Nothing just introduced its latest (a)-series products in the Philippines, including the new Nothing Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro, and the Nothing Headphone (a).
I was given the opportunity to test and check out the Nothing Phone (4a) in Pink. On paper, its hardware seems pretty average, at best, especially in a market like the Philippines with a wider variety of options in the Android smartphone market.
However, does the Nothing Phone (4a) actually fare well in the real world? And would I recommend it? Well, here’s my experience and review of the device after being with it for about a week.
Nothing Phone (4a) Review
Full Specifications
| Display | 6.78-inch 1.5K Flexible AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate 4500 nits peak brightness up to 2500Hz touch sampling rate |
| Processor | Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 |
| GPU | Adreno 810 |
| RAM | 8/12GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128/256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main (1/1.57-inch, f/1.88) 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto (Samsung JN5, 1/2.75-inch, f/2.88) 8MP ultrawide (f/2.2) |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
| Battery | 5080mAh 50W wired fast charging 7.5W reverse wired charging |
| OS | Nothing OS 4.1 (Android 16) 3 years of Android updates 6 years of security updates |
| Colors | BlackWhiteBluePink |
Unboxing Experience
The Nothing Phone (4a) is packaged in a pretty iconic Nothing box with the camera island showcased on the front of dominantly on the front of the box and the rest of the back panel draping down the sides. It also has the Nothing logo on the upper right and “phone (4a)” on the upper right.
Where it does differ, though, from opening the Nothing Phone (3a) is in the inner box. Its predecessor has a flap to reveal the device and its inclusions. Meanwhile, the Phone (4a) has a lift-style box where you lift one side of the box, and the device is housed on one side and its inclusions on the other.
Speaking of inclusions, the Nothing Phone (4a) now comes with a silicone case, which is a very welcome addition. Along with this, there’s a USB-C to USB-C charging cable with the Nothing logo and documentation.
We unboxed the device in a video, which you can watch below:
Build and Design
The Nothing Phone (4a) is, by far, my favorite iteration of Nothing’s design aesthetic as far as their smartphones go. And no, it’s not just because I have a bias for the color pink, but it does play a small factor.
The rear panel borrows from the iconic transparent design of the previous smartphones but looks like a refined evolution of the Phone (3a).
One thing that I appreciate about its back panel design is that it retains the horizontally aligned triple rear camera as its direct predecessor. However, instead of being surrounded by a large circle, Nothing squishes the surrounding design into an oval. I think this fits the camera island design better than the previous design.
Additionally, I must commend Nothing for how it has changed up the Glyph Interface in the Nothing Phone (4a), while still making it stand out.
Rather than the glyph strips that surrounded the camera module, the Glyph Interface is now a single strip on the right-hand side of the back panel. It is separated into six square lights that sit on top of the red recording light.
After the Glyph Dot on the Phone (3a) Lite and the Glyph Matrix on the Phone (3), it had me worried that Nothing would move away from the Glyph Interface entirely. Again, I’m glad to be wrong in this regard.
Another pleasant sight is the Essential Key, which is now found on the left, with the volume rockers placed above the power button on the right. This is a clear sign that Nothing truly listens to its community because the previous configuration just made for a lot of accidental presses. I know I’ve done a lot on the Phone (3).
Now, for the elephant in the room, I just adore the Pink colorway, as a lover of the color. I was glad to see a more muted baby pink on the device, rather than a more vibrant version of the color. The lighter color makes it eye-catching without being too loud, and if I were to bet, this was as intended by Nothing.
I can’t forget the matte baby pink sides on the device, which makes it easier to grip and just feels better in the hands. Oh, and the device comes in Black, White, and Blue colorways too!
Multimedia Experience
The Nothing Phone (4a) is built around a 6.78-inch 1.5K Flexible AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. In the age of companies exploring smaller devices again, I wish the company would try that form factor for the Phone (4a). However, its current size isn’t too bad either.
I’ve gotten used to phones above 6.5 inches, and this gives you more real estate to work with when scrolling through social media or when playing mobile games.
The panel also goes as high as 2500nits of peak brightness, which is bright enough to see the screen even when out and about in the city. When indoors, though, you can enjoy the vibrancy of its display.
It features stereo speakers, with the second sharing space as the earpiece. While I prefer a dedicated second speaker that comes out on top, the audio on the stereo speakers just works. It’s a good, decent speaker for a modern smartphone.
Performance
The Nothing Phone (4a) is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, a slightly lower variant of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 that powers the Phone (4a) Pro. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, for the variant that I have, was joined by 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, but it goes as low as 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.
Before I get to my experience, here are its performance in AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3DMark, and PCMark benchmarks in comparison to other devices we’ve tried in around the same price range.
As you can see with the benchmark results, it’s pretty average. However, that’s not too bad in the grand scheme of things. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 is a pretty formidable chipset. It can handle nearly every day task like doom scrolling, checking email, watching the latest YouTube videos, and even doing a mix of everything with ease. This is to be expected, though, especially coupled with 12GB RAM.
As far as gaming goes, you’ll be able to enjoy light-to-mid games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Call of Duty: Mobile without a hitch at the highest settings.
However, if you enjoy the heavier games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves, you’ll have to settle for either Low for frame rates and a smoother overall experience, or Medium for better graphics but minor stutter. Even farming for materials through automatic combat in Honkai Star Rail will get a bit stuttery if you try the higher graphical settings.
