1 week ago
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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Nothing unveiled two new phones and one pair of headphones.
- Phone highlights include the Glyph Interface, colors, and camera.
- The Phone 4a isn't available in the US. The Phone 4a Pro is.
On Thursday morning, there was much ado about Nothing. The London-based tech company unveiled its highly anticipated lineup of products, including the Phone 4a, Phone 4a Pro, and Headphone (a).
It's been a busy week of tech announcements. The week began with breakouts at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where a collection of smartphone and mobile device companies gathered to show their latest technologies. On Wednesday, Apple announced its cheapest laptop ever, alongside earlier announcements of the budget iPhone 17e, new MacBooks, and new iPad Air.
Also: I saw the Nothing Phone 4a in multiple colors at MWC - and these two got the most love
Ahead of Thursday, Nothing had been hyping up its product launch as the anti-Apple event. Even Nothing CEO Carl Pei posted on X a scribbled-over version of Apple's March 4 invite to promote the event.
The latest series in the Nothing Phone family brings cooler colors and design, camera updates, Nothing's slimmest phone to date, and more thoughtful AI. Here's what's new.
What's new with the Nothing Phone 4a
The Nothing Phone 4a is the base model phone in the 4a Series and comes in four eye-catching colors: black, white, blue, and pink. Color and design are core to Nothing's brand, as the company often creates unconventional and modern headphone and mobile designs that showcase the product's interior through transparent finishes. The 4a has a 6.78-inch AMOLED display, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which Nothing says is twice as protective as the previous generation's Gorilla Glass.
The device also has a redesigned Glyph Bar, the blinking light on the back of the phone that can be customized to signal different notifications and indicate that a photo or video is being taken. Now, Nothing users can view the Glyph Bar to check on the progress of their timers or charging status, receive NFC feedback, get live or essential notifications, and utilize the camera's countdown feature.
Also: Best of MWC 2026: We found the biggest news from Lenovo, Xiaomi, Honor, more
The camera system on the base model includes a 50MP 3.5x OIS periscope lens, a 50MP OIS main sensor, a Sony ultra-wide, and a 32MP wide-angle selfie camera. The camera can zoom up to 70x closer. Nothing says the camera system is ideal for vivid portrait photography.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips power the Phone 4a series, with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip in the Phone 4a. This chip delivers marginally faster performance and power efficiency to the base device.
What's new with the Nothing Phone 4a Pro
The Phone 4a Pro, the premium phone in the lineup, has a precision-crafted metal unibody design, which Nothing says also helps with cooling. The Phone 4a Pro is available in black, silver, and pink. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 powers the Phone 4a Pro, which gives significantly faster performance, graphics, and AI capabilities.
This phone skips the Glyph Bar for a Glyph Matrix, a circle on the back of the phone with 137 mini-LEDs that display battery, timer, clock, and more. This visual language on the back of the phone is what Nothing calls its Glyph Interface. This feature is meant to subtly get a phone user's attention without them constantly checking their screen. Nothing Phone 4a Pro users can even customize their own Glyph Matrix displays to include favorite contacts, app notifications, or calls.
The camera on this phone could shake up the competition, with a Sony LYT700c large-size OIS main camera system and a 50MP 3.5x OIS telephoto periscope lens. And let's focus on the Phone 4a Pro's zoom, which offers up to 140x zoom. For context, Google's latest Pixel 10 Pro can zoom up to 100x. Of course, final image quality is the big question with such capabilities, so we'll have to see how well Nothing processes details.
Also: Google Pixel 10a review: Should Android users consider anything else at this price?
The device has a 6.83-inch AMOLED display, and at 7.95mm thin, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is the company's slimmest phone to date.
While the Phone 4a is not available in the US, the Phone 4a Pro is, at $499 for 8GB and $599 for 12GB, with pre-orders beginning March 13 and open sales on March 27.
What's new with the Headphone (a)
Nothing's new headphones come in four creative colors, and look fairly similar to the Headphone (1). Improved audio, comfort, and some hands-free camera capture capabilities underpin the Headphone (1).
The device includes a new feature via one of its mechanical buttons. You can capture photos hands-free by simply pressing the button. This feature is a smart move on Nothing's part, since it makes taking photos with the headphones on easy.
Let's say you're taking selfies or outfit photos with the headphones on: they become an accessory (thanks to their fashion-forward design) and a tool for taking and sharing photos. This capability is a smart marketing technique.
The Headphone (a) retail for $199 and are available in all markets. They come in white, black, pink, and yellow.
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