Friends, today I’ve brought you a review that’s a bit different. This time, I did an experiment — a full 30-day real-world experience with the Nothing Phone 3A. Every little detail I felt while using this phone, I’m going to share with you in this blog.
If you’re wondering whether to buy this phone or not, or if you just want to know what’s special or weak in terms of its design, display, performance, battery, camera, software, and connectivity, then bro, this blog is just for you. Like a true friend, I’ll tell you everything honestly, without hiding a thing.
So let’s begin with the design, where every phone makes its first impression.
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Design
The phone’s design is unique, but it feels a bit bulky. When it’s in your pocket while riding a bike, it can feel uncomfortable. It comes with plastic side frames and a glass back, which makes it feel a bit heavy — the weight is around 205-210g.
There’s Panda Glass protection, but honestly, it feels a little soft. If you keep it in your pocket with keys or coins, scratches are bound to happen. In my 30 days of use, I noticed scratches in the middle and on the top of the phone. It has an IP64 rating, but at this price range, there are options with IP69, so it feels a bit average.
There’s also an extra button called the Essential Button — I’ll talk more about it later. But yes, the quality of the ports and buttons is good. If I had to rate the design overall, I’d give it 8 out of 10.
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Display
The Nothing Phone 3A has a large display — a 6.77-inch Full HD+ panel. With a 120Hz refresh rate and 1300 nits brightness, this display is perfect for outdoor readability. Even in bright sunlight, icons and text appear clearly.
But there’s one major issue — proper HDR support is missing. It doesn’t work on Netflix at all, and on YouTube, HDR videos cause stuttering, as if the UI is slowing down. So technically, it has HDR, but using it isn’t enjoyable.
Swiping your finger on the display feels very smooth. If you want lower brightness at night, just turn on the “Extra Dim” mode in the settings — it’s quite useful, especially for Gen Z. Overall, the display experience is great, but the HDR support is missing. Rating: 8 out of 10.
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Performance
The phone comes with the Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 processor, along with 8GB RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. There are no issues in daily use — the UI is smooth, and scrolling is fluid. But RAM management is quite weak. Within 15-20 minutes, background apps close, and you have to reopen them. This impacts performance.
Talking about gaming, BGMI runs at 90FPS, and Genshin Impact at 53-54FPS. Thermals are handled decently too. But in this price range, phones from iQOO and OnePlus offer better performance.
UFS 2.2 is a major downside. In this segment, you now see UFS 3.1 or even 4.0. So for long-term usage, this phone might feel a bit slow. Many users will be disappointed because of the storage type. If it had UFS 3.1, I’d give it an 8.5 rating. But with the current setup, the Rating: 7 out of 10.
Camera Feature
The rear camera setup includes a 50MP primary sensor, a 50MP 2x telephoto, and an 8MP ultrawide. The ultrawide sensor feels soft in quality, with visible color shifts — better to just ignore it. However, the 50MP primary sensor has shown a lot of improvement. Flare issues have been reduced, HDR has improved, and subject exposure is better.
Portraits at 2x zoom look really good — edge detection is sharp, and skin tones are realistic. You also get custom photo presets to tweak based on your style.
Selfies come out naturally and well-balanced. Low-light photos are decent, but nothing exceptional. Video recording is quite limited — only 4K 30FPS on the primary sensor and 1080p on the selfie camera. 4K isn’t supported on the 2x telephoto. Overall, there’s definitely improvement in the camera, but it’s just slightly above average. Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Battery & Charging
Nothing Phone 3A has a 5000mAh battery, but it doesn’t deliver much output based on usage. Different members of our team used it and the maximum screen-on time we got was about 6.5 hours. Even in casual use, performance was average. Officially, it claims 8+ hours, but we didn’t get that.
There’s no adapter in the box — another negative point. With a good PD charger, it takes about 52-53 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%. Battery rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Nothing Phone 3A Software
Nothing Phone 3A OS honestly feels like a fresh and clean UI. The widget implementation is thoughtful — you get a lot of customization options on the lock screen and home screen. The Smart Drawer feature also felt useful.
In the Quick Panel, you can resize tiles, and the widgets are helpful — like call recorder, DND, hotspot, etc. Glyph lighting felt like a novelty feature — exciting at first, but gets ignored after a few days.
The Essential Button is still a bit confusing — it’s used for screenshots and voice notes. But it has a lot of potential that’s not being utilized yet.
Software updates are coming regularly, with a promise of 3 years of major updates and 6 years of security updates. Most bugs have been fixed. Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Connectivity & Audio
In terms of connectivity, you get 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC. But we did notice a 5G to 4G switching issue — after some time, the phone would switch to 4G on its own. Hopefully, this gets fixed in an update.
The multimedia experience is average — the speaker is loud, but the quality is just okay. The display is good, but due to the lack of HDR support, it feels like a bit of a compromise. Overall multimedia rating: 7.5 out of 10.
For more information, Nothing Phone 3A Official Website
Conclusion
If you’re an adventurous, tech-savvy user who loves exploring new things and enjoys widgets and UI customization, then the Nothing Phone 3A might be the right choice for you.
But if gaming, performance, and long-term usage are your priorities, then things like UFS 2.2 and the missing adapter might bother you. The camera is slightly above average, but not flagship level.
My overall rating would be 7.5 out of 10. This phone is best suited for students, Gen Z, and users who value casual usage along with a focus on UI and design.
