I favored final 12 months’s Nothing Phone 3A Pro a lot that I awarded it a coveted CNET Editors’ Selection Award, so its follow-up, the Nothing Cellphone 4A Professional, has rather a lot to stay as much as. I’ve spent a while with the cellphone, and there is definitely lots to love — from its contemporary pink design to its succesful processor. However Nothing’s telephones have at all times had one different key benefit: value.
At $499 in the US and £499 in the UK, the Cellphone 4A Professional is definitely inexpensive, particularly contemplating its strong roundup of specs. Its essential competitors is the Google Pixel 10A, which is the very same value and has just lately impressed in our full evaluation because of its all-around efficiency (with the $599 iPhone 17E trailing behind in worth). It is too early to say simply how the Cellphone 4A Professional stacks up towards Google’s cellphone, nevertheless it’s actually obtained sufficient to justify your consideration.
Here is what you might want to find out about this inexpensive Android cellphone.
Nothing Cellphone 4A Professional: Pink design with Glyph Matrix
My favourite factor in regards to the cellphone is its pink coloration. Does that make me extraordinarily shallow? Sure, however I am high quality with that. I like pink devices. I managed to turn my cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro pink with chemicals, and I had a custom pink wrap placed on my costly Leica Q3 43. It is a delicate pink, quite than hot pink like the old Motorola Razr V3, nevertheless it’s a enjoyable coloration that does not take itself too severely — and that is refreshing.
So a lot of right now’s telephones are available in dreary shades of black, silver or grey, so I genuinely respect when a model injects a bit extra persona into the combo. That stated, Nothing has made some important design modifications right here. The corporate is understood for its see-through plastic-back telephones that present a number of the parts beneath, together with its “Glyph” LED mild patterns. I beloved that look on the 3A Professional and the Nothing Phone 1 and a pair of earlier than it.
The Glyph Matrix is arguably a little bit of a gimmick.
There’s nonetheless a component of that right here, nevertheless it’s been gathered up and squashed into the digital camera bar, with roughly 70% of the cellphone now being a plain expanse of aluminum. Cowl up the digital camera bar and you possibly can be taking a look at mainly another cellphone. The bar itself appears to be like fascinating, with a number of the seen screw heads that keep that industrial really feel. It is also the place you may discover the three digital camera lenses and the Glyph Matrix launched on final 12 months’s way more costly Nothing Phone 3.
The Matrix is basically a round dot-matrix show that may show info such because the time, battery degree or incoming notifications. However Nothing has opened the Glyph as much as permit builders or customers to create their very own instruments, equivalent to a countdown timer to when your Uber is because of arrive. The Cellphone 3’s Glyph Matrix was contact delicate, permitting it to make use of what Nothing referred to as “Glyph toys,” equivalent to spin the bottle, whereas the 4A Professional’s is just a show.
I discovered these options considerably gimmicky, and the brand new Glyph Matrix — used as a show quite than an interactive toy — loses little by way of performance whereas providing a greater general expertise. Whether or not it proves to be any extra helpful stays to be seen. I do additionally suppose it is a bit of a disgrace that the Cellphone 4A Professional lacks any of the flashing LED lights the corporate is understood for; even the extra inexpensive Phone 4A solely has a modest cluster of lights to provide you with a warning to incoming calls.
Nearly all of the cellphone is simply an expanse of pink steel. I positively suppose Nothing may have carried out extra right here.
The cellphone is IP65-rated, defending it from spills or taking calls within the rain. That doubtless makes it as dust-resistant as most different telephones, although it might not survive extended submersion like units with an IP68 ranking. Nothing says it makes use of recycled plastics, metal, aluminum and tin in its development, giving it the bottom carbon footprint of any of its telephones.
Nothing Cellphone 4A Professional: Processor, software program and digital camera
Powering the cellphone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip together with 8GB or 12GB of RAM. I examined the 12GB mannequin and located it satisfyingly swift in on a regular basis use. Navigating across the Android interface was stutter-free, apps opened shortly, and the graphically demanding sport Genshin Affect performed easily, even at high-quality settings.
