I took over 100 photos with the Nothing Phone 4a Pro vs Google Pixel 10 — can this sub-$500 phone take better pictures than a flagship?

Nothing Phone 4a Pro

Google Pixel 10

Starting Price

$499 / £499

$799 / £799

Display

6.83-inch AMOLED, 144Hz

6.3-inch 1080 x 2424 Actua Display (OLED)

Rear Cameras

50MP main (f/1.88), 50MP telephoto (f/1.88) with 3.5x optical zoom, 8MP ultrawide (f/2.2)

48MP (f/1.7) main, 13MP (f/2.2) ultrawide, 10.8MP (f/3.1) telephoto w/5x optical zoom

Front Cameras

32MP (f/2.2)

10.5MP (f/2.2)

Chipset

Snapdrgon 7s Gen 4

Tensor G5

RAM

8/12GB

12GB

Storage

128/256/512GB

128GB, 256GB

Battery

5,080 mAh

4,970 mAh

Charging

50W wired, no wireless

30W wired, 15W wireless

Dimensions

6.44 x 3.01 x 0.31 inches

6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches

Weight

7.4 ounces

7.2 oz

Colors

Black, Silver, Pink

Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, Lemongrass

Even though the Pixel 10 is $300 more expensive than the Nothing Phone 4a Pro, the camera specs seem to skew in favor of the 4a Pro.

Nothing equipped its phone with a 50MP main camera (f/1.88 aperture) with an 8MP ultrawide (f/2.2) and a 50MP telephoto lens (f/1.88) capable of 3.5x optical zoom. The front-facing selfie camera is 32MP (f/2.2).

In contrast, the Pixel 10 has a 48MP main camera (f/1.7), a 12MP ultrawide lens (f/2.2) and a 10.8MP telephoto lens (f/3.1) with 5x optical zooming capabilities. In the front is a 10.5MP selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture.

The main cameras sound fairly evenly matched on paper, though the Pixel 10 appears to have an advantage in the ultrawide department. However, the Pixel’s telephoto and selfie hardware sounds considerably less impressive than the Nothing Phone 4a Pro. It may have 5x optical zoom, but with such low resolution and wide aperture, you have to wonder whether it can compete with the 4a Pro.

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But this is the point to remind everyone that camera specs only tell part of the story, and the only way to know for sure is to actually test the cameras side-by-side.

While the Nothing Phone 4a Pro’s main camera lacked some clarity during my review, further examination of new images shows that that may have just been an outlier. In daytime shots, the photos are fairly evenly matched across the board.

Nothing’s camera tends to ramp up the colors and offer a slightly more vivid look of whatever is in frame, while Google is slightly more subdued but real to life. Still, in terms of actual quality, this such a little difference between these two cameras that I couldn’t pick a clear winner.

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Winner: Draw

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As the camera hardware suggests, the Pixel 10 has a clear advantage when it comes to ultrawide-angle photography. The quality of the photos is noticeably better, and the colors are more vivid and true to life.

On top of that, it seems as though the Pixel manages to capture better dynamic range, as seen in the shot of the shadowy tree below. Despite being engulfed in shadow, the tree in the Pixel’s photo is clearer, brighter and isn’t as affected by the glare from the sun.

Winner: Google Pixel 10

Image 1 of 8

When it comes to telephoto photos, the hardware is definitely on Nothing’s side, and that’s reflected in the photos it takes at 3.5x magnification. While the Pixel manages to produce brighter photos, the quality just isn’t there.

Nothing’s higher resolution telephoto lens means that there’s significantly more detail in each shot — especially when you zoom in. It’s especially noticeable on my dog’s fur, with Google merging it all together into a beige mass, while Nothing is able to pick out more individual strands of fur with a lot more clarity.

Winner: Nothing Phone 4a Pro

Image 1 of 8

Increase the magnification to 5x zoom and Nothing’s quality takes a dive, meaning both sets of photos are a lot more evenly matched. Clearly, Nothing’s high-resolution telephoto lens is great for taking photos with real zoom, but push beyond the 3.5x magnification limit and things start to go south very quickly.

It’s tough to be able to choose between the two, because the quality produced by both phones isn’t particularly good. That said, the golf course sign proved to clinch the deal for Nothing, because the lettering is a lot cleaner and less noisy on Nothing’s shot. However, it was a very close call and not a result Nothing should be particularly proud of.

