Nothing has announced its first budget phone released under its own brand, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite. While Nothing has previously launched cheaper devices under its CMF sub-brand, this is the first time we've seen a sub-$500 phone from Nothing itself.
Incidentally, most of the specs on the Nothing Phone 3a Lite line up with the CMF Phone 2 Pro from earlier this year. That certainly isn't a bad thing; we named the CMF Phone 2 Pro our best value phone of the year in the most recent WhistleOut Awards.
Shared specifications include a Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset, a 6.77-inch 1080p+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 8GB of RAM, a minimum of 128GB of expandable storage, IP54 water resistance, and a 5,000mAh battery. In terms of cameras, there's a 50MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 16MP selfie camera.
The main hardware difference is the last camera. While the CMF Phone 2 Pro had a 50MP 2x telephoto lens, the Nothing Phone 3a Lite has swapped this for a 2MP macro lens.
Otherwise, the key differences are aesthetic. The Nothing Phone 3a trades the colourful plastic back for transparent glass. There's also a singular "glyph light" that can light up for notifications.
Like the CMF Phone 2, the Nothing Phone 3a will get three years of major operating system updates and six years of security patches.
Locally, pricing for the Nothing Phone 3a Lite starts at $439 for a 128GB model or $489 for a 256GB model. The starting price is $10 cheaper than the CMF Phone 2 Pro's RRP, but JB Hi-Fi is currently selling the 128GB model for $399.
The Nothing Phone 3a Lite is meant to be available in Australia from today, but all variants are currently shown as sold out on the Nothing website. The device will also be available through Officeworks.
Alex Choros
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