Nothing launched the Phone (3a) Lite, the company’s third smartphone in the Phone 3a series, in India this week. The new model features a similar display, processor and processor as the CMF Phone 2 Pro, but comes with a glass back, doesn’t have a telephoto camera and also adds a tiny glyph light on the back. Is this a good buy in the Rs. 20,000 price range? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Display, Hardware and Design |
| Camera |
| Software, UI and Apps |
| Fingerprint sensor |
| Music player and Multimedia |
| SIM and Connectivity |
| Performance and Benchmarks |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- Nothing Phone (3a) Lite 8GB + 256GB in White
- USB Type-C to C cable
- Clear protective case
- SIM ejector tool
- User manual
Display, Hardware and Design
Starting with the display, the CMF Phone 2 Pro has a large 6.77-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a pixel resolution of 2392 x 1080 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of about 387 PPI. The display is bright, thanks to 800 nits (typical), 1300 nits (outdoor) and 3000 nits peak brightness, which is enabled when you are watching HDR content.
The phone has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate display can switch between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz. It has 1000 Hz touch sampling rate when gaming. When enabled, it offers a buttery smooth user experience, especially when you are scrolling through the UI and when gaming. It also has HDR 10+ support, which works for YouTube.
Under the display options, there are different options to adjust colours based on your preference. There is also a night light option that lets you reduce the display’s blue light emission, so it doesn’t cause eye strain when you are reading at night. There is Dark mode, similar to other Android phones.
It has an always-on display option, but it doesn’t offer a lot of customization, and is similar to the Pixel. It doesn’t have MEMC or DC Dimming option, but there is 2160Hz PWM Dimming. This has Panda Glass Protection.
The phone has a centre punch-hole that houses a 16-megapixel camera. Above the display, there is an earpiece on the top edge, but it doesn’t act as a secondary speaker. The phone has an optical in-display fingerprint scanner. The bottom bezels are minimal compared to some of the phones in the price range.
The phone has a power button and the essential key on the right side. The volume rockers are on the left. The hybrid dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the speaker grill are present on the bottom. The secondary microphone is present on the top.
The phone has a transparent glass back that you rarely see in a phone in the price range. This gives a unique design, feels premium and doesn’t get scratched easily compared to phones with a plastic back. This is protected by Panda glass. Still, I would recommend you to use the bundled case to protect the back since it’s a bit slippery.
The main highlight of the phone is the Glyph Interface, which has been moved to the bottom corner, but it can still function as a normal glyph present in other Nothing phones. Since it is small, you don’t get the volume indicator present in other Nothing phones, but you can use it for notifications and there is also flip to glyph.
Since the phone has a glass back, it weighs 199 grams, even though it only has a 5000mAh battery. It is 8.3mm thick, similar to the Phone 3a. It still has IP54 ratings for dust and water resistance, when some of the phones offer IP65 ratings or more. In addition to White, the phone also comes in Black and Blue colours.
Camera
- 50MP main camera with 1/1.57″ GN9 sensor, f/1.88 aperture, EIS
- 8MP ultra-wide camera with GC08A8 sensor, f/2.2 aperture
- 2MP macro camera with GC02M1-C24YD sensor, f/2.4 aperture
- 16MP front camera with 1/3″ GC16B3C sensor, f/2.45 aperture, EIS
The camera UI is similar to phones running Nothing OS. There are options for Slo-mo, Video, Photo, Portrait and more option that has time-lapse, pano, and expert mode. The expert mode is pro mode, which lets you adjust white balance, focus, shutter speed (1/8000s to 32 seconds), and ISO (100 to 6400). It doesn’t have RAW option.
Coming to the image quality, daylight shots came out well with good dynamic range and the images are natural-looking. After pixel binning technology, you get 12.5MP output. HDR shots are better with improved dynamic range. The ultra-wide camera is decent. This replaces the 2x telephoto camera in the 3a with a 2MP macro camera, which is useless for macro shots. It is recommended to use main camera instead, even though it can focus close.
The 16MP front camera is decent in daylight, and you get full 16MP output. Edge detection in portrait is good. Lowlight camera performance is average, and the auto night mode helps to keep the noise low.
Check out the camera samples.
It can record videos at 4k resolution at 30 fps from the rear camera, and the front camera has 1080p 30 fps video recording. It doesn’t have OIS, and EIS is manageable, but it brings down the resolution to 1080p. The front camera video quality is decent. Overall, the phone does a decent job when it comes to camera.
Software, UI and Apps
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite runs Android 15 out of the box, with Nothing OS 3.5 on top. It has November 2025 Android security patch. The company has promised 3 Android OS updates and 6 years of security patches, which matches other phones in the Phone 3a series. Apart from the fonts and UI, it gives a stock Android experience.
