Nothing Phone (3a) review

Three rear cameras now with a telephoto

The most significant difference between the Nothing Phone (3a) and the (3a) Pro lies in their camera hardware. Both models now feature a third rear camera, a notable upgrade from last year's Nothing Phone (2a) and Phone (2a) Plus.

While both phones come equipped with a 50MP main camera, they don't use the same sensor. Based on available information, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro features a Samsung ISOCELL GNJ sensor, whereas the standard Nothing Phone (3a) utilizes a Samsung ISOCELL GN9.

The telephoto cameras also differ between the two models. The Pro version is equipped with a periscope-style 50MP 3x telephoto camera with a 70mm focal length equivalent. It uses the Sony LYTIA 600 sensor, measuring 1/1.95", and is paired with an f/2.55 lens. As expected for a periscope camera, it includes Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

On the other hand, the regular Nothing Phone (3a) features a more conventional 2x telephoto camera with a 50mm focal length equivalent and an f/2.0 lens. It relies on a Samsung-made 50MP sensor with a 1/2.74" size and only offers Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) without OIS.

• Wide (main): 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL GN9, f/1.88, 24mm (wide), 1/1.57", 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 2160p@30fps
• Telephoto: 50 MP Samsung, f/2.0, 1/2.74", 0.64µm, 50mm (telephoto), PDAF (25cm - ∞), 2x optical zoom; 1080p@30fps
• Ultrawide: 8 MP Sony IMX 355, f/2.2, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, 15mm (ultrawide); 1080p@30fps
• Front camera: 32MP Samsung, f/2.2, 1/3.44" (wide); 1080p@60fps

The ultrawide cameras on both devices are identical. They use a Sony IMX355 sensor (1/4" size) with a fixed-focus f/2.2 lens, offering a 120-degree field of view. There aren't any standout features here.

Selfie cameras also vary between the two models. The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro houses a 50MP front-facing camera with a 1/2.76" Samsung sensor behind an f/2.2 lens, capable of recording in 4K. The standard Nothing Phone (3a), in contrast, features a 32MP selfie camera with a Samsung-made 1/3.44" sensor and the same f/2.2 aperture.

Nothing takes pride in its TrueLens Engine 3.0, an AI-powered image processing system that enhances tone mapping and scene recognition across multiple frames to produce the final image. The goal is to maintain a balance between highlight details and shadow depth for a natural-looking output.

Additionally, both Nothing Phone (3a) models support Google's Ultra HDR format for displaying photos with an enhanced dynamic range.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The main camera produces impressive 12.5MP binned photos with excellent detail and minimal noise. Contrast and dynamic range are well-balanced, and colors appear natural even if a bit muted.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP main camera samples

It is possible to force the main camera to capture images at its full 50MP resolution, but there's little advantage in doing so. The additional detail is negligible, and while the images may appear slightly less processed, the difference is not significant.

Nothing Phone (3a): 50MP main camera samples

Before moving on from the main camera, here are some portrait samples taken at 1x zoom with the main camera. The results are impressive, showcasing well-defined facial features, natural skin tones, and an appealing background blur effect.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP main camera portrait samples

Telephoto camera

The vanilla Nothing Phone (3a) telephoto camera only has a native zoom factor of 2x or a 50mm equivalent. That's not particularly a lot, and many phones mimic the same zoom with a crop from a high-resolution main camera. That said, the dedicated 2x telephoto definitely produces cleaner and sharper photos than anything that can be pulled off through digital zoom. The colors are nice and natural, and the dynamic range is nice and wide.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP telephoto camera 2x zoom samples

Again, while you can force the telephoto to capture in its full 50MP resolution, you probably don't want to since there is not much benefit.

Nothing Phone (3a): 50MP telephoto camera 2x zoom samples

For the sake of thoroughness, we also shot some samples at 3x zoom. These are taken with the telephoto camera as well. Naturally, these come out looking a bit softer than the 2x shots.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP telephoto camera 3x zoom samples

The telephoto is also great for portraits if you are into 50mm portraits. The details are great, and so are subject detection and separation.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP telephoto camera 2x zoom portrait samples

Ultrawide camera

During the day, the ultrawide photos are very good for an 8MP camera. There is a very good amount of detail and nice colors.

Nothing Phone (3a): 8MP ultrawide camera samples

Selfie camera

The front-facing camera captures selfies at its full 32MP resolution, which feels somewhat excessive. However, the overall quality is solid, with well-rendered skin tones and textures. That said, the results might have been even better with pixel binning for improved detail and light handling.

Nothing Phone (3a): 32MP selfie camera samples

Low-light camera quality

The main camera performs well in low-light environments, capturing a good amount of detail with minimal noise. Dynamic range remains impressive, preserving both shadows and highlights effectively.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP main camera low light samples

The Nothing Phone (3a) automatically applies night mode processing, indicated by a small icon in the camera interface. While disabling night mode is possible, the phone still appears to apply some level of HDR stacking. In practice, the difference between having night mode on or off is minimal.

Nothing Phone (3a): 12.5MP main camera low light (no night mode) samples

The 2x zoom shots from the telephoto camera hold up quite well. The level of detail is good, and so are the colors. Dynamic range is nice and wide, with well-developed shadows, highlights, and surprisingly well-contained light sources.

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro: 12.5MP telephoto camera 2x low light samples

Once again, for the sake of thoroughness, here are some 3x zoom shots from the telephoto as well. These are a bit softer.

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro: 12.5MP telephoto camera 3x low light samples

At night, the ultrawide shots are soft, but the dynamic range and contrast are quite good.

Nothing Phone (3a): 8MP ultrawide camera low light samples

Finally, here are some pretty decent low-light selfies that the Nothing Phone (3a) can capture.

Nothing Phone (3a): 32MP selfie camera low light samples

Video capture quality

The Nothing Phone (3a) can only capture 4K video with its main camera. The ultrawide, telephoto and selfie are all limited to 1080p. There is also a quirk in the resolution and camera switching logic, which we also observed on the Pro model. If you don't manually switch down to 1080p, the phone will actually be taking your 2x zoom videos at 4K as crops from the main camera (not ideal!).

Videos get saved in a standard AVC/h.264 video stream with a 48 kHz stereo AAC audio stream inside an MP4 container. HEVC/h.265 recording is an option as well.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

The main camera captures excellent 4K videos. The detail is great, and so are the colors. There is practically no noise. Dynamic range could be a bit better.

As we said, if you're not paying attention, you can easily end up with a 4K 2x video from the main camera, which is not ideal. To get proper zoomed video from the telephoto, you need to switch the resolution to 1080p. And in this resolution, the telephoto really shines. It has much better detail and colors.

Full HD video recorded with the ultrawide camera is decent but not particularly impressive. While the quality is acceptable, it's not the best option and is worth avoiding if possible.

The main camera features Always-On stabilization at all resolutions, effectively minimizing shake and smoothing out movement, especially while walking.