It runs Android 16 with Nothing’s customized pores and skin on prime, which transforms a lot of the interface right into a stark, monochrome expertise. I am not a fan, largely as a result of the dearth of coloration cues makes it more durable for me to differentiate app icons — a difficulty I additionally encountered with the Leica UI on the Xiaomi Leitzphone. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to change the theme to a extra typical interface when you additionally want extra coloration, and I do like the varied Nothing widgets you’ll be able to set up and the Non-public House that permits you to disguise delicate apps and photographs behind a password. That does not make it the most privacy-intensive phone on this planet, nevertheless it’s an important possibility for informal cellphone house owners.
Nothing’s interface turns the icons black and white, which makes them a bit harder to determine which is which.
You will discover Nothing’s Important House on board, a productiveness app the corporate launched on its telephones final 12 months. It is mainly a repository for screenshots and voice notes that will help you make sense of your stream of consciousness all through the day. It makes use of a bodily {hardware} button on the facet of the cellphone; press and maintain, and it will take a screenshot of no matter you are taking a look at, and you may document a voice observe to remind your self what’s essential or maybe to remind your self to purchase one thing in a while.
I like Important House. It is truly a useful gizmo, particularly when you’re the kind of one who randomly thinks of issues you might want to do throughout the day however by no means appears to have the ability to keep in mind that factor once more in a while when you have got time to behave on it. It is certainly not the rationale to decide on a Nothing cellphone over one other machine, nevertheless it’s a helpful further to play with when you’re already contemplating the Cellphone 4A Professional.
Nothing is promising three years of Android updates and a complete of six years of safety updates for the Cellphone 4A Professional, which means it ought to nonetheless be secure to make use of in 2032. I might prefer to see extra beneficiant software program updates (the Pixel 10A will get software program and safety updates for seven years), however the safety assist is the principle factor right here, as that straight pertains to the cellphone’s lifespan.
On the again is a trio of cameras, together with a 50-megapixel essential digital camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto digital camera with 3.5x optical zoom and an 8-megapixel ultrawide digital camera.
Taken with the principle digital camera, this shot has first rate colours and element.
The ultrawide shot appears to be like a bit of gloomy, nevertheless it was fairly an overcast day.
At 3.5x zoom, this shot maintains crisp particulars.
The 32-megapixel selfie digital camera hasn’t made me look 10 years youthful. No stars.
I’ve solely briefly examined the digital camera and located it to be first rate for the worth, however I need to take much more check photographs, together with comparisons towards the Pixel 10A, earlier than I give any verdicts. Usually, Nothing telephones’ cameras do not supply picture high quality to maintain images professionals pleased, however when you’re after well-balanced photographs of your youngsters taking part in within the backyard, then it will doubtless be perfect.
The cellphone packs a 5,080-mAh battery, which the corporate claims offers you 17 hours of combined use. That’ll actually depend upon how demanding you’re of your cellphone; on our streaming rundown check, it dropped virtually 10% after its first hour and was all the way down to solely 73% after the third hour. That is nicely under common. Hold issues extra wise, although, and also you should not battle an excessive amount of to get a day trip of it. It has 50-watt wired charging to get the facility again in shortly, although you may want to offer your personal appropriate quick charger.
The digital camera bar with the Glyph stands out a bit of.
Nothing Cellphone 4A Professional: Do you have to purchase it?
There’s rather a lot I like in regards to the cellphone. It is obtained sufficient energy for all of your on a regular basis wants, its cameras are ok for out-and-about snaps, and whereas its design may actually be a bit extra experimental, the pink coloration and the Glyph Matrix show actually assist it stand out from the gang.
However the Nothing Cellphone 4A’s inexpensive $499 price ticket is the principle cause to think about this cellphone, and from my testing up to now, it actually feels such as you’re getting numerous cellphone to your cash. Certain, when you’re on the lookout for the newest and best in cellphone expertise, then you might want to look towards the Xiaomi Leitzphone or the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However each of these will value you at the least thrice as a lot, so you need to suppose: Is a greater digital camera and extra processing energy actually price it to you?
I am going to have to go away my last verdict for as soon as I have been capable of give it the total evaluation remedy, so keep tuned to see how this cellphone actually stacks up, particularly towards the Pixel 10A.
