Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review – Budget phone with distinctive style

The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is the first ever Lite phone in their line-up and aims to combine a number of features from its higher end siblings to offer as much bang for the buck as possible.

We managed to get our hands on a sample for field testing ahead of its local launch in Malaysia and after taking it for a spin, here’s our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review where we share its virtues and shortcomings and if it is worth what you pay for.

 Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review –  Build and Design

In terms of build and design, our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review sample bears the aesthetic hallmarks of a Nothing phone design with a busy looking backplate that resembles etched circuitry covered by a protective slab of Panda Glass that also protects the front display. That’s not all, the phone is also rated for IP54 dust and splash protection. While it isn’t as robust as the IP68 or IP69 ratings seen in many competing designs, it’s sufficient for most urban usage scenarios.

Rather than the elaborate lighting seen in higher end designs, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite only has a single rounded white LED light glyph that flashes in distinct patterns as a concession to cost. Beyond that, you get a triple camera array wedged in the corner along with an LED flash. To its credit, the phone does look rather distinctive compared to competing designs and it also has a few additional features too.

The right side of the phone hosts a power button as well as an Essential key that acts as a direct shortcut to the phone’s note taking app while the left side of the phone hosts a volume rocker. The base of our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review sample has a single USB-C charging port and a grille for the speaker as well as a SIM card tray.

Up front, you have a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution with a tiny slit that acts as an earpiece and speaker. You also get a punch hole that houses a single 16MP selfie camera.

While the phone and its framework is quite obviously plastic, it held up well in regular use without any creaking or bending and the phone had a nice, even heft to it. One unfortunate quibble though is the odd placement of the Essential key that is placed where a power button would normally be which resulted in quite a few mistakes when muscle memory kicked in. 

@hitechcentury We get a firsthand look and unbox the new Nothing Phone (3a) Lite that has just been launched in Malaysia! #hitechcentury #nothingphone3alite #learnontiktok ♬ Vlog ・ Stylish city pop(1275391) – orino

Out of the box, the phone ships with a protective case and a USB-C cable along with the requisite SIM eject pin but alas, it doesn’t ship with a charger.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review – Performance and Benchmarks

In terms of hardware, our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review unit came with a midrange MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro with a 5G modem, 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. You can also assign up to 8GB off the onboard storage as virtual RAM with 2GB assigned as default out of the box. 

At a glance, the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro 5G is an octa-core processor intended for mid-range phones, built on a 4nm process with a maximum clock speed of 2.5 GHz. It shares most of its specifications with the standard Dimensity 7300 chipset though there is little official literature as to what improvements it has that differentiate it from its stock sibling.

The phone runs Android 15 out of the box overlaid with their own Nothing OS 3.5 that has very distinct, highly stylised looking icons done up in monochromatic colours that look admittedly perplexing until you use the phone for a couple of weeks and get used to how it looks. You can also opt for the traditional Android aesthetic with app icons in their original colours.

Here’s how our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review unit stacks up on paper:

 

Price	RM1,199
Display	6.77-inch AMOLED, FHD+ (1080 x 2,392 pixels), 120Hz refresh rate, 2,160Hz PWM, 3,000 nits peak brightness
Processor	MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro 5G
OS	Android 15 w/ Nothing OS 3.5
Memory	8GB RAM / 256GB storage + microSD card
Cameras	50MP f/1.9 w/ OIS, 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle, 2MP macro camera [rear] / 16MP f/2.5 [front]
Battery	5,000mAh w/ 33W wired charging
Size/Weight	164 x 78 x 8.3mm / 199g

With the default 2GB of virtual RAM, here’s how the phone fared in synthetic benchmarks:

3D Mark Steel Nomad Light		348
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light Unlimited		458
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme		853
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited		847
Geekbench 6 Single Core		1012
Geekbench 6 Multi Core		2,924
Geekbench 6 OpenCL		2,503
Geekbench 6 Vulkan		2,503
PCMark Work Performance score		11,834
PCMark Battery life		16 hours 4 mins

In terms of benchmarks, our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review sample offered comparable performance with the Dimensity 7300+ chipset used in a model from a competing brand with benchmarks that fall within a similar statistical range. In general, the Dimensity 7300 Pro is a power-efficient, capable chipset capable of tackling day to day tasks expected of a phone and all but the most demanding games and tasks.

Under stress tests, the phone also has similar outcomes to a Dimensity 7300+ chipset with a 98.9% stability rating in the Steel Nomad Light Stress Test along with heat kept to about 35℃ to 37℃.

In practical field tests, the phone managed to tackle Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile on default settings and while it got a bit warm, it wasn’t hot to the point of it cooking off or noticeable performance throttling. 

The AMOLED display offers up vibrant hues and smooth animations onscreen with fair clarity under direct sunlight, especially seeing its price range. The sole mono speaker at the base does the job, with good volume that lets you crank it up to maximum without distortion but sound staging is understandably modest at best as there’s only one channel to output audio from.

Performance aside, the single Glyph light at the base does allow for some modest level of customisation with the ability to select different LED flashing and vibration patterns so that you can easily identify who is calling.

Another feature of Nothing OS is the addition of an Essential space that lets you save screen shots and voice memos and also assign reminders as needed. While it does have its uses, its utility is rather situational and works best with prolific note takers. 

Overall battery life is decent and the phone has enough juice to last a full day’s worth of general use though your mileage will be considerably less if you max out the brightness and go all in with nonstop gaming.

The lack of a bundled charger is irksome but odds are you’ll likely have a compatible 33W charger lying about. From dead zero, the phone can get a full charge in about an hour and 10 minutes which is fairly decent.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review – cameras

For imaging duties, our Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review sample comes with a modest but well-rounded setup built around a 50MP primary camera that has optical image stabilisation paired with an 8MP ultrawide angle camera. Rounding things off as an afterthought is a 2MP macro camera.

Combined, this setup allows for up to 10x zoom for stills and up to 4K@30fps video capture with up to 6x zoom. Up front, you have a single 16MP camera for selfies that can also take up to 1080p@60fps video.

In good lighting conditions and if you stick to below 2x zoom, you’re able to get surprisingly decent results with the main rear 50MP camera, with shots retaining a fair level of detail and colour and consistency between the main and ultra wide angle camera.

Shots in low light are surprisingly decent with fair retention of detail and colour for its price range though there are noticeable differences between the main and ultrawide angle camera especially in low light with the ultra wider camera offering dimmer images and more muted colours. Videos at 4K@30fps are serviceable but aren’t remarkable. 

The front selfie camera is decent for mugshots but does its best work in brightly lit conditions. If you bear in mind its modest asking price and keep your expectations modest, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite ‘s cameras are more than sufficient to tackle day to day imaging scenarios. However, content creators will likely need to explore more capable options.

Should you buy the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite?

The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is a unique looking midrange phone with a distinctive monochromatic design, a novel Glyph light and a decent set of hardware that’s sufficient for the majority of users.

While rivals offer stereo speakers, more robust dust and water resistance and other features, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite remains appealing on account of its uniquely minimalist design language and modest price point. If you find Nothing’s aesthetic appealing, this acts as an affordable way to get in on the ground floor.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite review sample courtesy of Nothing Malaysia. For more details, please visit https://my.nothing.tech/