Nothing Phone (4a): Improved cameras, Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, new brighter Glyph Bar
Alongside the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, the London-based company also debuted the base Phone (4a). While perhaps not as flashy as the Phone (4a) Pro and its Glyph Matrix, the standard Phone (4a) comes with its own new Glyph Bar lighting on the back alongside several hardware upgrades.
The Phone (4a) doesn’t outright drop the transparent glass back like its Pro sibling, instead keeping a glass back panel with centre-aligned cameras. Nothing claims they’ve made the Phone (4a) more durable with enhanced metal buttons, a strengthened frame and a reinforced camera bump, leading to an IP64 dust and water resistance rating.
Next to the camera module is the new Glyph Bar, packing 63 mini-LEDs into 7 square light zones. Each square is able to go up to 3500nits bright, 40% brighter than the Glyph Interface on the Phone (3a). Nothing also claims that they incorporated three patented technologies for zero light leakage, so that you can see your notifications light up the bar even under sunlight.
As for the display, the Phone (4a) features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display pushing a 1.5K resolution with a 440PPIX pixel density, a peak HDR brightness of 4,500nits, a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate complete with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i over it for scratch resistance.
Under the hood, the Phone (4a) is powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 system-on-chip with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X memory and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It comes with Android 16 out of the box, skinned with Nothing OS 4.1 over it, and will receive at least three years of major Android OS upgrades along with six years of security patches.
It’s in the camera department though that the Phone (4a) has been upgraded the most. There’s a 50MP, f/1.9 main camera using a Samsung GN9 sensor, a 50MP, f/2.9 periscope telephoto shooter offering 3.5x optical zoom, an 8MP, f/2.2 ultrawide and a 32MP, f/2.2 front camera on the Phone (4a), with Nothing claiming a best-in-class camera setup compared to the competition.
Elsewhere, you’ll find a 5,080mAh battery with support for 50W wired fast charging that Nothing claims can reach 50% in just 22 minutes. There’s also stereo speakers and an in-display fingerprint sensor, with your colour options being black, white, blue and pink colourways. Just like the Phone (4a) Pro, the regular Phone (4a) will only be making its way to Malaysia on 1st April, so stay tuned for more pricing details.
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