It’s been a hot minute seeing people scream about how bad the phones are and how shit it is, and sure I get the hate but watching people turn away from the phones make me sad because they are feared over the controversies, and so I decided to just give an honest and content review and experience on my 3a pro and using it over the last full year
Out of the box
The phone is unique, I was unsure about the design but the more I looked at it the more I loved it, it’s different, it’s quirky, and it just looks like no other phone and I’ve slowly loved it for that. I still feel the grey is a bit loud and the black one just hits enough to stand out yet look subtle at all times. The phone is on the heavier side and has a more wider stance and feels not so comfortable as other phones but you get used to it, and yeah it’s not bad. The camera bump is HUGE and it wobbles way too much without the case (but who cares you put it with the back up afterall)
The OS
Starting with the NOS3.2 and it was a charm, the phone is beautiful with its OS and I have absolutely fallen in love with the way everything is set up, the widgets are great the black and white theme is beautiful and it’s overall a great operating system to use.
However, it lacks a lot of things that I wish it had, I don’t wanna complain about it , since it’s a new brand but I also wanna let people know that it’s not the most loaded, there’s a lot of emptiness and a lot of Google apps that do the work, and yea Nos4 was a bumpy ride till now, but atleast I’m glad the company listens to feedbacks and is continuously updating the devices, feels good to be heard and attended to so I don’t get the hate.
The cameras
The main reason I chose this over any other phone,and over the base 3a was the camera and I have to say, they managed to make me happy and sad at the same time
Starting with the good, the telephoto camera is amazing. It’s clarity and all in great, there’s good OIS, the colors are accurate, the details are good the blue is on point, it can easily beat flagships with that camera quality. There’s great stability and clarity on video recordings aswell
Then you move to the more used main camera and you see the real deal. It’s good 90% of the times, in the sun with a proper subject it’s nails the photo,but the darker it gets and the busier the photo is, the worse the camera gets, the colors aren’t very accurate, and the 10% of the time the photos are just absurdity. But I think it can get the pass for being a mid ranger and being able to get amazing photos most of the times is still good. The video quality however is way better and it does an amazing job at recording some nice shots, it’s stable and smooth.
What shouldn’t be getting a pass is the wide lens. It’s a war crime. Absolutely awful quality and unusable. Having 8 mps doesn’t help it’s case either. If you love using the wide angle cam I recommend skipping this one. It’s just downright bad
The front camera is also pretty good, I don’t use it as much but it does a good job, kind of not very stable but it’s good clarity and doesn’t blow up the faces with alot of filters.
P.s. love the presets that they have added ita very useful.
The Display and Performance
crisp, clear, and very bright, useful in the sunniest hours. It’s super smooth even though I still find the aspect ratio a bit odd. I love the bezels, they’re so on point and thin, and bring symmetric makes them look great. the animations are great. The processor does it’s job well. But harder work like importing an edited video from some apps just are slow as hell. You’re reminded thwt it’s not the best processor, but everyday things it does flawless.
The gimmicks
First up the big boys aka the glyph lights. Oh I was in love in the beginning. Do I still love them? Well it’s more of a we are just friends thing now. They’re a fun gimmick and they die down soon. It’s still kinda useful if you’re a person who likes to keep your phone on silent. The progress bars and all are a bit too much in my opinion, but if it’s there then why not. Overall I would just say , think of the glyphs as an added bonus and not something to die for, they’re cool but also very limited (cough, phone 3)
And The BUTTON. I am gonna go against the waves and say I absolutely love this, heck I love it more than the glyphs, forcing to use the button for essential space felt odd to me too at first but I’ve started to use it a lot, instead of using reminders or to do lists, I use it for everything I need to nte down and it just works great I hope they keep expanding on this as it’s a lovely feature.
A verdict
The phone is great, is it the phone? The straight answer is not, no you dont need to sell your soul and get it, it’s not a flagship killer so don’t come trying to sell your s24 ultra and fruitphones to get this, but if you are looking for a budget phone, this is the perfect one to get. I would honestly recommend getting the 3a as I also kinda feel I didn’t need the little camera upgrade, but hey it’s still worth it. The 3 still feels not worth the price but I would happily recommend the 3a and 3a pro to people. They’re a pretty decent package and a great upgrade for people who are coming from cheaper phones and people who wanna be influencers on a budget. That’s all folks
