Nothing Review of the Phone (3A) Lite: Hyping the brand

The 5,000 mAh battery is sufficient for most days, and the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite will probably last for two days of light use. You’ll have to plug it in when it gets low (there’s no wireless charging), and the rate is 33W. That’s not bad, as it allows you to go from zero to 80 percent in less than an hour. There is support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3, but expect the battery to drain much faster on 5G networks.

The camera is where the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset and 8GB of RAM struggled for me. On several occasions, it took seconds to open, and I had to reboot the phone at one point for the camera app to load at all. I experienced occasional lag when opening and switching between apps, but camera performance was inconsistent as general use felt relatively smooth for a budget phone.

It doesn’t help that the camera system is disappointing. The 50MP main shooter is capable, if a bit slow, with a large 1/1.57-inch sensor and an f/1.8 aperture that handles a range of scenarios well. But the 8MP ultra-wide camera sucks, and the 2MP macro is a waste. Comparing the telephoto with the macro and main camera (see photos of flowers) shows how useless it is. There is a 16-megapixel front camera which is suitable for selfies and video calls.

You might think that a design-driven company like Nothing would be more calculative in only adding features that add value. If the ultra-wide and macro cameras will only provide lackluster results, cut them and stick with one solid primary camera.