Technologies

Nothing Phone 3A Pro Review: Flashy Design Is the Cherry on Top

With solid overall performance and an affordable price, Nothing’s Phone 3A and 3A Pro may be the midrangers to beat.

The Nothing Phone 3A Pro is cut from the same cloth as the rest of London-based Nothing’s handsets. This midrange Android phone packs solid specs and a suite of flashing LED lights and tops it off with an affordable price tag. It has a lot to offer, but competition in the midrange market has never been more fierce, with Google’s recent Pixel 9A promising similar all-round performance for a closely matched $499 price.

Nothing actually offers two phones in its 3A range; the base Phone 3A and the slightly more premium 3A Pro, which I tested for four weeks for this review. The phones are nearly identical, with the processor, display and batteries shared between them both. The 3A Pro adds in a more capable camera setup, which includes a telephoto lens.

At a time when Google, Samsung, Motorola and Apple are all releasing affordable phone options for their customers, Nothing’s 3A and 3A Pro stand out for their attractive design, excellent value and solid cameras, especially as the US puts tariffs on imported goods.

Read more: Best Android Phone of 2025

The Nothing Phone 3A starts at $379 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. In the UK, you can pick up a pared-back model with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage for only £329, or get the 12GB/256GB model for £379. The Phone 3A Pro costs $459 (£449) for the 12GB/256GB model.

Both phones pack a lot of value for their cost, and have plenty of power for everyday tasks, vibrant displays that are great for gaming and cameras that are good enough for casual snaps on your days out in the summer sun. How they stack up against the new Samsung Galaxy A series and Pixel 9A remains to be seen when we’re able to finally test Google and Samsung’s newest budget phones.

Nothing Phone 3A’s flashy design

The design is the first thing that stands out about these phones. The glass back reveals screws and data ribbons, giving it an industrial look that I quite like. It might not be the style I’d choose in a phone, but it’s certainly nice to see designs that go beyond the plain gray looks of most phones. The LED lights — which Nothing calls the Glyph — are strewn around the camera units on both phones and light up to alert you to incoming notifications. They’re a fun addition to Nothing’s phones that you won’t find anywhere else.

Both phones have 6.7-inch displays that looked bright and vibrant during my testing time. They did a decent job of countering the overhead Barcelona sunshine, as well as the cloudy skies of my Edinburgh home. If you’re using these phones under the bright midday California sun, you may find them more difficult to view, but I’ve certainly seen worse for this price. With an IP68 water-resistance rating, taking calls in the pouring rain (again: not you, California) won’t be a problem.

Read more: Samsung Shows Off Quirky Pincer Phone, Folding Console and Flexi Briefcase Concepts

Nothing Phone 3A and 3A Pro performance

Powering the 3A series is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 processor, which provided fairly low scores on our benchmark tests for both processor and graphics performance. It fell behind both the more expensive iPhone 16E and last year’s Pixel 8A with its graphics score being particularly underwhelming. But benchmark tests only tell some of the story.

In real-world use I found both phones to run smoothly with plenty of power for everyday essentials like emailing and web browsing. Even demanding games like PUBG played perfectly well with high resolution settings (I even managed to get a «winner, winner, chicken dinner!») so don’t think that opting for a midrange phone means sacrificing performance. While it might not be a benchmark winner, the Nothing Phone 3A has enough power to tackle most things you’d want to use it for.

Nothing Phone 3A performance compared

Nothing Phone 3A Pro 1,185 3,265 1,059Pixel 8A 1,675 4,076 2,435iPhone 16E 3,323 8,111 3,014

Geekbench 6 (Single core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-core)
3DMark Wild Life Extreme

Note: Longer bars equals better performance

The Phone 3A Pro’s 5,000-mAh battery didn’t impress on our battery drain tests, but it’s far from the worst I’ve seen. Its battery prowess is more in line with Samsung’s affordable Galaxy A25 5G from last year, but falling short of more premium phones like the iPhone 16 or Galaxy S25. Getting a full day of use shouldn’t be a problem here, as long as you avoid playing games or streaming video for hours on end but like most phones, you’ll almost certainly want to give it a full charge each night.

