Phone (3a) Pro Teardown

Rob ⚡️ · 2025-03-20T11:45:00+00:00

![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206525-572598-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-08-large.jpg "banner") We’re back once more for a peek at the internals of our latest smartphone! Phone (3a) Series brings a host of upgrades over the Phone (2a) Plus, so what better way to visualise those than to lift the lid and see some of that new hardware. In this post, I'm digging into Phone (3a) Pro in Grey. As you probably already know, smartphones are built in layers, almost like a sandwich, so let’s look at the 3 biggest components before focussing in on the internals that fit between them. ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206524-435299-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-02-large.jpg "banner") **🔴 Display** On the front of (3a) Series you’ll find a FHD+ AMOLED flexible LTPS display. At 6.77” this is our largest to date, delivering a 91.43% screen-to-body ratio. With an adaptive 120hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and a 1000 Hz touch sampling rate (+316% faster than (2a) Plus), Phone (3a) Pro brings near instant responsiveness when gaming. There are improvements to brightness too, with 3000 nits peak, (3a)'s display is up to +131% brighter compared to (2a) Plus. Just like the (2a) Plus display, you can see that the rear of the screen features a large heat spreading copper surface. Near the top you’ll spot the selfie camera and proximity sensor cutouts and the slanted square cutout near the bottom is for the in-display fingerprint sensor to see through. The long black flexible printed circuit (FPC) is how our screen receives a display signal; it trails to the top of the device via a hole in the midframe and connects to the motherboard. **🔵 Midframe** On (3a) Pro, the midframe and buttons are produced using 100% recycled aluminium, a more premium material that is equally elegant and durable. As with our (2a) Series, (3a) devices have antennas embedded around the midframe to ensure great reception. In addition, (3a) Series features an additional high-performance gaming antenna in the middle of the frame. This means that when holding horizontally for gaming, the signal won't be blocked by your hands, ensuring stable and smooth gaming network connectivity. Compared to the (2a) Plus this improvement can reduce lag by over 50% when using a mobile network. The big rectangular space in the middle of the midframe is for our 5000mAh battery, with the space above perfectly shaped to house the motherboard. The long, thin space at the bottom is where the daughterboard sits, along with the speaker, optical fingerprint reader and SIM tray. **🟡 Rear Cover** The premium materials found on the midframe continue onto the rear of Phone (3a) Pro where we find a 2.5D rear glass panel, a significant change from the plastics used on our (2a) devices. Integrated at the top is the housing for our triple rear camera system along with the LED flash - let's zoom in a little closer to this part, there's lots to see… ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206524-937220-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-05-large.jpg "banner") Above, we get a great look at the space inside the camera bump of (3a) Pro. The lenses of each camera are positioned as close together as possible and positioned precisely to ensure a smooth transition between them when you’re zooming in and out. At the very top is a small diffused aperture for the flash LED to fire through. Speaking of cameras, we have some macro shots of the sensors themselves: ‎ **Phone (3a) Pro Camera System** (3a) Pro hosts our best camera system to date, featuring a versatile array of lenses for portraits, macro, long zoom shots and more - it's super versatile. Paired with our new Camera app which enables sharable, Personal Presets and even allows for the use of LUTs via the .Cube format, there's infinite possibilities to explore. Take a look at some of our recent community reviews from [Palmix](https://nothing.community/d/27843-phone-3a-pro-what-no-one-tells-you "Palmix Art"), [Juse](https://nothing.community/d/27910-3a-pro-a-new-dimension-of-photography-for-nothing "Juse") and [Bubi](https://nothing.community/d/28315-phone-3a-pro-review-is-it-worth-upgrading "Bubi") for some example images. ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206524-741210-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-04-large.jpg "banner") ‎ ‎ 🟡 Primary - 50 MP Samsung, f/1.88, 1/1.56” sensor, 84.5° FOV, OIS & EIS 🔵 Ultra Wide - 8 MP Sony, f/2.2, 1/4" sensor, 120° FOV 🟢 Periscope Zoom - 50MP Sony, f/2.55, 1/1.95” sensor, 33.6° FOV, OIS & EIS 🔴 Front - 50 MP Samsung, f/2.2, 1/2.76" sensor, 81.2° FOV ‎ **Phone (3a) Pro Periscope:** (3a) Pro features a flagship periscope zoom, a first for any Nothing smartphone. A prism, paired with a horizontally stacked lens assembly, is able to offer 3x optical zoom and up to 60x ultra zoom. In the above image, you can see how much larger this component is compared to a regular camera module - our teams worked hard to implement these segment-leading zoom capabilities with the least possible impact on overall device thickness. ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206525-224505-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-06-large.jpg "banner") 🔴 Prism - reflects light towards the lens assembly and shifts to deliver OIS 🟡 Stacked assembly of 4 lens elements - directs light to the sensor and shifts to attain focus 🔵 Sony LYTIA 600 sensor - turns light into a digital signal which informs the image ‎ ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206912-939407-teardownbts.jpg "banner") *BTS image showing the periscope alongside (3a) Pro's camera system housing* **‎ (3a) Series Chipset** We heard our customers asking us to bring a Snapdragon chip to our midrange lineup, so for (3a) Series, we used the 7s Gen 3. A powerful chip that can handle gaming or multitasking with up to 33% faster CPU and 11% graphics improvement compared to (2a). It’s also more efficient, meaning there’s an overall improvement in battery life. ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206524-548020-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-03-large.jpg "banner") We’ve cropped in to the motherboard in the image above, as a bonus, you can see the proximity and ambient light sensors at the very top, helping to illustrate where these chips sit within the device. Shoutout to our photographer David Wilman for removing all of the thermal material so we can get a good look at these components in all their glory! 🔴 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 5G (SD7635) - Up to 2.5 Ghz built on TSMC’s 4nm process. * 8-cores: 1x 2.5GHz (Cortex-A720), 3x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A720), 4x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A520) * GPU: Adreno 810 * NPU: HTP2 🔵 UFS2.2- Storage + LPDDR4X RAM - learn more about this [in a recent post](https://nothing.community/d/29023-why-we-chose-ufs-22 "UFS 2.2") by @"Raymond"#2947 ‎ ‎**The underside of the Glyph Interface** And finally, the eagle-eyed fans will have spotted that (3a) Series has had a Glyph update, with an adjusted arrangement, all 3 of the Glyph segments are now addressable, with a total of 36 zones. Below we look at the rear of the top left Glyph (Internal notation: Glyph ‘C’), used for our Glyph Progress feature - counting the dots you’ll find 20 addressable segments for a smooth progress animation. ![](https://s3-nothing-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2025-03-17/1742206525-387294-nothing-phone3a-product-teardown-07-large.jpg "banner") We hope you enjoyed diving into Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s fresh look and internals with us - as always I had a lot of fun peeking inside our latest product to bring a fresh perspective to you all! > EDIT: Giveaway now closed. Like this post and drop into the comments below and tell us your favourite spec or feature of Phone (3a) Pro for a chance to win one! ⬇️ Click through to view the [full entry requirements and giveaway terms and conditions](https://nothing.community/p/3-phone-3a-pro-teardown-giveaway-terms-conditions). Entries close **April 3, 2025, at 11:00 GMT.**

