In the run - up to the launch of its new budget - focused Nothing Phone 3a assembling , Nothing ran a video showing how its latest ‘ Pro ’ phone ’s television camera compare well with the much more expensive iPhone 16 professional .
And , while it was misinform in places – particularly equate video capture from the iPhone ’s ultrawide television camera with the primary camera from the Nothing Phone – it did get me thinking : what if it is as good ?
I mean , I ca n’t imagine that it would be , but even if it ’s close to being as good as a £ 1000 phone , that would make it unbelievably good value . So , I pitted theNothing Phone 3a Proagainst theiPhone 16 Proto put the challenge to the test .
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Design
I cogitate it ’s safe to say that when it comes to plan , there ’s no direction you ’d ever jumble these sound for each other . In fact , it ’s very unlikely you ’d confound the Nothing Phone 3a Pro for any other make ’s phone . Its optic - get employment of guileless glass , sit on top of unwrap screw , dots , business and dimpled textures , means it ’s a very singular look .
That ’s only aided further by the Glyph LED lights on the back , which can be used for all manner of things . you’re able to apply them as a torch , or have them show off for notification , or even pulse in meter with any medicine or sound you have play out of the speaker .
The iPhone 16 Pro does have an accessibility selection that lets you flash the television camera light-emitting diode for notifications , but nothing anywhere well-nigh as complex . For some , it ’s a gimmick , for others , it ’s a unique feature that delights .
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As for build materials , waterproofing and durability , this is where you pop to see where the supererogatory money go on the more expensive phones . Nothing ’s telephone set , for instance , has a plastic frame , a Panda Glass airfoil and IP64 water and dust resistance .
That Panda Glass is n’t as scratch- or impact - tolerant as the Ceramic Shield on the iPhone . And IP64 means it can cope with splashes or small contact with piss , but is n’t shit to live on submersion . iPhone ’s been tested to exist down to 6 metres for up to half an hr . And it has a titanium shape , for supply durability .
Stick a seemly pillowcase and a glass screen defender on the Nothing Phone though , and a flock of those worries become null and null . After all , if your screen protector gets damage , you may just exchange it .
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Cameras
photographic camera performance is arguably the most important part of this compare , because the understanding the 3a Pro exist alongside the 3a is that it has better cameras . Specifically , its third television camera – the zoom lense – use a periscope zoom layout to add a 3x zoom equivalent to the television camera system .
On both the primary and extremist - extensive camera , the iPhone has the larger sensor . But while it does offer a greater 5x optical mountain chain , the sensor itself is smaller , and is n’t as pixel - rich .
Here ’s the thing : if you ’re shooting in expert daytime , most phones now do a decent caper of delivering good photos with rich colour , respectable detail and contrast levels . The first matter I noticed was more of a carrying into action matter , in that the Nothing Phone , by comparison , lagged a flake between exhort the shutter button and capturing the exposure .
The last event also appear more pure , with much more vivacious greens and wild blue yonder , specially in landscape . The iPhone ’s upshot are a more quiet and naturalistic - looking involvement .
Nothing ’s also generally seemed to have a wider dynamic compass . The morose parts were darker , and more contrasty , and the brighter parts of the image were brighter , give the pictures quite a vivid overall looking . Textures were n’t as naturalistic or authentic - looking for , but for a sub-£500 phone , the resultant role are telling , at least when looking at the primary tv camera results .
Ultrawide shots tend to fall by towards the edges and have quite ropey - looking particular and a picayune racket .
Similarly , with the zoom television camera , the iPhone ’s is stronger in that you may soar further without fall behind detail .
compare 10x rapid climb and 25x rapid climb , neither is amazing . However , the iPhone does a sound job of holding on to detail , where the Nothing Phone starts to over soften , smoothing out grain and getting into that oil house painting look we ’ve reckon from rapid growth cameras over the past few eld .
10x zoom
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25x zoom
Still , looking at anything from 3x-6x soar , you ’d be hard - push to receive any important weakness in the paradigm delivered by Nothing ’s phone , even compared to the iPhone . There ’s an argument to be made that the grain is a little rough and affected looking , with too much over - sharpening , soften and demarcation .
iPhone delivers stronger solution again , of trend , but again , it more just points to the economic value for money you ’re develop from Nothing . The fact that we ’re splitting hairs over details in photo , and require to expect at photos on a 27 - inch 5 one thousand display to point out details like that , demonstrate that for sharing icon and viewing them on smartphones , it ’s more than good enough .
Even at night time , using their respective night modes , it was hard to separate them . Neither ultrawide tv camera was particularly stiff , but there was quite a big dispute between the solution from Nothing ’s ultrawide and its other two cameras , in that it was always quite a lot darker .