Read more: Oppo Find N5 Review: A Remarkably Thin and Surprisingly Practical Foldable Phone

Nothing Phone 3A and AI

Both phones run Android 15 at their core, but Nothing has heavily customized the interface with a stark, monochrome aesthetic. It looks sleek, but I sometimes struggle to distinguish app icons when they’re reduced to minimalist black-and-white buttons. Still, you might be into the mono look, and if not, you can customize the layout to your liking. Nothing promises a total of six years of software and security support, which is good, especially considering the price.

Gemini Advanced, Gemini Live and Circle to Search are all available to use on the phones, and while Nothing hasn’t thrown in much of its own AI stuff (for which I’m grateful), it has launched one tool that I quite like. Called the Essential Space, it’s designed as a central hub for storing your thoughts, notes, screenshots and ideas throughout the day.

See some shoes you like? Open the camera and use the dedicated Essential Space button on the side of the phone to save a shot — along with your voice note about them — to your Space. Need to buy brie, vodka, party hats and snake food on the way home? A long button press will let you dictate your fascinating shopping list to add it to your Space to check later.

It’s a nice idea in theory, and while it’s had a couple of minor updates since its launch in March, it still seems limited in its functionality. Essential Space is essentially a hub for screenshots and voice notes, but I see its potential usefulness in providing a dumping ground for all your thoughts throughout the day. It’s refreshing to find a feature that’s both unique and useful and the fact that it makes use of a dedicated hardware button on the phone means it’s easy to use rather than being tucked away out of sight. Nothing emphasizes that Essential Space is still in beta, with more features on the way — so keep an eye on this space.

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Nothing Phone 3A Pro camera

Both phones have 50-megapixel main cameras and I’m pleased with some of the shots I’ve been able to get from the Pro model. Images are sharp with accurate, natural colors.

While it’s no competition to today’s top camera phones, it offers a solid experience if you want to take simple snaps of your friends at the beach, rather than looking to take the photography world by storm. The bigger question will be how the phone’s camera stacks up against the Pixel 9A and new Galaxy A series, but we’ll need to wait to get all three phones side-by-side to answer that.

While the base 3A packs a 50 megapixel telephoto camera capable of 2x optical zoom, the 3A Pro’s 50-megapixel periscope camera offers 3x optical zoom, with 6x «in-sensor» zoom, which effectively crops the sensor out to achieve a longer zoom.

The base Phone 3A has a 32-megapixel front-facing camera and the 3A Pro has a 50-megapixel sensor that’s larger to help take sharper shots.

Nothing Phone 3A Pro: Should you buy it?

Nothing has done a good job creating a phone that offers all of the essentials for an affordable price. Its processor can tackle all of your everyday essentials, its cameras take good-enough snaps and the six years of software support is a nice touch. The flashy design is the cherry on top.

I’m surprised by how little difference there is between the two models. With the same processor, display and 5,000-mAh battery (with 50W fast charging), the main distinctions are the added periscope zoom and the higher-resolution front-facing camera. Is photography important to you? If so, maybe spring for the Pro. Otherwise, save yourself a few bucks and go for the base model.

If you’re desperate for a new sub-$500 phone right now, either option is certainly worth considering. However, if you can stand to wait a few weeks, it’s worth seeing just how well Google and Samsung’s new affordable models stack up.

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team is used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes, using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark as well as our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using the phone daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

Technologies

I’m Still Waiting for Amazon’s Big Alexa AI Upgrade: Here’s What to Know About the Delay

Like the Apple Siri AI upgrade, it looks like Amazon’s Alexa Plus is taking much longer than anticipated. Here’s why these voice assistants are dragging their digital feet.

We attended Amazon’s February announcement of a massive Alexa AI upgrade with great interest. The new service, called Alexa Plus, promised us conversational AI to set reservations, learn what we like, analyze home video for us and control our smart entertainment on the fly — even if it came with a wee bit of privacy loss.

The enhanced Alexa was supposed to be ready to try in March. Now it’s the middle of May and we’re still waiting. I wish I could say I was surprised. Here’s what’s happening and why Echo users should practice their patience.

