A better screen, faster processor, improved telephoto camera, and bigger battery.
Box Contents
- Nothing Phone (4a) 12GB + 256GB in White
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Clear protective case
- User manual and warranty info
Display, Hardware and Design
The Nothing Phone (4a) has a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1224 × 2720 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, and around 440 PPI. It gets bright — up to 800 nits normally, 1600 nits outdoors, and 4500 nits peak for HDR content. That’s about 50% brighter than the Phone (3a) at peak.
The refresh rate runs between 30Hz and 120Hz depending on what you’re doing. Touch sampling is 480Hz normally and jumps to 2500Hz in gaming mode, so everything feels super smooth when scrolling or playing games. It supports HDR10+ for YouTube. You can tweak colours to your liking, and there’s a night light to cut blue light for comfortable reading in bed. The always-on display is simple (like on Pixels) with limited customisation. It uses 2160Hz PWM dimming in low light for easier-on-the-eyes brightness. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.
There’s a small punch-hole camera up front (32MP) and an earpiece at the top that also works as a second speaker.
It has an in-display optical fingerprint scanner that unlocks quickly. Bezels are thin and even all around. The power button and volume rockers sit on the right side, while the new Essential Key is on the left. At the bottom you’ll find the dual SIM tray, USB-C port, main mic, and speaker grille. A second mic is at the top.
The frame is still polycarbonate with a matte finish that feels nice and doesn’t slip much. The back is the signature transparent glass design — it looks premium and resists scratches well, though I’d still use the included case because it can get a bit slippery. The camera bump is smaller now thanks to the new periscope telephoto lens, and the deco around the cameras has a metal look.
The big highlight is the Glyph Interface. It’s now a single Glyph Bar made of 63 mini-LEDs arranged in 7 squares. It’s up to 40% brighter (reaches 3,500 nits) than before. The phone comes in white, pink, black, and blue. It’s just 8.55mm thick and weighs 204.5g — only a tiny bit heavier than the 3a despite the bigger battery.
It has IP64 rating for splash and light rain resistance (not for swimming). Some rivals offer higher IP68/IP69 ratings, but it’s still decent for most people.
Camera
- 50MP main camera (f/1.88, 1/1.56″ Samsung GN9 sensor, OIS)
- 8MP 120° ultra-wide (IMX355, f/2.2)
- 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto (½.75″ Samsung JN5, OIS, 7x lossless zoom, up to 70x digital)
- 32MP front camera (Samsung KD1, f/2.2)
The camera app is clean and simple. Modes include Night, Macro, Portrait, Photo, Video, plus slow-mo, time-lapse, panorama, and Expert (pro) mode where you can adjust everything manually. Daylight shots look natural with good dynamic range. HDR works well. The ultra-wide is decent and matches colours nicely. The 3.5x periscope telephoto is excellent — 3.5x optical and 7x in-sensor zoom are sharp; even higher zoom holds up well up to around 30x.
Portrait edge detection is solid. Low-light performance is good and the auto night mode keeps noise under control. The front camera does a fine job in daylight but could be better at night.
I’ve been using the Phone (4a) as my daily driver for the past 2 weeks. The camera is lovely — colours pop and details are crisp. Here are some sample pics I’ve uploaded from real-life shots.
It records 4K at 30fps from the main and telephoto cameras, plus 1080p slow-mo at 120fps. Stabilisation is good. No 4K on the front camera and no HDR video, but the Glyph lights can act as extra lighting for photos and videos.
Software, UI and Apps
It runs Android 16 with Nothing OS 4.1 out of the box (March 2026 security patch). Nothing promises 3 years of Android updates and 6 years of security patches. The UI feels close to stock Android with nice fonts and clean design.
Nothing OS 4.1 adds a fresh lock screen with depth wallpaper, more watch customisation, a Breathing Break widget for quick relaxation exercises, and an AI eraser in the gallery (great for removing people or reflections). The Essential Key opens Essential Space — an AI hub for notes and ideas. You can press it to save stuff, long-press for voice notes, or double-tap to see everything. It now syncs to the cloud across Nothing devices.
Out of 12GB RAM you get about 11.14GB usable (around 5GB free with normal apps running). Storage is UFS 3.1 — fast and a nice step up. It comes with the usual Google apps plus Facebook and Instagram pre-installed.
The Glyph Bar still shows notifications and live updates from apps like Uber, Zomato, Google Maps, etc. More app support is coming.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The in-display fingerprint scanner is fast and reliable. Face unlock works quickly too, but fingerprint is more secure.
Music player and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default player. Stereo speakers are loud and clear. Headphone audio is good. Haptics feel nice. It supports Widevine L1 so you get HD streaming on Netflix, Prime, etc. HDR works on YouTube but not Netflix.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
Full 5G support, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS. NFC is missing in the Indian version. Calls are clear with no drops. SAR values are safe (well under India’s limit).
Performance and Benchmarks
It’s powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 — a clear upgrade over the 7s Gen 3 in the Phone (3a). Gaming is smooth: BGMI at HDR + Extreme, up to 120fps in lighter games, and it handles Genshin Impact well (not at max settings). Cooling is improved, so it stays comfortable.
Battery life is excellent. The 5400mAh battery easily lasts more than a day with heavy 5G use and over 2 days with lighter Wi-Fi use. I regularly got 7+ hours of screen-on time. 50W wired charging gets it to 50% in about 25 minutes and full in roughly an hour. No wireless charging, but it supports 7.5W reverse wired charging.
I say:
The Nothing Phone (4a) feels like a confident upgrade. Nothing fixed the main complaints from the Phone (3a) — better performance, more camera flexibility with the periscope telephoto, and longer battery life — while keeping the fun Glyph design and clean software.
My personal take after using it for 2 weeks:
The looks are equal to my old Nothing Phone (3a) — not better, just the same cool transparent style I love. Everything else is great. The camera is lovely (check the samples I uploaded). Performance, battery, and screen are real improvements. The AI Essentials feature isn’t super useful for me yet, but the rest of the phone just works really well. At the effective price of around ₹29,000 with offers, it’s a strong mid-range pick if you want style plus solid everyday performance.
Pros
- Good display
- Smooth performance
- Lovely cameras
- Premium glass-back build
- Strong battery life + fast charging
Cons
- No charger in the box
- No 4K video on front camera
- No NFC in India
Ankur Mehta
