Month: March 2025

Nothing has launched its new mid-range Phone 3a series in India, packing a 6.77-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, a 50MP telephoto lens, and a 5,000mAh battery. The marketing hype around the device might convince you it’s the top device to buy around the ₹30,000 mark, but that doesn’t quite hold up when you dig into the facts.

For anyone hunting for options in this price range, we’ve rounded up five phones that could deliver better value than the Phone 3a Pro, depending on the individual’s use cases.

5 Phones that offer better value than Nothing Phone 3a Pro:

1) Poco X7 Pro:

The Poco X7 Pro starts at ₹2,000 less than the Nothing Phone 3a Pro and offers better value in several key areas, including processor performance, battery life, fast charging, and water resistance.

While the Phone 3a Pro’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is a mid-level chipset, the X7 Pro shines with the MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra chipset, delivering near-flagship performance. It is also paired with faster LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, compared to the LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage on the Nothing device. Moreover, the Phone 3a Pro’s base storage is just 128GB, while the X7 Pro starts at 256GB.

Battery and charging are another area where Poco X7 Pro takes the lead. It packs a massive 6,550mAh battery with 90W fast charging support (adapter included in the box). Nothing Phone 3a Pro, on the other hand, comes with a smaller 5,000mAh battery, no adapter in the box (sold separately), and slower 50W of wired charging.

When it comes to water resistance, the X7 Pro shines with IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings, meaning it can handle full submersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes and even withstand hot or cold water jets from any direction. Compare that to the Phone 3a Pro’s IP64 rating, which only covers splash resistance.

2) Realme 14 Pro+:

While the Realme 14 Pro+ is powered by the same Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor as the Phone 3a Pro, it has a few other things going for it.

For starters, just like the Poco X7 Pro, the Realme 14 Pro+ comes with IP66, IP68 and IP69 water resistance ratings, offering far better protection than the Phone 3a Pro’s IP64 rating. It also features a higher resolution and newer 6.83-inch 1.5K Quad curved AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, compared to the Full HD+ resolution found on the Phone 3a Pro.

Realme 14 Pro+ also comes with a 6,000mAh battery and support for 80W of wired fast charging (adapter included), compared to the slower and smaller battery on the Phone 3a Pro.

While the Realme 14 Pro+ starts with the same 8GB LPDDR4X RAM as the Phone 3a Pro, it offers a larger and faster 256GB UFS 3.1 storage.

Another area where the Realme matches the Phone 3a Pro is that it also comes with a 50MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 50MP 3x telephoto rear camera arrangement.

However, Nothing takes the lead on paper with a 50MP selfie sensor compared to the 32MP shooter on the Realme. The Realme 14 Pro+ also costs around ₹2,000 more than the Phone 3a Pro. 

3) OnePlus Nord 4:

OnePlus Nord 4 also features a higher resolution 6.74-inch 1.5K AMOLED display compared to the Phone 3a Pro. It also comes with a much more powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen processor and support for LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.

The Nord 4 has a larger 5,500mAh battery and 100W of wired fast charging (adapter included) – twice the speed of the Phone 3a Pro.

In terms of optics, the Nord 4 also comes with a 50MP primary sensor and 8MP ultra-wide angle lens, but lacks a telephoto lens. It also has a lower-resolution 16MP selfie shooter than the Phone 3a Pro. A big caveat with all these camera comparisons, though, is that higher megapixels do not always mean better image quality, and there are many factors at play, including software optimisations by the individual brands.

4) Vivo T3 Ultra:

Similar to other phones on this list, Vivo T3 Ultra features a higher resolution 6.78 inch 1.5K AMOLED display. It is also paired with a much more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ processor, supporting LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage—giving it an edge over the Phone 3a Pro.

Two other areas where the T3 Ultra outperforms the Phone 3a Pro are battery and water resistance. The T3 Ultra packs a larger 5,500mAh battery and support for 80W fast charging (adapter included in the box). The Vivo T3 Ultra also has an IP68 rating, which means it can withstand a 30-minute swim without breaking a sweat, unlike the Phone 3a Pro.

While the Vivo T3 Ultra comes with a similar 50MP primary sensor and 8MP ultra-wide lens, it lacks the 50MP telephoto lens. However, it does match the Phone 3a Pro with a 50MP selfie shooter. Although the T3 Ultra does not have the ZEISS branding (unlike Vivo’s high end phones) on its lens, Vivo has really tuned the camera algorithm on this phone to provide good picture quality. You can read more about this in my full review here.

5) Motorola Edge 50 Pro:

Motorola Edge 50 Pro also has a higher resolution 6.7-inch 1.5K 10-bit pOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. While it has a smaller 4,500mAh battery, there is support for a massive 125W of wired fast charging (adapter included), 59W of wireless charging and 10W of reverse wireless charging.

The Edge 50 Pro also has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, up from the IP64 rating of the Phone 3a Pro.

The Motorola mid-ranger has a similar 50MP primary sensor to the Phone 3a Pro, but a higher resolution 13MP ultra-wide angle lens and a lower resolution 10MP 3x telephoto shooter.

What’s more, the Edge 50 Pro currently sells for around ₹27,999 (excluding bank offers) and you don’t even have to buy a separate adapter.