The iPhone was more uniform here , but oftentimes because iPhone ’s night mode only comes on when it decides it ’s ask . The Nothing Phone was more consistent in this respect . In some aspect , it even drew in more spark than the iPhone , arguably making the scene look a bit too bright , but telling however .
The iPhone ’s rapid growth was unassailable again , but that ’s no real surprisal . I think what is a surprisal is I ’d happily utilize the Nothing phone in pretty much any stipulation and be relatively glad with the result .
switch to scud TV , it shows exchangeable weaknesses compare to the more expensive phone , perhaps even amplifies them to make it more obvious . Colours are a little off , over - saturate , and sinister details look a turn crushed and rough . likewise , the stabilisation when moving is n’t quite as effective as the iPhone ’s .
Performance
As far as raw everyday public presentation goes , there ’s no existent contest between these earphone . Because , of course , there is n’t .
Apple ’s Pro - level chipsets are among the most powerful available and make light work of really demand chore , whether that ’s on - machine AI job , shooting high - timber television and audio recording , or churning through really demanding games and apps . Arguably , it ’s in this area you ’ll see the most meaning differences between amid - range phoneand a top - of - the - billet example .
I will say this , though ; I ’ve been perfectly happy using the Nothing Phone 3a as a casual telephone .
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For every day casual role that ’s not particularly ask – whether that ’s browsing , day of reckoning scrolling , getting hook in an endless feed of short videos , playing the odd casual secret plan or what sapping with friends – you ’re not going to notice all that much of a performance jump by spending £ 500 or so more .
But if practicality is your basal focus , the electric battery lifespan on the Nothing Phone 3a Pro , generally speaking , seemed stronger than that of the iPhone . There was n’t a Brobdingnagian amount in it , but the Nothing Phone is n’t far off being a two - Clarence Day phone for me . I ’m quite a tripping user , with seldom more than 3 minute of screen prison term a daytime though , so your fuel consumption rate might vary .
Screen
Now , while there is a difference in display size , resolution and color , the one big thing that stand out to me while I was out burgeon forth photograph and television in burnished conditions outdoors was that the display on the Nothing phone was pretty difficult to see . The iPhone ’s screenland was much brighter in contrast , making lining up shot and framing far easier .
The thing that stands out most when watching video side by side indoors is that the colours on the Nothing Phone are far more pure in its default setting . This makes everything pop on screen , but not seem as natural or naturalistic as the color or textures on the iPhone display .
flip the display to the criterion , less vivacious mood , and the conflict are n’t as obvious . It ’s still a slight warm in places , but it ’s not spoilt at all . It still has that signified at times that detail and texture are a tiny bit off , looking a lilliputian bit grainy in lieu , but I could only see that if I look pretty closely .
It is , of course , also larger . If you want a larger - screened iPhone , there ’s always theiPhone 16 Pro Max , which would cost you even more , but also give you that longer - live on barrage too .
Software
What I care the most about Nothing ’s headphone , however , is the software package . It ’s got that right balance between being bloat - complimentary and not just being very customisable , but easy to customise .
If I want to install and apply a third - party icon coterie to completely change the look of my Home Screen I can , just by tapdance and hold the Home Screen , and select to use one of my downloaded icon packs .
For those curious , the one I ’m using here is call Crispy . It ’s on the Play Store , and it ’s my absolute ducky .
But more than that , Nothing OS has some very useful and commodious widgets that are themed to match the retro minimalist software program aesthetical . There ’s a neat calendar thingmajig with a varlet turn activity when there ’s a novel Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . The music widget , which you’re able to bug to trifle and interruption , and which demonstrate album art , is also bang-up . There ’s even a Do Not Disturb toggle widget to quickly switch DND modal value on .
Essential Space is reasonably coolheaded too . It ’s in effect an AI - powered screenshots app , which can practice the screen catch you take with the Essential button to see what ’s in those pictures and even lets you record part mark alongside them and rig monitor . It ’s great if you ’re often forget stuff .
Verdict
In the ending , clearly – I do n’t think Nothing ever thought its Pro theoretical account was actually a care - for - similar competitor to the iPhone 16 Pro . And we all knew that before comparing them in more contingent .
That said , I cerebrate what this comparison present is that mid - range speech sound are dear than they have been in the past , to the power point where they deliver a good enough experience to keep most masses happy .
Beyond some lagginess in the camera , I ’ve been dead happy to utilise the Nothing Phone 3a Pro as my daily phone , and while there are other speech sound of a similar Mary Leontyne Price with more knock-down processors , I think when it comes to overall experience , it strike the correct counterbalance between software , tv camera operation and computer hardware design . It ’s a great all - rounder .
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When a company is laser - focused on the right parts of the phone experience , and pays attention to the humble detail even on a tinny phone , it makes a departure . It ’s certainly very different to most other fairly smooth phones in its price range .
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