Camera
The camera module of the Nothing Phone (4a) is equipped with two 50MP sensors, one that handles wide shots and a 3.5x periscope telephoto lens. The module is completed with an 8MP ultrawide camera. The system is coupled with the company’s TrueLens Engine 4.
The 50MP main sensor is a reliable shooter. It offers bright colors, but thankfully not oversaturated. It also handles taking photos of people pretty impressively. Specifically, for portrait shots, it makes impressive cutouts that separate even the strands of hair.
If you want to go beyond 2x shooting, the 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto lens handles the shots, and honestly, it actually keeps up with the main shooter. Although if you opt for the 7x zoom, it can get a bit too processed, especially when shooting people.
The 8MP ultrawide camera is pretty decent enough when you want a wider view than the main snapper.
Overall, I think the rear camera setup is impressive enough. There are better systems in the market, sure, but the camera system on the Nothing Phone (4a) is good enough to handle your social media posts and everyday use.
I can’t forget about the front camera, which is a 50MP lens that handles selfies. This helps it stand out in the midrange market that the Nothing Phone (4a) is part of.
The front snapper is also just as good as the main rear camera. There’s good color reproduction, including skin tones for people, as you can see in the group selfie below. I wish it offered a wider view or had the option to go a bit wider, though, just so you can accommodate more people in your selfies.
I’ve uploaded these photos in full detail here.
Battery
The Nothing Phone (4a) is equipped with a 5080mAh battery, which makes it around the third-largest battery on a Nothing device.
How did this fare? Well, here are the results of the device on the PCMark Battery Test, which runs the device through a variety of daily tasks until the battery drains to 20%. I did this thrice to cover the three display modes, namely Adaptive, High, and Standard.
| Display Mode | Time |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | 17 hr 0 min |
| High (120Hz) | 15 hr 25 min |
| Standard (60Hz) | 20 hr 7 min |
That said, these were pretty surprising given that the battery offers just a slight bump from the average 5000mAh battery. I can’t quite confirm this, as of writing my review, but it could have to do with some optimizations with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4.
Based on my testing, the 17-hour result for the Adaptive mode is pretty accurate. This is with light gaming sessions, though, and average use of doom scrolling, YouTube binge-watching, and checking social media.
If the battery dies on you, the device supports 50W fast charging, the same as the Nothing Phone (3a), and slightly slower than the flagship Phone (3) with 65W fast charging.
Additionally, it offers 7.5W reverse wired charging, if you want to use it to top up other devices. What it doesn’t support, however, is wireless charging.
Software
The Nothing Phone (4a) runs on Nothing OS 4.1 on top of Android 16, and it is among the first devices to get this version. If you read many of my reviews of preview Nothing devices, you’ll know that Nothing OS is up there as far as Android skins go.
This time, though, booting it up had Facebook and Instagram pre-installed. Yes, there is now bloatware, but I welcome this level of bloatware. These are apps that I will install anyway, because I use them regularly. And thus, it also means there are fewer apps for me to install from boot up.
Nothing OS 4.1 brings with it some interesting features compared to 4.0, which is the current version on Nothing phones like the flagship Phone (3).
This includes the new Breathing Break widget, which helps with… well, breathing to help give you a brief reset in your day, when things get overwhelming. It also has a more customizable lockscreen, including an exclusive style for the clock and a Depth Effect, to add more style to your lockscreen. Additionally, you can now set the clock size and its alignment.
It also adds a much-awaited AI Eraser to the native Nothing Gallery.
Most of the added features I seldom used, aside from the Depth Effect in the Lockscreen. However, that doesn’t mean that these are not good features to have. Things like the Breathing Break and AI Eraser could come in handy, depending on the person.
Overall, though, Nothing OS is a simple, straightforward UI, and this version has a more polished finish to it. It also adds features that keep up with other operating systems in the market today.
Nothing has also promised three major Android updates and six years of security updates, as far as support goes. It’s not the longest in the market, but I think for a budding company that’s fighting its way up against some of the bigger fish, it’s good enough.
Verdict
The Nothing Phone (4a) is an interesting device. As of writing this, I don’t have the exact pricing of the device and its memory configurations. However, I think it’s the most refined version of the unique and iconic Nothing design. Additionally, the color options go from the classic Black and White to a more playful and eye-catching Blue and Pink.
Does it fare well against other phones in the market, especially in the Philippines? To some extent, it does. I think it’s a pretty good all-arounder, especially if you’re looking for a daily driver that can handle casual gaming and looking for an eye-catching device that can offer decent photos for social media.
That said, though, I think the Nothing Phone (4a) is a good starting point if you’ve had your eyes on the Nothing devices for a while now. I prefer this iteration of the Glyph Interface because it’s a more familiar design, but continues to stand out.
If your budget can manage it, I highly recommend the highest configuration, just for peace of mind, especially if you enjoy taking videos and photos at a higher quality. This, coupled with a couple of games, can easily fill up your device if you opt for the 128GB storage option.
The Nothing Phone (4a) offers a refined Nothing design, which now comes with more playful color options, and the best iteration of Nothing OS so far.
It starts at PHP 21,990 for the 8GB+12GB configuration, and maxes out at PHP 28,990 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage via Digital Walker. And until April 6, you can pre-order the device, and you get freebies, namely:
- 1 Year Extended warranty
- Nothing Phone Stand
- Nothing Phone Lanyard with keychain
- CMF Buds 2
Meanwhile, if you’re interested in learning about the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, you can watch our video below where our Founder and Chief Editor, Gian, shares 4 things he loved about the device.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
