Nothing Phone 3a Lite Review: The Best Mid-Range Design

Nothing is continuously expanding its holdings in India under the name of something called ‘Nothing’. The CMF sub-brand, which cares for the budget segment, is our own and ‘a’ series (the mid-range and premium segment) are also part of our line-up; number series. Yet it did not leave customers with a significant gap between CMF and Nothing-branded smartphones. This was sorted out by the brand, which launched its first-level ‘a’ series smartphone with The Nothing Phone 3an Prolite launch. New handset costs Rs. A total of 20,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model is 20.9, and an 8gb + 256gps cost Rs. 22,999999. Does it really make sense to go for the Nothing Phone 3a Lite in 2025? Let’s try and figure out what this is.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Design: Slim and Transparent

• Dimensions – 164 x 78 x 8.3mm
• Weight – 199g
• Colours – White and Black

The Nothing Phone 3a Lite is available in black and white colour options.

This is the design tradition of Nothing Phone 3a Lite, which has been known as The Nothing phone. It’s the same iconic transparent back panel and Glyph interface as on other smartphones that are not branded with Nothing, so you get it. There are two colours Black and White. For the review I got the White colour option, and it sure looks premium – but for the most part black colour is more minimalistic. I would have preferred the Black colour option over the white one for me, but it all boils down to personal preference.

A panda glass-like transparent black panel is protected by Panda Glass, and you get a 3-inspired camera module from the Nothing Phone at the top-left corner. flat, the back is flat and protruding camera sensor does not cause it to wiggle on top of the flat surface. The weight distribution is good, and you will not feel top-heavy (as with many smartphone apps).

The handset features black-coloured buttons, which adds a good look overall.

It is good to say that the frame is made of aluminium, and you also receive an IP54 rating. The rating can be slightly underwhelming, as the competition offers much more ingress protection at the same price point. It is a decent button placement on both sides of . The right side has a power on/off button and dedicated Essential Key, while the left is volume controls. They can be easily reached buttons that provide a good tactile feedback and are easy to reach.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Display: Vibrant and Colourful

• Display – 6.77-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display
• Refresh Rate – 120Hz adaptive screen refresh rate
• Other Features – 480Hz touch sampling rate, Panda Glass protection, HDR10+, 3,000nits peak brightness

A 6 is pictured in the Nothing Phone 3a Lite, which has a . FULL HHD+ AMOLED 10-bit display 77-inch Full HD+ Display Similarly, you get 120Hz of adaptive screen refresh rate, 1000Hz touch sampling rate (3,000nits peak brightness), and more. Panda glass guards against the display, which is protected from .

The Nothing Phone 3a Lite features a 6.77-inch 1.5K pOLED display.

The display is similar to the one in the CMF Phone 2 Pro, that was shown at this time, said. That is the same as that of the CMF one you get a good AMOLED screen in this price point.

The flat display gives rich colours, and you can also change the colour profiles in the displays settings using Alive and Normal modes. Default Alive mode is enabled, and colours appear brighter in the ALive mode. This is interesting because the phone also has HDR10+ certification, which allows you to watch hdr material on Netflix and YouTube.

A nice touch The 120Hz screen refresh rate can now run all the time next, a cool step up from . This makes scrolls and swipes feel significantly more responsive than they are, as is the case with . Also, the brightness is higher; it will not be a problem to use it in direct sunshine.

The handset offers an AMOLED display, which is vibrant and crisp.

It also has a fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen that works quickly and reliably with accuracy. That said, the only thing that makes the experience less fun is mono speaker configuration. That’s just a small blow for in 2025, as other companies of the same price range are offering better sound quality. The speaker is a good down-firing speaker, but not as good as I thought it would be.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Software: Minimalistic and Customisable

• Software – Nothing OS 3.5
• Version – Android 15
• Updates Promised – 3 Years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches

The newer edition of Nothing OS 3 is a version of the Everything Phone 3a Lite, which runs the nothing phone. Android 15 based 5, which is. But more importantly, this is the first smartphone that comes with third-party apps pre-installed in its Nothing-branded smartphone. But that’s not as bloated as some user interfaces are in this price range, for example, it isn’t the way does. Facebook and Instagram are two apps you can delete on your smartphone if you have . The lock screen is also a disabled option for Glance, which can be turned off again and you get it on the lock.

The handset runs on NothingOS 3.5, which is based on the Android 15 operating system.

