Striking design meets mature product choices in the new Nothing mid-ranger

It’s a recurring problem with most mid-range phones – that they blur into one another after a while, with commoditised hardware and barely differentiated experiences. Nothing has spent the past few years trying to break that monotony, and the Phone (4a) continues that mission with its signature transparent design, aesthetic Glyph lighting and focus on clean software.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a very Nothing vibe to the Phone (4a) – a transparent, glossy glass rear with a pill-shaped camera module surrounded by an aluminum plate, and an all-new Glyph Bar (with 63 tiny LEDs set in six separate panels) for notifications, call alerts, volume indication, timers and progress tracking – all of the benefits of the earlier Glyph Lights with none of the controversy that surrounded the design of the Nothing Phone (3). In use, the Glyph Bar is easier to interpret for first time users, even more so than the curved lines used in previous Nothing devices. There’s even a red LED to let folks know you’re recording video or using the Essential Space app. 

Around the front is a 6.78-inch Gorilla Glass 7i-protected 1.5K AMOLED display that switches between 30-120Hz and offers HDR10+ support and 1600/800 nits of outdoor/typical brightness – a solid panel to consume content on, although it has the unintended effect of making the (4a) a large phone to pocket and use. 

Using it as a daily driver for close to two weeks, the phone was smooth to use for daily tasks and even for FPS gaming for short durations, credit for which goes to Nothing OS 4.1 atop Android 16 and the ever-reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 4 with either 8GB and 128/256GB or 12GB/256GB of memory and storage. Nothing OS is still refreshingly clean and free from unnecessary clutter, and the AI tools are focused on Essential Space, its hub to capture and organize your notes, screenshots and files. Keeping the (4a) humming is a 5,400mAh battery with 50W wired fast charging, which does well to last past 6 hours of screen time but let’s face it, its peers are nudging past 7000mAh batteries.

On cameras, the (4a) sees Nothing upgrading the setup with a 3.5x periscope lens on the 50MP telephoto, a 50MP GN9 primary sensor for the main camera, and an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. In daylight, the primary sensor delivers well on colors but lacked in detail, whereas the ultrawide boosted saturation for more social media friendly images. Portraits are where the (4a) excels, with the telephoto producing accurate skin tones and good subject separation. 

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs. 31,999 onwards

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