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MobileIQ

Head to head

Nothing Phone (4a) ProvsNothing Phone (3)

The short answer

Choose the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro for peak brightness and battery life per charge. Choose the Nothing Phone (3) for more base storage. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is £180 cheaper at UK RRP (£519 against £699). The Nothing Phone (3) gets security updates for longer: until July 2032, against March 2032 for the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

Released
2026-03-05GSMArena — Nothing Phone (4a) Pro specifications, retrieved 2026-08-21
Price
£519Nothing UK store — Phone (4a) Pro, retrieved 2026-08-21
Security updates until
2032-03-05Nothing UK — Phone (4a) Pro, retrieved 2026-08-21
Released
2025-07-15GSMArena — Nothing Phone (3) specifications, retrieved 2026-08-20
Price
£699Nothing UK store — Phone (3), retrieved 2026-08-20
Security updates until
2032-07-15Nothing UK — Phone (3), retrieved 2026-08-20

2 wins for Nothing Phone (4a) Pro1 win for Nothing Phone (3)2 gaps borderline3 differences you won’t notice£180 apart at RRP

Verdict: Nothing Phone (4a) Pro ahead on 2 rows, Nothing Phone (3) on 1 row

On the makers’ published figures, the Phone (4a) Pro wins on peak brightness (5,000 nits against 4,500 nits) and battery per charge (63.4 h against 56.38 h); the Phone (3) wins on storage (base) (256 GB against 128 GB). 2 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: RAM (12 GB against 8 GB) for the Phone (3) and fast charging (65 W against 50 W) for the Phone (3). The differences in weight, display size and battery capacity are below the thresholds you would notice. Both state the same typical brightness and battery lifespan. The other 33 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.

True to scale

Phone (4a) Pro · 163.6 × 76.6 mmPhone (3) · 160.60 × 75.59 mm

Outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice. A row the site has no threshold for says whether the two differ, and that it is not ranking them. = marks the same figure on both, ≠ not ranked a difference with no ranking. Every figure carries its source.

Body

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
DimensionsDiffers, but not ranked.
163.6 x 76.6 x 7.9 mmOfficial
160.60 x 75.59 x 8.99 mmOfficial
Weight

You won’t notice this difference.

BuildDiffers, but not ranked.
Aircraft-grade aluminium unibody; Corning Gorilla Glass 7i screenOfficial
Corning Gorilla Glass 7i front and back, precision-machined anti-fingerprint aluminium frameOfficial
SIMDiffers, but not ranked.
Dual SIM, Nano-SIM (4FF); eSIM: Yes (excluding India)Official
Dual SIM, Nano-SIM (4FF) + eSIMOfficial
Water/dust ratingDiffers, but not ranked.
UnlockDiffers, but not ranked.
Fingerprint Sensor, In-screen optical scannerOfficial
In-display fingerprint sensorOfficial

Display

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Display typeDiffers, but not ranked.
6.83" flexible AMOLED, 144 Hz adaptive, 10-bitOfficial
6.67" flexible AMOLED, 120 Hz adaptive, 10-bitOfficial
Display size
6.83inOfficial
6.67inOfficial

You won’t notice this difference.

ResolutionSame.
1260 x 2800Official
1260 x 2800Official
Pixel densityDiffers, but not ranked.
450ppiOfficial
460ppiOfficial
Refresh rate
Peak brightness
5000nitsOfficialwins this row
4500nitsOfficial

Phone (4a) Pro is ahead here, by a gap you’d notice.

Typical brightnessSame.
800nitsOfficial
800nitsOfficial
Screen protectionSame.
Corning Gorilla Glass 7iOfficial
Corning Gorilla Glass 7iOfficial

Platform

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Operating systemDiffers, but not ranked.
Nothing OS 4.1 powered by Android 16Official
Nothing OS 4 powered by Android 16Official
ChipsetDiffers, but not ranked.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4Official
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 4Official
CPUDiffers, but not ranked.
Qualcomm Kryo 8-core, up to 2.8 GHz (1 Prime up to 2.8 GHz + 3 Performance up to 2.4 GHz + 4 Efficiency up to 1.8 GHz)Official
Qualcomm Kryo 8-core, up to 3.21 GHz (1x Cortex-X4 up to 3.2 GHz + 7x Cortex-A720 up to 3.0 GHz)Official
GPUDiffers, but not ranked.
Qualcomm Adreno 722Official
Qualcomm Adreno 825Official

Memory

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Storage (base)
256GBOfficialwins this row

Phone (3) is ahead here, by a gap you’d notice.

