Nothing takes a distinct tack with its cellphone sequence. For the second time in a row, its midrange entry-level A-series smartphones debuted forward of its subsequent flagship gadget. The corporate has even warned that we received’t be getting the Nothing Telephone 4 till subsequent 12 months. Till then, the Telephone 4a Professional is right here to make an impression, with a extra restrained design, a much less obtrusive digicam bump and specs that beat out final 12 months’s Nothing Telephone 3 — all for $499. In 2026, Nothing is actually aiming to dethrone the Pixel 10a.
{Hardware}
It’s a brand new look. That’s usually the case with Nothing’s smartphones as the corporate usually reimagines or rejigs what you possibly can see by the clear again panel. This 12 months, nonetheless, Nothing is making larger adjustments: that is its first metallic (aluminum) unibody cellphone.
With a brand new periscope telephoto digicam design, the jarringly thick digicam bump of final 12 months’s Telephone 3a Professional is fortunately gone, leading to a slice of smartphone that feels — and to some, appears to be like — extra premium and extra refined than Nothing’s “flagship” Telephone 3.
Nonetheless, in comparison with the Nothing telephones that got here earlier than, it additionally feels muted, and a little bit protected. The playfulness of Nothing has been hemmed in a little bit. You may desire it, however I’m unsure I do.
These identifiable Nothing design thrives — pink particulars, seen screens, heaps and many circles — are actually squeezed right into a digicam panel. This rectangular space with curved corners homes a trio of cameras, a “Now Recording” pink gentle and a tweaked Glyph Matrix, which we final noticed on the Nothing Telephone 3.
This new Glyph Matrix is larger and brighter, however at a decrease “decision,” that’s product of 137 mini-LEDs. That’s fewer than the Nothing Telephone 3’s 489-strong dot-matrix, however the LEDs listed here are one hundred pc brighter. So vibrant, in actual fact, that I needed to flip them all the way down to their lowest brightness after I was utilizing them.The 4a Professional, nonetheless, lacks the rear button on the Telephone 3 that permits you to cycle by Glyph capabilities. Does this imply the corporate has made it simple to modify between Glyph toys and notifications within the cellphone’s UI? Sadly not.
You may dip into the Glyph choices by the principle settings menu, however to alter what the Glyph shows is hidden in a sub-tab. I additionally seen that the providing of “toys” was restricted, with fewer gadgets than even the Nothing Telephone 3 had at launch. Hopefully, it will broaden as soon as the cellphone formally launches.
The 4a Professional packs a much bigger display than the corporate’s flagship, with a 6.83-inch AMOLED display operating at 1.5K decision. It additionally has a better refresh price than the 6.67-inch Telephone 3. And on prime of that, the Telephone 4a Professional’s show has a peak brightness of 5,000 nits, making it Nothing’s brightest smartphone but.
I’ve dealt with so many telephones during the last 4 weeks that it’s usually onerous to discern the distinction between brighter shows. Happily, I’ve the Nothing Telephone 3 (and 3a Professional) to check towards the Telephone 4a Professional. It’s noticeably brighter, and as we slowly get into sunnier climate, a smartphone that’s simpler to learn outside is at all times very welcome.
The Telephone 4a Professional additionally has improved IP65 water and dirt resistance, whereas Nothing says it's 42 % extra bend-resistant than the Telephone 3a Professional as effectively. It’s additionally nearly 0.5mm thinner, should you ignore the digicam bump for these measurements. Issue that in and the Telephone 4a Professional is sort of 1.5mm thinner than its predecessor. This design change additionally makes Nothing’s latest cellphone really feel far much less top-heavy than the 3a Professional. Whatever the aesthetic adjustments, that is unmistakably refined {hardware}.
Cameras
Moreover the streamlined digicam unit, with a brand new tetraprism periscopic lens that takes up much less area, the Telephone 4a Professional has improved imaging capabilities (nearly) throughout the board. The brand new 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens (which Nothing says additionally makes use of much less energy) has a 3.5x optical zoom, plus computational pictures magic that may now crank it as much as a (largely unusable) 140x hybrid zoom.
The principle 50MP sensor additionally contains a larger sensor for improved low-light efficiency. With an f/1.88 lens although, it doesn’t fairly match the Telephone 3’s fundamental digicam (f/1.68), each on paper and in follow. The array is rounded out with an 8MP ultrawide digicam, which sounds just like the weakest hyperlink, however I hardly ever use the ultrawide cameras on any cellphone except for assessment testing. Oddly, the selfie digicam is a technical downgrade in decision, with a 32MP sensor on the 4a Professional, down from 50MP on the 3a Professional.