Winner: Nothing Phone 4a Pro

Image 1 of 8

In my original review, I praised the Nothing Phone 4a Pro for its low light performance, but noted that it did look slightly worse than the Pixel 10 on account of it not capturing as much light. I confirmed it after looking at the latest batch of photos.

The photos produced by the 4a Pro are by no means bad, but the Pixel produced pictures that are brighter and more detailed, making the most of the minimal light that was available in the surrounding areas.

There was one notable exception: A potted plant photographed in almost total darkness came out brighter on the Nothing Phone, compared to the far blacker and less distinguishable Pixel 10’s photo.

Winner: Google Pixel 10

Image 1 of 8

The last time I tested the selfie camera on the Pixel 10, it made me look a lot pastier than I really am, but the Nothing Phone 4a Pro managed to add some of the real-life color to my face. Other than that, the photos appeared to be fairly evenly matched.

Upon looking at the new shots, I can’t say that this assessment was wrong. The Nothing Phone 4a Pro does seem to more accurately capture the colors in frame, but not to the extent that it makes a lot of difference.

The actual quality seems to differ based on the lighting, with the Pixel managing to capture better details in high brightness, and the Nothing Phone 4a Pro picking up more in shady spots. It’s worth bearing in mind, but doesn’t change the fact that there’s no clear winner here.

Winner: Draw

Image 1 of 8

Portrait mode is much the same in terms of quality, though the photos produced some weird results when the bokeh effect came into the mix. The Nothing Phone 4a Pro seemed to get a little confused at times, and added the effect to spots that didn’t need it — including across my shirt and the tip of my dog’s tail.

Then again, the Pixel 10 managed to take a Portrait photo and reversed the bokeh, blurring me and leaving the background clear. I’m not even mad about that, just confused as to how that actually happened because it doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Winner: Draw

Image 1 of 8

When it comes to color, it seems as though Nothing’s camera is attempting to make everything look extra vivid and bright, while Google is going for a more subdued, but accurate take on what it sees.

There’s nothing wrong with the Nothing photos, but there’s something a little otherworldly about seeing them enhanced to the level that they’re at — and that clinches this one for Google’s more relaxed take on the color palette.

Winner: Google Pixel 10

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Neither phone seems to explicitly advertise a specialist macro mode, either, but after some experimentation, I found that they both seem to recognize when extreme close-up photography is required.

Nothing again manages to produce brighter photos, but Google’s macro shots are a lot clearer and more detailed across the board. Whether I’m taking photos of plants, lichen, dandelion seeds or even bugs, it definitely has the upper hand.

Winner: Google Pixel 10

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I’ll admit, it’s quite rare that I take a panorama shot, on account of how awkward they are to take. Google’s system, which involved matching up your camera with virtual dots while the software stitched together each shot, is kind of a pain and much slower than Nothing’s continuous shot approach.

But it seems Google may have the right idea, since its panorama shots come out looking significantly better. The main thing I noticed was Nothing’s Panorama mode actually stops before you do a full 360-degrees, which means part of the photo is always missing. The quality just isn’t there, either. Pixel panoramas have better detail and contrast, plus coloring that is more true to life than Nothing offers.

Winner: Google Pixel 10

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Nothing Phone 4a Pro

Google Pixel 10

Daytime

X

X

Ultrawide

Row 2 – Cell 1

X

Zoom (3.5x)

X

Row 3 – Cell 2

Zoom (5x)

X

Row 4 – Cell 2

Low Light

Row 5 – Cell 1

X

Selfie

X

X

Portrait

X

X

Color

Row 8 – Cell 1

X

Macro

Row 9 – Cell 1

X

Panorama

Row 10 – Cell 1

X

Total

5

8

It is fair to say that the Nothing Phone 4a Pro does a fantastic job of standing up to the more expensive Google Pixel 10 in the camera department. While it certainly falls in some categories, there’s no denying the fact that Nothing has done a heck of a job making sure its cameras are as good as they can likely be for this price.

But while the 4a Pro is a great generalist camera, the Google Pixel 10 excels in more specialist categories, such as low light, macro, and panorama modes.

Yes, it’s possible to get an excellent camera that’s competitive with flagship devices for considerably less money. You just need to pick the right one, and Nothing Phone 4a Pro should definitely be on your short list.