Read more: Amazon Alexa Just Changed Its Privacy Settings. CNET Survey Reveals 73% of Device Users Were Already Worried

Alexa Plus stalls out: We’ve seen this before

So, where’s the AI? For now, it’s still in early access, and that early access period appears to be limited. Even the few who have tried out Alexa Plus have been quiet about it. Those who’ve spoken up have said the AI is lacking critical features that were mentioned at the announcement, including ordering food on Grubhub with a conversation, entering into a story mode with kids, visually identifying family members during conversations, brainstorming ideas in a casual conversation mode, and using Alexa Plus on the Web. In other words, it’s just not ready yet.

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I’ve seen this before, very recently, with Apple’s announcement that it will be delaying Siri’s big AI upgrade, not only for a year after WWDC 2024, but then again in 2025 and possibly for as long as until 2027 according to our latest info. It’s possible Amazon watched the fallout from these delay announcements plus leaked employee complaints, and decided to be much quieter about the Alexa Plus rollout.

Either way, it could be months before the average consumer sees an option to upgrade to Alexa Plus, and with staggered rollouts, some Amazon customers could be waiting quite some time for the chatty new Alexa. No one at CNET has gotten an early access look at Alexa Plus yet, but the testing period is still ongoing, so we’re hopeful to get our hands on it very soon.

Waiting for the Show

We’re ready with Amazon Echos, Echo Shows, home cameras, smart gadgets and more to test out just what’s changed with Alexa Plus and what features have actually arrived (and what we still can’t do). But for now, it looks like we’re waiting for our own wake word — and I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexa Plus is on a similar trajectory to Siri’s AI delays, sans the troubling announcements and exposes we saw with Apple.

If you’re desperate to see what Amazon is doing with the latest Alexa AI technology, there is a way to get to the front of the line. Amazon has mentioned that during the early access period, it will focus on releasing Alexa Plus for Echo Shows. If you have an Echo Show 8, Show 10, Show 15 or Show 21, you’re more likely to see an offer for Alexa Plus if you sign up for the program.

Otherwise, we’ll keep you updated. Check out our AI Atlas to get the latest on Siri, Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok and, yes, Alexa Plus as we learn more and test out new capabilities.

Read more: The Best Smart Speakers for 2025

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

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Here’s everything we know right now about Kia’s upcoming electric pickup truck that will be coming to the US.

Technologies

18 Amazon Prime Perks That Will Make Your Life Easier

Think Prime’s just for packages? These extra perks might surprise you.

You probably already know that an Amazon Prime membership gets you free two-day shipping and access to events like Prime Day. But there are plenty of other perks that fly under the radar, including discounts you can use beyond Amazon.

One unexpected benefit? You can actually save money on gas with your Prime subscription. From grocery deals to streaming extras, there’s a lot more value packed into your membership than most people realize.

Sure, a 30-day free trial lets you take advantage of limited-time deals, but it only lets you scratch the surface of all that a membership has to offer. It might surprise you to learn what else you can get by being a Prime member. Below, we’re going to break down some of the best perks you may not know about.

Spoiler: Some of them are bangers.

For more, don’t miss out on the best Amazon tech deals and how to get great savings on Amazon right now with coupons.

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1. Watch HBO or other premium TV channels without cable

You probably know about Prime Video and Amazon Music Prime, but you might not know all the special details. Amazon Prime members have access to a large number of feature-length movies and hit original TV shows like The Boys and The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, as well as an Amazon Music Prime library featuring 2 million songs and thousands of curated playlists.

Prime members can also download movies and TV shows for watching later offline.

If a show or movie you want to watch is not included as part of your basic Prime subscription, you can subscribe to premium channels such as HBO, Showtime and Starz for $5 to $15 a month, with no need for cable or satellite service.

Music lovers can upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited to get a library of 90 million songs that can be streamed to multiple devices for $9 a month or $89 a year.

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2. Get money back by choosing no-rush shipping

If you don’t need your purchase to be delivered quickly, you can opt out of two-day or shorter delivery options by selecting «no-rush shipping» and receive your package in about six days. In return for your patience, Amazon will give you rewards.

There’s no standard for no-rush shipping rewards — they vary from item to item — but they generally provide discounts on products and services that you might buy from Amazon.