Storage optionsDiffers, but not ranked.
128GB/256GBOfficial
256GB/512GBOfficial
RAM

Marginal — most people won’t notice.

Card slotSame.

Camera

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Main cameraDiffers, but not ranked.
50 MP main (f/1.88, 1/1.56") + 50 MP periscope (f/2.88, 3.5x optical) + 8 MP ultrawide (120°) + 32 MP frontOfficial
50 MP main (f/1.68, 1/1.3") + 50 MP periscope (f/2.68, 3x optical) + 50 MP ultrawide (f/2.2, 114°) + 50 MP frontOfficial
Main sensor resolutionSame.
Main apertureDiffers, but not ranked.
f/1.88Official
f/1.68Official
Main sensor sizeDiffers, but not ranked.
1/1.56"Official
1/1.3"Official
TelephotoDiffers, but not ranked.
50 MP periscope, f/2.88, 1/2.75", 3.5x optical zoom, 7x in-sensor zoom, 140x ultra zoom, OIS & EIS, PDAFOfficial
50 MP periscope, f/2.68, 1/2.75", 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom, 60x ultra zoom, OIS & EIS, autofocusOfficial
UltrawideDiffers, but not ranked.
8 MP, 120° FOV, 1/4"Official
50 MP, f/2.2, 114° FOV, 1/2.76"Official
Front cameraDiffers, but not ranked.
32 MP, f/2.2, 1/3.44", 89° FOVOfficial
50 MP, f/2.2, 1/2.76", 81.2° FOVOfficial
Video captureDiffers, but not ranked.
4K Ultra XDR@30fps; 1080p Ultra XDR@30/60fps; slo-mo 1080p 120fps; time-lapse 4K/1080pOfficial
Ultra XDR video at 60/30 fps; 1080p Ultra XDR at 60/30 fps; slo-mo 1080p 240/120 fps; time-lapse 4K/1080pOfficial

Battery

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Battery capacity
5080mAhOfficial
5150mAhOfficial

You won’t notice this difference.

Battery per charge
63.4hOfficialwins this row
56.38hOfficial

Phone (4a) Pro is ahead here, by a gap you’d notice.

Battery lifespanSame.
1400cyclesOfficial
1400cyclesOfficial
Fast charging

Marginal — most people won’t notice.

Wireless charging
No verified data

Connectivity

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
Wi-FiDiffers, but not ranked.
Wi-Fi 6, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4G/5GOfficial
Wi-Fi 7, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be, 2.4G/5G/6G tri-bandOfficial
BluetoothDiffers, but not ranked.
USBSame.
USB Type-C 2.0, OTG3rd party
USB Type-C 2.0, OTG3rd party
NFCSame.
PositioningDiffers, but not ranked.
GPS (L1), GLONASS (G1), BDS (B1I), GALILEO (E1), QZSS (L1)Official
L1+L5 dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC and SBASOfficial

Benchmarks

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
No verified data

Misc

SpecificationNothing Phone (4a) ProNothing Phone (3)
ColoursDiffers, but not ranked.
Silver, Black, PinkOfficial
White, BlackOfficial
Repairability (EU class)Same.
8 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for

HDR peak brightness · OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Claimed video playback · Geekbench 6 (CPU, multi-core) · AnTuTu benchmark · DXOMARK camera score · SAR (EU, head). Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.

Questions

Is the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro better than the Nothing Phone (3)?

On the figures, neither is better overall: the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro wins on peak brightness, 5,000 nits against 4,500 nits (both Nothing UK) and battery per charge, 63.4 h against 56.38 h (both EU energy label); the Nothing Phone (3) wins on storage (base), 256 GB against 128 GB (both Nothing UK). Every other row is borderline, too close to notice, or not ranked.

Which has the better battery?

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, by a gap you’d notice: battery per charge, 63.4 h against 56.38 h (both EU energy label). The Nothing Phone (3) is ahead on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: battery capacity, 5,150 mAh against 5,080 mAh (both Nothing UK).

Which is lighter?

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is lighter on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: weight, 210 g against 218 g (both Nothing UK).

Which has the brighter screen?

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 5,000 nits against 4,500 nits (both Nothing UK). Both state 800 nits for typical brightness (Nothing UK).

Which gets updates for longer?

The Nothing Phone (3) gets security updates for longer: until July 2032, against March 2032 for the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro. Sources: dates from Nothing UK.

Which is cheaper?

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is £180 cheaper at UK RRP (£519 against £699). Prices from Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Nothing UK store; Nothing Phone (3): Nothing UK store.

The pairs a buyer of either phone would also weigh. Any two phones in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.