The Nothing Phone 3a Lite has officially launchedThis is a cheaper alternative to the Nothing Phone 3aBut it seems slightly worse than another phone the company currently sells at around the same price
Following leaks and teases, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite has now been officially unveiled, giving Nothing fans a cheaper alternative to both the Nothing Phone 3 and the Nothing Phone 3a.
Costing £249 / AU$439 (roughly $330) for a 128GB model and £279 / AU$489 (around $370) for a 256GB version, but with no current availability in the US, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite has a 6.77-inch 1080 x 2392 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a fairly low-end MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset, and 8GB of RAM.
It also has a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide one, a 2MP macro one, and a 16MP front-facing camera.
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The battery capacity is 5,000mAh and charges at 33W, there’s an under-display fingerprint sensor, and it runs Android 15, with the promise of three years of Android version upgrades and six years of security patches. It also has a microSD card slot, which is increasingly a rarity in phones – and not something you’ll find in the non-Lite version of the Nothing Phone 3a.
As for the design, you’re getting a phone that largely fits the design language of other Nothing handsets, but with a far more limited Glyph lighting system than most, as there’s only one small light on the rear.
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite comes in at 164 x 78 x 8.3mm and 199g, it has a glass back and a plastic frame, and its IP54 rating protects it against splashes. As for colors, you can get it in black or white.
A lesser option
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite (Image credit: Nothing)
Now, in isolation this all sounds fine, but in both the UK and Australia, Nothing still sells the CMF Phone 2 Pro, and charges a near identical price for this, despite it having a 50MP telephoto camera in place of the 3a Lite’s 2MP macro, and otherwise having near identical specs. So it’s a very similar but probably slightly better phone, rendering the Nothing Phone 3a Lite a bit pointless.
However, Nothing has announced plans to spin off its CMF sub-brand, so it’s possible the CMF Phone 2 Pro won’t be sold directly by the company for much longer, and it’s also possible it could be discontinued at some point. In which case, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite might then start to make more sense, but for now, we can’t see much reason not to buy the CMF alternative instead.
As for how the Nothing Phone 3a Lite compares to the standard Nothing Phone 3a, you get a more powerful Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset in the 3a, along with a 50MP telephoto camera in place of the 3a Lite’s 2MP macro sensor.
The Nothing Phone 3a also has a 50MP front-facing camera, and faster 50W charging, with the remaining specs being similar – but unlike the CMF Phone 2 Pro this does cost substantially more than the Nothing Phone 3a Lite.
So for now, we’d suggest buying the standard 3a if you want the extras it offers, or the CMF Phone 2 Pro if you otherwise like the look of the 3a Lite. Though it might be worth waiting for our full Nothing Phone 3a Lite review, to see whether it’s more than the sum of its parts.
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