Some common rewards are $1 credits for Amazon digital services like movies, music and ebooks, $3 coupons for Amazon’s Happy Belly-branded snacks, $10 to $20 off TV or furniture purchases and $10 to $20 off Amazon Home Services.

The value of no-rush shipping will depend on whether you’ll use any of the rewards. It might not seem like much, but a few no-rush shipping selections could easily earn you the $3 to $4 you need for a free movie rental from Prime Video.

3. Whole Foods grocery discounts

If you’re a frequent shopper at Whole Foods, an Amazon Prime membership can reap serious dividends. Prime Member Deals available in physical Whole Foods stores give members discounts of 10% to 20% on selected items marked with blue Amazon stickers.

Yellow tags indicate even further savings, usually at least another 10% off an already discounted price. Prime members who scan the Whole Foods Market or Amazon app at checkout get an extra 10% off storewide sales. Prime membership also gives you access to special online deals.

4. Exclusive access to Thursday night NFL football games

It’s the second year that Amazon Prime has had exclusive rights to air Thursday Night Football, and Prime seems to be killing the game. It received five Sports Emmys nominations for its 2022 coverage and boasts a stacked cast of experts, commentators and former players.

If you are a Prime subscriber, you can stream 2023-2024 Thursday Night Football games on Prime Video, NFL +, Amazon.com or Twitch. There is also a Spanish-language broadcast available on Prime Video. TNF pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST each Thursday.

5. Free same-day Amazon Fresh delivery

Whole Foods isn’t the only grocery option available to Amazon Prime members. Subscribers also have access to the online grocery store Amazon Fresh, which provides free deliveries to some locations. Amazon Fresh has some similar products to Whole Foods but generally focuses on a broader range of groceries and home products at lower prices.

Anyone can purchase products from Amazon Fresh, but only Prime members get free same-day delivery. Amazon Fresh also has 44 physical locations that offer special weekly deals for Prime members.

6. Try on clothes and shoes before you buy them

It’s almost impossible to size clothing correctly online — to know if it fits, you have to try it on. Prime members get that chance with Amazon’s Try Before You Buy service. In specific personal shopping categories like clothes, shoes and accessories, you can order items and keep them for seven days without paying for them.

Return what you don’t want before the trial week is over, and you’ll only pay for the items that you keep. Eligible products are indicated on Amazon with a «Try Before You Buy» icon. Several online reports have indicated a limit of six products for Try Before You Buy, but the Amazon site doesn’t specify a maximum.

7. Borrow unlimited books, magazines and comics

Amazon Prime members gain access to Prime Reading, a service similar to Kindle Unlimited with a different collection of materials. You can borrow as many books as you like, and many include audible narration, so you can switch back and forth between reading and listening. The electronic downloads don’t require a Kindle or Fire device.

Amazon First Reads gives Prime members access to editors’ selections of early book releases. Anyone with a Prime membership gets one free Kindle book a month, as well as regular discounts on selected titles.

8. Prime-exclusive deals and promos

Amazon offers Prime-exclusive deals all-year round on top products meaning you can make back the cost of your membership in savings. For big shopping seasons like Black Friday or Prime Day, there are even more member-only prices to shop.

Plus, Prime subscribers often get early access to Lightning Deals. These are sort of like Amazon’s version of a fire sale, featuring very low prices for a limited number of products that usually sell out very quickly. The good news for Amazon Prime members is that they get access to these deals earlier than everyone else. The bad news? There are a lot of Amazon Prime members.

9. Exclusive Zappos deals, faster shipping and a test month for running shoes

Amazon acquired the online shoe giant Zappos back in 2009, and it now provides a number of benefits for Prime members who link their accounts on Zappos.com. Prime members get faster shipping, bonus reward points for shopping and exclusive deals on certain products.

Zappos also lets Prime members participate in Runlimited, a 30-day guarantee program for running shoes.

10. Save money on prescription drugs online or at your local pharmacy

Amazon Prime Rx Savings program gives Prime members discounts on prescription medicine, whether it’s purchased at Amazon Pharmacy or in-store at a physical pharmacy. An Amazon Rx savings card can be printed out or saved digitally and used for discounts at more than 60,000 participating pharmacies, including CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.

