Nothing Phone (3a)

Nothing Phone (3a)
R8,500
SKU: 5514
Brand: Nothing Phone
Category: Mobiles
Available
  • CPU: Octa-core (1x2.5 GHz Cortex-A720 & 3x2.4 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A520)
  • RAM: 8GB/12GB
  • Storage: 128GB/256GB
  • Display: AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1300 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak)
  • Camera: 50 MP
  • OS: Android 15, up to 3 major Android upgrades

Our Rating

The overall rating is based on review by our experts

8.5
  • Display 8 / 10
  • Camera 8 / 10
  • Performance 9 / 10
  • Battery 9 / 10

PROS

  1. Transparent and LED light on the back.
  2. 6.77-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz, HDR10+.
  3. Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, 8/12GB RAM.
  4. Dual 50MP rear camera with 32MP selfie.
  5. Stereo speakers, NFC and 50W charging.

CONS

  1. No IP68/69 certification.

The Nothing Phone (3a) has solidified its place in the South African mid-range market as a brilliant breath of fresh air. It is tailor-made for users who are tired of generic-looking smartphones and want an intentional blend of distinctive design, long-lasting battery life, and incredibly clean software.

Here is a comprehensive look at its local pricing, nationwide availability, and standout features.

Local Pricing & Smart Buying Factors

In South Africa, the Nothing Phone (3a) enters the mid-range tier with an incredibly competitive starting price of approximately ZAR 8,500.

When shopping around for this device, keep these key factors in mind:

  • Storage Tiers: The baseline ZAR 8,500 price typically gets you a very generous configuration, often pairing 8 GB or 128 GB of baseline internal storage up to higher 256 GB models. Because it manages applications incredibly efficiently, multitasking remains silky smooth.

  • Regional Pricing Variances: Exact cash prices can experience minor shifts across different provinces depending on independent merchant promotions, regional distribution logistics, or brick-and-mortar storefront clearances.

  • Network Contracts: If you prefer not to pay the full cash amount upfront, the Phone (3a) is available on affordable 24-month or 36-month contracts through local cellular operators, letting you pay it off alongside your monthly data allocations.

Where to Buy the Nothing Phone (3a) in South Africa

Nothing has secured a massive retail footprint across South Africa, ensuring you can easily find the Phone (3a) cash or on contract through major hypermarkets, digital e-commerce platforms, and network operators:

  • E-Commerce Platforms & Tech Specialists: Takealot, HiFi Corp, and Hi Online.

  • Cellular Networks & Mobile Specialist Outlets: Available on contract upgrades and prepaid via MTN, Chatz Connect, Cellucity, and 4U.

  • Major Hypermarkets & Department Stores: Makro, Game, and Foschini.

  • Everyday Convenience & Value Stores: Mr Price, PEP, and Ackermans.

Standout Features: Symmetrical Design and Pure Software

The Nothing Phone (3a) strips away unnecessary gimmicks to focus on excellent daily performance, wrapped in an iconic visual package.

  • The Symmetrical Glyph Interface: The phone features Nothing’s signature semi-transparent back design, anchoring a centered dual-camera layout nicknamed “the eyes.” Surrounding the cameras is an optimized, multi-segmented Glyph LED light array. These lights flash for incoming calls, act as a visual countdown timer for photos, indicate volume levels, and provide silent, custom notifications for your favorite contacts.

  • Stunning, Symmetrical AMOLED Screen: Moving to the front, the phone features a beautiful 6.7-inch flexible AMOLED display with perfectly uniform, symmetrical bezels on all four sides. Supporting a fluid 120 Hz refresh rate and over 1 billion vibrant colors, it offers an immersive, premium viewing experience for local streaming apps and gaming.

  • Clean, Bloatware-Free Nothing OS: Running Nothing OS on top of a modern Android framework, the phone provides an incredibly fast, fluid user experience. It is completely free of pre-installed junkware or annoying duplicate apps. The interface features a unique pixel-art aesthetic with highly customizable home screen widgets designed to help you reduce screen time.

  • Dual 50 MP Camera System: The dual rear array completely skips low-quality filler lenses. Instead, it pairs a 50 MP main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to stop hand-shake blur, alongside a 50 MP ultra-wide camera with a $114^\circ$ field of view. This setup captures exceptionally balanced, color-accurate photos in both bright daylight and challenging night conditions.

  • Dimensity Power & Unstoppable Battery: Under the hood is the custom-co-engineered MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro processor, built on a power-efficient 4nm process that easily cruises through daily multi-tasking. Paired with a massive 5000 mAh battery, the phone comfortably clears a day and a half of heavy use and supports 45W fast charging to get you back up and running swiftly.