Nothing OS 3.5 brings visual refinements, AI-powered features, customization and personalization such as new Smart Drawer, private space, as well as performance enhancement when it comes to speed in the UI. There is also Nothing Gallery app with Google Photos’ Gen-AI editing tools built in.
The essential Key below the power button launches Essential Space, an AI-powered hub for note-taking, ideas, and inspirations. You can press the Essential Key to capture and send content to Essential Space, long-press to record a voice note, and double-tap to head straight to all your saved content.
Out of 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, you get 7.4GB of usable RAM, and about 3GB of RAM is free when default apps are running in the background. It has up to 8GB of virtual RAM. Out of 256GB, you get about 227GB of free storage. Since this has a hybrid SIM slot, you can use the secondary SIM slot as a microSD slot, and it accepts cards up to 2TB. It has UFS 2.2 storage, which is common in the phones in the price range.
Apart from the Google apps, it has Facebook and Instagram apps pre-installed for the first time in a Nothing Phone. There is also a Lock Glimpse powered by vilkke, similar to Glace that shows wallpapers and relevant info on the lock screen. You will have to disable this during setup, or you can do it later from the settings.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has an in-display optical fingerprint sensor which immediately unlocks the phone just by keeping your finger on the sensor. You don’t get any animation options. The phone also has face unlock that can unlock the phone in seconds, but it is not as secure as fingerprint.
Music Player and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player. It doesn’t have Dolby Atmos or any other custom audio features. Audio through the mono speaker is decent, but not loud. Audio through the headphones is good as well. This has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. The is HDR playback on YouTube, but not on Netflix.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features such as 5G with support for n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78 bands, dual 4G VoLTE, 5G VoNR, Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ax (2.4 + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.4 with LHDC option for supported headphones, GPS + GLONASS, but lacks NFC support. The phone also has carrier aggregation and I even got 5G++ in some places.
We did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume is good, even though it is present on the top edge. It comes with stock Google dialer with call recording support, but you will hear an announcement.
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite’s body SAR is 1.14W/Kg and head SAR is at 1.19/Kg which higher than some mid-range phones, however it well under the limit in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
It is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro SoC. It has 4X Arm Cortex-A78 cores at up to 2.5GHz, paired with 4X Arm Cortex-A55 cores. This uses TSMC’s 4nm process. The phone has vapor chamber liquid cooling, but the company doesn’t reveal the size.
The new Arm Mali-G615 GPU does a good job in games. The Dimensity 7300 Pro is a minor upgrade over the standard 7300 that promises 10% faster CPU and 5% faster GPU compared to the Dimensity 7300 processor.
Similar to the Pixel phones, there is Game mode and Game Dashboard. You can play graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI and Genshin Impact, but can’t expect sustained peak performance is high graphics mode. In BGMI HDR Extreme works, and it offers up to 120fps in BGMI.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 99.2% which is good. The temperature increased from 31 to 37 degrees, which is not much. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
It scored 919K points in AnTuTu Benchmark 11.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs a 5000mAh (typical) built-in battery, same as the Phone 3a. Thanks to the optimization, it lasts for a day even with heavy use on 5G. With minimal use on Wi-Fi, it should last for 2 days. I got close to 6 hours of screen on time with one and half days of use, mostly Wi-Fi and occasional 5G use in 120Hz. This is similar to the Phone 3a and the CMF Phone 2 Pro.
With 33W fast charging support, it can charge up to 50% in about 20 minutes and up to 100% in over an hour with a PPS fast charger. Wish the company had offered a charger in the box like the CMF Phone 2 Pro.
Conclusion
At a starting price of Rs. 20,999, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is a cheaper option to the Nothing Phone (3a). It is an excellent choice for users who prioritize design, a superb AMOLED display, fast and smooth UI, and long battery life over peak performance and multimedia features like stereo speakers or an advanced camera setup that the Phone (3a) offers.
If your primary requirement is a versatile camera with OIS, faster charging, or a powerful chipset for sustained high-refresh-rate gaming, then similarly priced or slightly more expensive alternatives like the Nothing Phone (3a) or offerings from other brands might be better suited.
Pricing and availability
The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is priced at Rs. 20,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model, and the 8GB + 256GB model costs Rs. 22,999. It will be available from Flipkart, and select offline partners starting from December 5th. With Rs. 1000 bank discount, the effective starting price is Rs. 19,999.
Alternatives
The POCO X7 Pro that has a bigger battery, and a high-res display is now available in the similar price range. The Nothing Phone (3a) is available at a cheaper rate during offers. If you need gaming triggers, then the Infinix GT 30 with 144Hz display is also a good option in the range.
Pros
- 120Hz AMOLED display is good
- Reliable performance
- Good main camera
- Clean UI, 3 OS updates
- Good battery life
Cons
- No stereo speakers
- 2MP macro camera is not up to the mark
- No charger in the box