Pink phones exist and the 4A Pro is a great, affordable option

I liked last year Nothing Phone 3A Pro So much so that I gave it the coveted CNET Editors’ Choice Award, so its follow-up, the Nothing Phone 4A Pro, has a lot going for it. I’ve spent some time with the phone, and there’s certainly a lot to like – from its new pink design to its capable processor. But nothing phones have always had another major advantage: price.

in $499 in the US and £499 in UKThe Phone 4A Pro is undoubtedly affordable, especially considering its powerful set of specs. Its main competition is Google Pixel 10awhich is exactly the same price and recently impressed us in our full review with its all-around performance (at $599 iPhone 17e lag in value). It’s too early to say how the Phone 4A Pro will compete with Google’s phone, but it certainly has enough to warrant your interest.

Here’s what you need to know about this affordable Android phone.

Nothing Phone 4A Pro: pink design with Glyph Matrix

My favorite thing about the phone is its pink color. Does this make me too shallow? Yes, but I’m okay with that. I love the pink tools. I accidentally managed to do this Turning the cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro pink using chemicalsAnd I had it Custom pink envelope I wear my expensive Leica Q3 43. It is a faint pink color, not Hot pink like the old Motorola Razr V3But it’s a fun color that doesn’t take itself too seriously — and that’s refreshing.

Many of today’s phones come in dark shades of black, silver, or grey, so I really appreciate when a brand throws a little more personality into the mix. However, no significant design changes have been made here. The company is known for its transparent plastic phones that reveal some of the components underneath, along with LED “Glyph” lighting patterns. I liked this look on the 3A Pro and No phone 1 And 2 before that.

There’s still an element of that here, but it’s been grouped and compressed into the camera bar, with roughly 70% of the phone now being a simple expanse of aluminum. Cover the camera bar and you can look at basically any other phone. The bar itself looks interesting, with some visible screw heads that maintain that industrial feel. It’s also where you’ll find the three camera lenses and the much more expensive Glyph Matrix introduced last year Nothing phone 3.

The matrix is ​​essentially a circular dot matrix display that can display information such as the time, battery level or incoming notifications. But nothing opened up the avatar to allow developers or users to create their own tools, such as a countdown timer to determine when Uber is scheduled to arrive. The Phone 3’s Glyph Matrix was touch-sensitive, allowing it to use so-called “Glyph games”, such as spinning a bottle, while the 4A Pro’s is just a display.

I found these features somewhat strange, and the new Glyph Matrix – used as a display rather than an interactive toy – loses little in terms of functionality while offering a better overall experience. Whether it will prove more useful remains to be seen. I also think it’s a shame that the Phone 4A Pro lacks any of the flashing LEDs the company is known for; Even more affordable Phone 4a It only has a modest set of lights to alert you of incoming calls.

The phone has an IP65 rating, which protects it from spills or taking calls in the rain. This likely makes it as dust-resistant as most other phones, though it may not withstand submersion for as long as devices with an IP68 rating. Nothing says it uses recycled plastic, steel, aluminum and tin in its construction, giving it the lowest carbon footprint of any of its phones.

Phone 4A Pro: processor, software, camera

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip, coupled with 8GB or 12GB of RAM. I tested the 12GB model and found it satisfactorily fast in daily use. Navigating the Android interface was lag-free, apps opened quickly, and the graphically demanding game Genshin Impact played smoothly, even on high-quality settings.

It runs Android 16 with a custom Nothing interface on top, turning much of the interface into a stark, monochrome experience. I’m not a fan, largely because the lack of color cues makes it difficult for me to differentiate between app icons – a problem I also encountered with the Leica user interface on Xiaomi to make fun. However, you can change the theme to a more typical interface if you also need more colours, and I like the various widgets you can install to Nothing and the Private Space that allows you to hide sensitive apps and photos behind a password. That doesn’t make it The most private phone In the world, but it is a great choice for ordinary phone owners.

On board you’ll find Nothing’s Essential Space, a productivity app the company launched on its phones last year. It’s basically a repository of screenshots and audio notes to help you understand your stream of consciousness throughout the day. It uses a physical button on the side of the phone; Press and hold, and it’ll take a screenshot of whatever you’re looking at, and you can record a voice note to remind yourself of what’s important or perhaps to remind yourself to buy something later.

I love the basic space. It’s actually a useful tool, especially if you’re the type of person who randomly thinks of things you need to do during the day but can’t seem to remember that thing again later when you have time to act on it. This is by no means a reason to choose the Nothing Phone over another, but it is a handy bonus if you’re already considering the Phone 4A Pro.

Three years of Android updates and a total of six years of security updates for the 4A Pro don’t bode well, meaning it will still be safe to use in 2032. I’d like to see more generous software updates (the Pixel 10A will get seven years of software and security updates), but security support is the main thing here, as that’s directly related to the phone’s age.

On the back there are three cameras, including a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera.

I only tested the camera briefly and found it to be decent for the price, but I want to take more test shots, including comparisons with the Pixel 10A, before I give any judgements. Typically, Nothing’s phone cameras don’t offer the image quality to keep photography pros happy, but if you’re after balanced shots of your kids playing in the park, this is probably ideal.

The phone has a 5,080 mAh battery, which the company claims will give you 17 hours of mixed use. It will really depend on how demanding you are of your phone; In our live streaming test, it dropped by about 10% after the first hour and dropped to just 73% after the third hour. This is well below average. However, make things more logical, and you shouldn’t struggle so much to make a day of it. It has 50W wired charging for quick power recovery, though you’ll need to source your own compatible fast charger.

Phone 4A Pro: Should you buy it?

There’s a lot I like about the phone. It’s got enough power for all your daily needs, its cameras are good enough for quick shots, and while its design could definitely be more experimental, the pink color and Glyph Matrix display definitely help it stand out from the crowd.

But the Nothing Phone 4A’s affordable price of $499 is the main reason to consider this phone, and from my testing so far, it certainly seems like you’re getting a lot of phone for your money. Of course, if you are looking for the latest and greatest phone technology, then you need to look forward to the Xiaomi Leitzphone or the Xiaomi Leitzphone. Galaxy S26 Ultra. But both will cost you at least three times as much, so you need to consider: Is a better camera and more processing power really worth it to you?

I’ll have to leave my final verdict once I’m able to give it the full review treatment, so stay tuned to see how this phone really stacks up, especially against the Pixel 10A.