet, with a bulge that only accentuates the phone’s uneven weight distribution. Whether scrolling news stories on the subway or navigating the New York City streets with one hand, I’d often have to shift my fingers around to get a secure grip on the phone. A clear case, especially one that makes the camera bump feel more flush, may remedy this.

On the opposite end — and you’ll have to excuse my geekery for a moment — I quite adore the button placement on the Phone 3a Pro. The right-side power and Essential keys and left-side volume rocker are situated around the center of the frame, so they’re always just a click away, whether you’re holding the phone with your left or right hand. 

Notably, the new Essential key, which serves as an AI-assisted archiver, is treated with a gloss coating instead of matte, so it’s easier to discern.

The Essential key, which powers Nothing’s Essential Space, is one of the more practical AI features I’ve tested. A click of the button takes a screenshot, the AI model sorts out any text or visual information, and you can attach a note or voice recording for future reference. It’s very similar to Google’s Pixel Screenshots app, but the ability to make commands takes Nothing’s interpretation a step further.

Also: I tried Google’s Pixel Screenshots and it’s everything I’d want an AI feature to be

While in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, I’d frequently save the location of local restaurants and meeting venues by dictating, “Remind me to come here at the scheduled time.” About 30 minutes before an event took place, I’d get the reminder on the phone along with the screenshot. While the feature works as intended, it’s not perfect. 

In an ideal world, Essential Space can be synced to third-party services like Google Calendar or Gmail. Then, I’d get reminders even if I didn’t have my Nothing phone in hand.

Regardless, I commend Nothing for keeping its AI initiatives subtle, at least to start. Instead of pushing the Phone 3a Pro as the next best device to help you summarize emails and draft text messages, the company is upstaging every other aspect of it, including its camera system and performance.

The big camera upgrade, and what separates the Phone 3a Pro from the Phone 3a, is the new 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The addition of a dedicated periscope camera means you can capture more distant subjects without relying on digital cropping. I snapped several photos with the new camera while roaming the streets of Barcelona. I found the output to be competitive with my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, both of which cost about three times the price.

Also: I replaced my $3,500 Sony camera with 200MP Android phone – and it’s spoiled me big time

That’s only if you’re not pixel-peeping, of course, as the Phone 3a Pro can capture moments in relatively natural color and contrast levels but falls short in sharpness and detail. This is especially the case with low-light photography when the dimness of the environment makes it difficult for the camera to reproduce images accurately. 

Remember that this is a $459 phone, so I’d still rate its output in the B tier; the main wide and telephoto lenses will serve you much better than what you get from similarly priced Motorola and Samsung handsets.

Regarding day-to-day performance, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, paired with 12GB of RAM, on the Phone 3a Pro got by most tasks I threw at it, including loading and quick-scrolling through social media feeds, responding to emails, streaming movies and videos, and mobile gaming. Aside from the occasional stutter and dropped frames when browsing text-heavy services like Reddit, I never felt frustrated when using the phone.

It helps that Nothing OS is on the cleaner end of the Android spectrum, with virtually no bloatware or excessive features. (You can even opt for a Stock Android aesthetic instead of Nothing’s dot-matrix theming, though I’d recommend being more adventurous when using a phone like this.)

Also: Nothing’s new budget Android phones make Samsung and Apple look bad

Lastly, the Phone 3a Pro is both an endurance and charging champ, with a 5,000mAh battery that rivals flagships and a 50W wired charging rate that beats them. However, you don’t get a compatible charging brick in the box, and the omission of wireless charging will leave users coming from competing midrange phones like the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) and Google Pixel 8a scratching their heads.

ZDNET’s buying advice

That’s to say, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro checks a lot of boxes, more than any phone in its price range, but its most unique features, from the polarizing design to the Essential key, make it just as compelling for tech enthusiasts using flagship phones. Over the course of testing, I even witnessed several iPhone users contemplating switching to the Phone 3a Pro, whether it was for the digital well-being that the Glyph lights promote or the fashionable user interface. 

There is one catch with the Phone 3a Pro and Nothing phones in general: the US Beta Program, a sign-up-to-buy procedure that’s only accessible through Nothing’s web store. (You could reason that this is one way the company is cutting costs with its US phones.) 

While buying directly from Nothing still comes with your standard manufacturer’s warranty and a 30-day return period, the aftersales support (read: finding replacement parts and connecting to different cellular networks) is notably less structured than at your typical carrier store. Trade-in deals are also less aggressive, and compared to the traditional installment plan, you’ll be buying the phone off-contract and unlocked.