That said, “the user interface is still minimalistic and easy to use.” In your Phone 3a Lite you can choose the standard and Dot Matrix layouts. The user interface for the Nothing Phone 3a Pro has already been discussed by we; you can see it here.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Performance: Not a Powerhouse, But Still Gets the Job Done

• Processor – MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro
• Memory – 8GB LPDDR4X
• Storage – Up to 256GB UFS 2.2

The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro processor, which also includes in the CMF Phone 2 Pro, is used to power the Nothing Phone 3a Lite. A microSD card slot allows you to expand 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB internal storage, which is also available. You can read here I have compiled some of the most real-world tests on the new Nothing device with similarly expensive smartphones.

| Benchmarks | Nothing Phone 3a Lite | Poxo X7 Pro | CMF Phone 2 Pro | OnePlus Nord CE5 |
| — | — | — | — | — |
| Display resolution | FHD+ | FHD+ | FHD+ | FHD+ |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro | Dimensity 8400 Ultra (4nm) | MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro | Dimensity 8350 Ultimate (4nm) |
| AnTuTu v10 | 9,50,898 | 16,02,933 | 6,91,275 | 14,12,373 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 11,662 | 14,628 | 12,102 | 13,435 |
| Geekbench 6 Single | 1018 | 1,549 | 1,013 | 1,317 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 2993 | 6,216 | 2,928 | 3,989 |
| Geekbench AI CPU (Quantised) | 2076 | NA | NA | NA |
| Geekbench AI GPU (Quantised) | 580 | NA | NA | NA |
| 3DM Wild Life | 3139 | Maxed Out | 3,148 | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 3145 | 13,102 | 3,148 | 11,038 |
| 3DM Steel Nomad Light | NA | NA | NA | NA |

You will not suffer much in daily use of or lag. Scrolling through Reels or Shorts, reading some cool blog on Chrome and just browsing Amazon, the phone is not stuttery at all. For a fairness, the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro is not one of the best performers in this segment but it doesn’t also be behind the competition.

The handset is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro processor.

It also has the ability to handle major titles such as BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile, but you need to keep settings low so that it doesn’t get lag. That’s a great job of keeping cool, and it didn’t get hot over the whole gaming session,” said .

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Cameras: Mixed Bag

• Rear – 50-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture + 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens + 2-megapixel macro sensor
• Front – 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture

The Nothing Phone 3a Lite features a triple-camera setup on the rear panel.

Quite different from CMF Phone 2 Pro, which is the triple-camera setup on the rear panel of The Nothing Phone 3a Lite. Although this is the same 50-megapixel primary sensor in the Phone 2 Pro, it has a telephoto sensor that’s already missing on this smartphone but still does not appear on the phone. In the reintroduction, the brand has added a 2-megapixel macro lens instead of its predecessor.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite daylight camera samples taken using the primary lens. (Tap to Open)

The Nothing Phone 3a Lite primary camera does far better than average when it comes to the performance, taking pictures. You can get a lot of contrasts, but the dynamic range is limited. Colours look fine but in some cases they seem a bit muted, although s are good.

The phone does not have a telephoto sensor, but you get ‘2x digital zoom’ option. But it does exactly the same thing, and in some cases you might see a bit of softness and upscaling by the algorithm.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite daylight camera samples taken using a wide-angle lens. (Tap to Open)

wide-angle lens, which is well enough to be a good fit for . Sensor photos showed slightly warmer tones, while the colours were slightly washed out. It is a good macro sensor, and you can click good photos.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite low-light camera samples. (Tap to Open)

In low light, the results are more or less same in . The main sensor takes normal photos during the testing period, and is used to test for . They kept the colours but you still can hear some background noise. It also had a good performance at the wide-angle sensor, which was well done with okayish performance. The colours were slightly better than daylight, but the details were not available, said.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Battery: Decent

• Battery Capacity – 5,000mAh
• Wired Charging – 33W SuperVOOC
• Charger – 33W (Included in Box)

It has an 5,000-mAh battery for the Nothing Phone 3a Lip 5G. The battery life of the phone is less than a typical day with moderate to normal use, according in . Power users If you have one full day of battery backup, then you can get it quickly.”

The handset packs a 5,000mAh battery, which can last one full day with moderate usage.

During the PC Mark Work 3, the phone was 18 hours and 21 minutes long. Is 0 Battery Life test, good for the price range, decent? The phone has also a 33W fast charging system, although the brand does not ship the charging brick. I got 0 to 53 percent in 30 minutes with 75W GaN charger, 1 hour and 10 minutes to charge 100 percent.

Nothing Phone 3a Lite Verdict

Ultimately, the company’s attempt to bridge its CMF and number series with the Nothing Phone 3a Lite is a good attempt by the firm to complete this effort. But when it comes to the overall experience, that product appears as a mixed bag. Despite the design still being notable, however it has surely made its recall value known to customers. A sharp and vibrant display will make you enjoy binge-watching on this smartphone, with a keen interest in the displays.

It is a good performance for the money, and battery life is good.’ has been described as having ‘good performances at reasonable cost’ Clean user interface, and one of my favourite UI of 2025 is the clean user Interface that I use. Yet the quality of camera is good to be honest, so for example, you will find more a similar model models with better price ranges that pay way higher and have much better performance on cameras. Will the likes of Poco X7 Pro (Review), OnePlus Nord CE5 (review) Motorola G67 Power (Rview, and more heat will be coming to the phone.