Hello Nothing Community! I wanted to share my honest thoughts and usage experience with the Nothing Phone (3a), which I've been using daily since the end of July. Overall, it's a great device, but there are a few things I think could be improved.
👍 The Good Stuff (Pros)
Minimalist & Clean OS Design: I really appreciate the Nothing OS and its consistently clean, minimalist design language. It truly stands out and offers a unique user experience.
Excellent Cameras: The cameras are superb, especially their post-processing. Photos consistently turn out sharp and well-balanced.
Fast 50W Charging: The 50W fast charging is quick and reliable, which I consider a fantastic and essential bonus.
👎 Areas for Improvement (Cons)
Limited OS Customization: While I love the OS design, I find the customization options limited. For example, I cannot place the battery percentage number inside the battery icon itself.
Subpar Video Capabilities: The video recording quality is disappointing, unfortunately being capped at 4K/30fps. I expected 60fps at this price point.
Relatively Large Size: The physical size of the phone is quite large for my personal preference, making one-handed use challenging sometimes.
Battery Life Concerns: The battery life is a bit worrying. I typically only get about 4–5 hours of Screen-On Time (SOT). Since I heavily use the phone for gaming and TikTok, I often have to charge it during the day when I'm at school.
Missing Experimental Feature (Minor): This is a minor point as I don't use them, but the native AirPods support function seems to have vanished from the Experimental Features section after I briefly saw it there. It's interesting that it appeared and then disappeared.
🧐 Concerns About the Brand's Strategy
Beyond the device itself, I have concerns about Nothing's recent strategic moves, specifically the launches of Nothing OS 4.0 and the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite.
I feel like the company is prioritizing profits over its initial community-driven, revolutionary vision. This feeling was especially reinforced after the release of the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite, which appears to be almost identical to the CMF Phone (2) Pro.
Furthermore, Nothing OS 4.0 doesn't feel like a true version 4.0 major upgrade; it seems more like a version 3.7 incremental update. I expected more significant new features from a major OS version jump.
Let me know what you think in the comments!