The fresh blue paintwork, combined with the rather cheap-looking plastic back, makes the Nothing Phone (4a) look a bit like a child’s toy. The alternative pink variant doesn’t help much, but interested parties can also choose black and white. At least the workmanship appears clean, and according to the IP64 standard, dust and splashes of water such as rain cannot harm the device.
The Glyph interface known from Nothing models has been reduced to a light bar on the back of the device in the phone (4a). The six light squares serve as a flashlight, a customizable alarm for notifications and a progress indicator for timers or the current food delivery. A nice extra, but far from a reason to buy.
The same applies to the so-called Essential button. It has moved its position to the upper left side of the frame and can therefore be accidentally pressed significantly less often in the test than was the case with its predecessor. Their purpose is to be able to save a memory for later at any time in combination with a screenshot or camera photo. For example, when we see a good offer or don’t want to forget where we left the car keys.
The interface based on Android 16 impresses with the well-known Nothing style. If you want, you can display icons, widgets, etc. in the black and white dot style. This makes the system appear pleasantly tidy, although we have to remember the positions of the apps more easily than with brightly colored symbols. Overall, the Nothing Phone (4a) is very comfortable to use. Nothing promises updates for six years from publication. But while security updates aren’t supposed to end until 2032, major Android version updates are only guaranteed until 2029.
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