Ahdan_t

Rob ⚡️

Rob ⚡️ i’m very interested on the periscope camera and the essential key, also the new gallery app was looked amazing to try also

Nitiiish_Sharma

Rob ⚡️ The best part is definately the Periscope Camera but personally I feel the complete device stands out as the design and look of the model is so unique. 🌹

I would love to see a glow in dark version for Phone 3a too. 🍾

Ausans

Rob ⚡️ The camera systems look really professional, I hope it can take pictures of stars in my light polluted area 🙂

D1VY4M

Rob ⚡️ @Rob ⚡️ // The 3x Periscope is the most awesome thing in 3a Pro. If asked, secondary favourite features would be the 5K mAh battery and flexible 120hZ Display.

philooo

Rob ⚡️

my favourites are the cameras, these sensors and of course the design ❤️🔥

CrazyBoy28

Rob ⚡️

🚀 The Glyph Interface 2.0 with 36 ZONES is GENIUS! 🎵

The way it transforms notifications into a light symphony and now with 20 addressable segments for Glyph Progress? Pure innovation! Pair that with the NPU: HTP2 + UFS 2.2 combo for buttery-smooth multitasking? “premium” without the price tag. Obsessed with how Nothing blends art and tech this phone’s a masterpiece! 🔥 #NothingMagic

Kalyani

The design of NOTHING (3a) Pro is eye-catching and the look is cool. The NOTHING Phone (3a) Pro is a perfect combination of futuristic and minimal. The transparent back, detailed refinement and the Glyph design (which is signature of NOTHING), make it not just any phone - it is undeniably a statement from every angle, at every light and every curve. You shouldn’t have to fit in to stand out. NOTHING is making technology fun again, and this design embraces that! And that’s why I tried to make a paper quilling edition of this beautiful phone with the help of Grok AI. I wanna feel it in my hands🥰🥰

Z_elia

The periscope camera on the 3a Pro is insane! Plus, the bright 6.77” AMOLED display is perfect for outdoor use. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 brings more power and efficiency. And the new Glyph Interface with 36 zones is awesome for customization. Can’t wait to try it out! 🔥

TanishRawat

I really liked the design of the device and that periscope camera, but for me essential space is the main highlight of the device because it is really trying to make use of AI instead of just being a Gimmick.

GabrielMundaka

Rob ⚡️ can’t wait to test that periscope camera and the essential space button

ThanosB

Rob ⚡️ ok what is the best 3a Pro feature? the camera we all expected and we got!!! Yeah BUT, do you all actually see the essential button potential? I really hope this stays with Nothing’s phones for the long run as a feature. I truly love it!

ZsomborKarvazy

Rob ⚡️ periscope camera 📷

PavanSagar

Rob ⚡️

(it is indeed essential space).

my gf(2a plus): lets have A BABY.

my wife(3a pro): built in baby.

JustinSutton

Rob ⚡️ love the 5000mah battery!

Timbonator

Rob ⚡️ The periscope zoom is awesome!

_w3_YrOcFLzJQR

Rob ⚡️

(3a) Series Chipset

SmaranHolkar

Rob ⚡️ Ofc my favorite feature is the periscope and essentials key. The key is something I’d use pretty much daily as I forget alot of things. I also like to take photos and screenshots of designs. To have it seperate and organise by AI. it is a grat feature.

AdarshC_sEPk3YT39W

Rob ⚡️ Periscope Camera

skrypterdev

The camera design is really innovative, it makes the phone look very special and interesting.

varunchoksi

Mund the chipset, camera and the screen to body ratio are the features I like

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