There's a buzz around the latest Nothing Phone (3a) Pro release, especially as it promises something new in the camera department. Fans have been asking Nothing to work on its camera module for quite some time now, and today I can confirm that it has delivered, making the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro one of the best budget camera phones at a price of just $459 / £449 - although this has come at a cost of a controversial design shift for Nothing that our Arts and 3D Editor isn't too keen on.
I'm always interested in the growing performance of smartphone photography, especially now that almost all of the best camera phones are being stuffed with AI tools for the best possible shot. And gone is the day that the only option for quality content creation was from one of the best iPhones for photography – there are some serious contenders out there now.
I got my hands on the new Nothing Phone (3a) Pro in the office this morning, so I headed out into the sunny streets of Bath for a camera phone shootout pitting the futuristically designed Nothing Phone (3a) Pro against my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Take a look at the results and image sliders below (drag the slider to see the full image) and compare how Nothing's newest flagship held up. You should also take a look at my London camera phone shootout to see how the top camera phone recommended by Rankin faired against my S24 Ultra.
Camera Phone Specs
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Nothing 3a Pro and Samsung S24 Ultra specs
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Nothing Phone 3a Pro
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Chipset:
Qualcomm SM7635: Snapdragon 7s Gen 3
Qualcomm SM8650-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Main Camera:
50 MP (f/1.9) 24mm wide with a Samsung 1/1.56-inch sensor
200 MP (f/1.7) 24mm
Zoom Camera:
50MP Sony Periscope (f/2.6) 70mm (3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom, 60x ultra zoom) with a 1/1.95-inch sensor.
The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro comes equipped with a generous triple-lens array featuring a 50MP (f/1.9) wide lens, a 50MP 70mm periscope telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide lens, which is a little bit meh but still nice to have as an option. I found that the default setting with the Nothing (3a) Pro is a 12MP quality image, so you'll need to go into the phone settings and change this if you want to get the best out of the camera phone.
In comparison, my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts a 200MP main camera (f/1.7), a 10MP telephoto (f/2.4), a 50MP periscope telephoto (f/3.4), and a 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2) camera array. In terms of footage, my Samsung can shoot 8K at 30fps, compared with 4K at 30fps with the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro.
As you can see from the image galleries and sliders above, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has a very capable camera unit that produces vibrant shots. The beautiful weather in Bath this morning has definitely helped the cause, but the Nothing seems to have truly captured the vibrancy and essence of Spring.
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I used the same 50MP lens and aspect ratio on both camera phones wherever possible to keep things fair. See Rankin's 8 steps to smartphone photography success for some excellent tips on portraiture with a smartphone.
Image galleries
Photos from the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
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Photos from my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
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I was also hugely impressed by the Macro mode on the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, which actually beat my S24 Ultra in both quality and the distance needed between the phone camera and the subject.
Verdict
I have to say that I think my Samsung S24 Ultra takes the win on this one, as even though theNothing Phone (3a) Pro comes very close, the image quality just isn't on par, as you can see when zooming into the crisp details of the images. However, one area where the Nothing phone really shines is with the Macro camera and the front camera in portrait mode, and I really enjoyed getting to test out this new camera phone. Also – that's a pretty tempting price!
Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. Beth kicked off her journalistic career writing for Digital Camera World, and has since earned bylines on TechRadar too. With a Masters degree in Photography, Beth loves getting to tinker with new cameras, especially camera phones, as the resident Samsung fan on the team. Her background working as a tester for CeX let her play around with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, including robots, and she’s recently gotten into 3D printing too. Outside of CB, you’ll find her gaming on her PS5, photographing local shows under the alias Bethshootsbands, and making TikToks of her dog, Tilly.
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