Amazon says that members can save up to 80% on common prescription drugs using Prime Rx, but it’s important to note that Amazon’s Prime Rx savings program does not work with health insurance. You’ll need to be sure that any savings you get from the program are more than you’d get from insurance coverage.

For more about Amazon Prime, learn about what to expect from this year’s back-to-school deals.

11. Access to Prime Gaming

Prime Gaming is a fun feature that is included with both Amazon Prime and Prime Video. Eligible subscribers are able to download content in-game for their favorite games, free games and even a free monthly Twitch channel subscription.

Prime Gaming is included with annual and monthly Prime subscriptions, Prime Student subscriptions, Amazon Prime free trials, and Prime Video memberships. It’s important to note that only one member per household may claim an offer, and if you have a Prime Video monthly free trial you will be unable to claim a free Twitch subscription. If you are using a free trial of Student Prime, your free Twitch membership will expire when your free trial expires.

12. One Medical membership discounts

One Medical is a membership-based health service that provides primary in-person and virtual health care. Its concierge-like medical service is designed to allow members to easily schedule appointments and care using the company’s mobile app or website.

Amazon acquired One Medical in February and is now offering a major discount for Prime members. Instead of the usual price of $199 a year, Amazon Prime members can subscribe for $99 a year, or $9 per month. To activate the discount, Prime members should visit this page. Existing One Medical subscribers who are Prime members can also take advantage of the discount starting with their next payment.

13. Unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos

With a subscription to Amazon Prime, you can store unlimited photos and 5GB of video on Amazon Photos. Without Amazon Prime, you’re limited to a total of 5GB of videos and photos total.

You can view or share your photos and videos on Amazon Photos using the iOS or Android app, or on a computer with the desktop or web app. Your photo and video files are both fully encrypted, so they’re only visible to people with whom you intentionally share them.

14. Get discounts on Shutterfly

Amazon has partnered with photography company Shutterfly to offer Prime members 45% off most regular-priced products. Shoppers can also get free shipping on orders of $35 or more. To get the discount, you’ll have to link your Shutterfly and Amazon accounts.

If you store your photos with Amazon, you can now access your Amazon Photos directly from Shutterfly. This makes it extra convenient for Prime members to share images from their extensive photo library.

15. Get a Grubhub Plus membership for free

Don’t feel like cooking tonight? There’s a perk for that, too.

When Amazon announced it would offer Grubhub Plus free for a year in 2022, it was a solid, but temporary, perk added to Prime. In 2023, Prime members were treated to another free year. For 2024, instead of renewing the food delivery service’s premium membership again for another year, Grubhub Plus became a permanent Amazon Prime perk.

Grubhub Plus typically costs $9.99 a month, and provides unlimited free delivery for all orders over $12 in over 4,000 cities nationwide.

16. Save on Amazon Kids Plus

If you have Amazon Prime, you also get access to discounted Amazon Kids Plus. The subscription service features a wide range of ad-free content, including books, games and videos for children ages 3 to 12. Parents can limit the amount of screen time available to their children and manage up to four profiles on iOS and Android.

The Amazon Kids Plus subscription is normally $79 a year, but Prime members can get it for $48 a year.

17. Get your package delivered on the day you want it with Amazon Day

If none of the usual delivery dates work for you, you have one additional option as a Prime member. Amazon Day is a free perk that lets you schedule your packages to arrive on your day of choice. Next time you’re on vacation, you don’t have to arrange for the neighbors to help you bring in your boxes, and you won’t have to worry about porch pirates stealing your delivery on days when you’re not home.

Amazon Day is also a great option to cut down on the number of boxes for your packages, since you can schedule multiple purchases to arrive as a single delivery.

18. Save money on gas

Do you spend several hours each week driving to and from work? If you’re an Amazon Prime member living in the US, your dollar will now stretch a little farther at the gas pump. You can save 10 cents per gallon at BP, Amoco and AM/PM gas stations — there are about 7,000 locations across the 50 states. Amazon estimates that this perk will save the average American nearly $70 per year.

Prime members who want to take advantage of this perk must first activate the offer. After the one-time activation, you can simply go to the pump and input your phone number or linked payment method for instant savings.

For more, check out these Amazon deals on tech and home goods and tips for getting the best Amazon deals.