 

Full Specifications

General

Brand Nothing Phone
Model Nothing Phone (3a)
Announced 04 March, 2025
Released 11 March, 2025
Status Available
Price ZAR 8,500

Design

Type Design Type called form factor refers to a mobile phone's size, shape, and style as well as the layout and position of major components of phone. There are three major form factors seen in mobile phones => bar phones, folding phones and sliding phones. Bar
Dimensions 163.5 x 77.5 x 8.4 mm (6.44 x 3.05 x 0.33 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz)
Protection IP64 dust tight and water resistant (water splashes)
Colors Black, White, Blue

Network

2G Network
3G Network
4G Network
5G Network
SIM SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a small card that contains mobile network subscriber's account information. This allows the phone using the card to attach to a mobile network. The SIM card is most commonly associated with GSM and UMTS mobile networks. Moving a SIM card from one phone to another allows a subscriber to switch mobile phones without having to contact their mobile network carrier. SIM cards can also be used by a phone to store limited amounts of data, such as phone numbers and text messages. Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM

Display

Display Type Display Technology => A number of display technologies and types used in mobile phones => TFT (Thin Film Transistor), IPS (In-Place Switching), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode), Super AMOLED (an even advanced version of AMOLED), Resistive Touchscreen (Resistive touchscreens contain two layer of conductive material with a very small gap between them which acts as a resistance), Capacitive Touchsceen (Capacitive touchscreen technology consists of a layer of glass coated with a transparent conductor) AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (typ), 1300 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak)
Size 6.77 inches, 111.5 cm2 (~88.0% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1080 x 2392 pixels (~387 ppi density)
Display Protection Display Protection => Gorilla Glass is a special alkali-aluminosilicate glass shield with exceptional damage resistance that helps protect mobile displays from scratches, drops, and bumps of everyday use, It is always better to go for a smartphone with Gorilla Glass for that added protection and peace of mind. Panda Glass

Media

Audio Playback
Video Playback
FM Radio No
Ring Tones
Loudspeaker

Camera

Main Camera Camera is able to capture photographs and usually videos, The most important characteristics of a camera are the resolution (measured in megapixels), lens focus type (fixed or automatic), higher megapixel cameras are known to capture higher quality photos, but not always a good measurement of the photos quality. 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm (wide), 1/1.57", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS
50 MP, f/2.0, 50mm (telephoto), 1/2.74", 0.64µm, PDAF (25cm - ∞), 2x optical zoom
8 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/4.0", 1.12µm
Video 1080p@30fps
Selfie Camera 32 MP, f/2.2, 22mm (wide), 1/3.44"
Video 1080p@30fps

Software

Operating System OS => Every computer system run on a base software called Operating System (OS). Operating System controls all basic operations of the computer (such as smartphone, PDAs, tablet computers and other handheld devices). The Operating System allows the user to install and run third party applications (apps), apps are used to add new functionality to the device. Android 15
User Interface UI or user interface of a device is the look and feel of the on-screen menu system. How it works, its color scheme, how it responds to button presses, all of these things are part of the user interface. Nothing OS 3.1

Hardware

Chipset Chipset is a group of integrated circuits designed to perform one or a more dedicated functions, often with real time computing constraints, Popular smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming. Qualcomm SM7635 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4 nm)
CPU CPU (Central Processing Unit) mostly known as processors, CPU processes instructions in order to carry out certain functions that make your device operate properly. Processors are often described as the brain of computers, smartphones and tablets, Smartphones and tablets rely on processors to carry out their every task, Processors are an incredibly important factor in selecting any type of computing device, including your smartphone. Octa-core (1x2.5 GHz Cortex-A720 & 3x2.4 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A520)
GPU GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a single-chip processor designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display, This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D motion. Adreno 710 (940 MHz)
RAM (Memory) RAM (Random Access Memory) is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes that allows information to be stored and accessed quickly from random locations. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computer systems, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. 8GB/12GB
Internal Storage Internal Storage is a data storage space (flash memory) mostly used in smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices where operating system, apps, music, photos, videos, files and other user data Is stored. 128GB/256GB
Card Slot Memory Card Slot is a special slot for inserting a memory card. Memory cards allow you to expand the phone's built-in memory, A memory card (sometimes called a flash memory card or a storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable or remote computing devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras. No
Sensors Sensors are electronic components that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical environment. The specific input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure and location, The output is generally a signal that is converted to use in computing systems, a location sensor, such as a GPS receiver is able to detect current location of your electronic device. Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Circle to Search

Connectivity

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a wireless communications technology for exchanging data between mobile phones, headsets, computers and other network devices over short distances without wires, Bluetooth technology was primarily designed to support simple wireless networking of personal consumer devices. 5.4, A2DP, LE
Wi-fi Wi-Fi is a popular wireless networking technology using radio waves to provide high-speed network connections that allows devices to communicate without cords or cables, Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of internet connectivity all over the world. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-fi Hotspot
USB USB Type-C 2.0, OTG
Positioning GPS The Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio navigation system, GPS permits users to determine their position, velocity and the time 24 hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the world, In order to locate your position, your device or GPS receiver must have a clear view of the sky. GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS
NFC NFC (Near field communication) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish peer-to-peer radio communications with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches.

Battery

Battery Type Battery Type => Cell phones run on various kinds of batteries depending on the manufacturer, phone size or shape and features. There are basically four types of cell phone batteries => Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride and Nickel Cadmium. 5000 mAh
Charging Wireless Charging (Inductive Charging) uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is usually done with a charging station. Energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device. 50W wired, 50% in 19 min, 100% in 56 min

Reviews

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  • Rate this Product

  • Screen size, image quality (brightness, colors, contrast, etc), visibility in sun light, angles of view and touchscreen.
    6
  • Usability of Camera interface, image and video quality in different light conditions and environment.
    5
  • Is this device perform good while watching videos, playing games, taking snapshots, browsing internet and navigate through other applications?
    5
  • What about battery life, while calling, listening music, watching videos, playing games and doing other tasks.
    6
  • 6 / 10 based on your selection

Disclaimer Note

The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only.

Price in South Africa
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