One new addition was co-developed by Google. Extremely XDR blends Android’s native HDR processing with Nothing’s personal strategy, capturing 13 RAW frames at totally different exposures and mixing them to ship better dynamic vary and element. Nonetheless, as proof of how new they’re, your Extremely XDR photos can’t be shared as simply. They do work with Google Images and Instagram, a minimum of. If it’s any comfort, Extremely XDR to this point doesn’t appear vastly far-off from typical HDR seize. I’ll maintain testing the cameras and if I work out the place it actually shines, I’ll replace this assessment.
If one factor disappoints on the 4a Professional, it’s recording video. Switching between zoom ranges will usually utterly derail publicity settings. Even should you report on a single digicam on the identical focal size, publicity ranges appear extraordinarily delicate and battle to remain locked. Footage is commonly muddy and low-light efficiency isn’t nice, even when utilizing the Extremely XDR video mode. You aren’t compelled to endure this with the Pixel 10a, however then once more, there’s no zoom on Google’s mid-range cellphone — only a lossless crop. In additional forgiving lighting, video is sufficient, however high quality drops off past the three.5x optical zoom. Nonetheless, the flexibility and high quality of the nonetheless photos from each the principle digicam and the telephoto lens put it above each different smartphone at this value.
Efficiency and software program
The Telephone 4a Professional is now powered by a extra succesful processor: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. Nothing claims that, along with its personal on-device optimizations, it improved CPU efficiency by 27 %, GPU efficiency by 30 % and AI efficiency by 65 % in comparison with the Telephone 3a sequence.
There’s definitely an enormous distinction in efficiency whereas gaming. Whereas the 3a sequence struggled with extra advanced video games, the 4a Professional stored up with Crimson Lifeless Redemption and Diablo Immortal. It’s not essentially the most polished interpretation of Decard Cain and the lands of Sanctuary, nevertheless it's responsive and playable, even at 60 fps, with only some body drops.
The Telephone 4a has a 5,080mAh battery, roughly equal to its predecessor. It helps as much as 50W quick charging, a tad sooner than the Pixel 10a, although it lacks wi-fi charging assist, in contrast to Google’s midranger. It’s one of many few indicators that this isn’t Nothing’s “true” flagship, even when it appears to be like the half.
I used to be pleasantly stunned by the battery life, too. Sometimes, telephones are getting more and more larger batteries, however as I discussed, that’s not the case right here.. Nonetheless, the 4a Professional lasted 24 hours in our battery rundown check, 5 hours greater than final 12 months’s mannequin.
The Telephone 4a Professional has all of the software program options both current or teased in older Nothing Telephones. Important Search is a system-wide search that may discover phrases in messages, recordsdata and the remainder of your cellphone. There’s additionally a brand new Respiration Break widget; we positively want that in 2026.
Important Reminiscence is Nothing’s identify for its background algorithms and evaluation, scrutinizing your cellphone’s contents in addition to no matter’s saved in Important Area. Nothing has added cloud storage for Area, aimed toward devoted upgraders, that means every part you saved on older appropriate Nothing telephones could be transferred over. Certain, it’s a little bit area of interest, nevertheless it was an early frustration whereas testing the Telephone 3 after the 3a sequence. If, for some motive, you need to reset your gadget, preserving every part in Area backed up elsewhere is a boon.
Additionally, whereas it’s technically a {hardware} tweak, Nothing has additionally moved the Important Key to the left fringe of the cellphone, making it far much less prone to be triggered once you’re adjusting the amount and extra in keeping with different telephones and my very own smartphone muscle reminiscence.
One caveat from earlier Nothing units stays. The corporate says it should ship three years of Android updates and an extra three years of safety patches. Evaluate that to Samsung’s seven years of Android updates for this 12 months’s S26 sequence (and Google’s Pixel 10a), and you may see the way it falls brief.
Wrap-up
The Telephone 4a Professional punches effectively above its $499 price ticket. Nothing has efficiently refined its {hardware} right into a extra premium, all-metal unibody, shedding the jarring digicam bump of its predecessor in favor of a smooth design that homes a genuinely spectacular digicam. The improved digicam versatility, coupled with its class-leading 24-hour battery life and a extra succesful processor, makes this a critical menace to the Pixel 10a.
Nonetheless, a few of Nothing's signature playfulness has been dialed again. The Glyph Matrix, whereas brighter, is lower-resolution and its “toys” are disappointingly restricted at launch. The shortage of wi-fi charging is one other nod to its midrange standing.
Nothing’s Telephone 4a Professional is a tool with a transparent id, delivering on the necessities for half the value of many rivals.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cell/smartphones/nothing-phone-4a-pro-review-glyph-matrix-130042005.html?src=rss