The Nothing Phone 3a Lite is most of the Phone 3a, only cheaper

The Phone 3a Lite has plenty going for it, considering its £249 price tag: Nothing’s signature hardware design, Android 15 with three years of OS updates, a bunch of cameras, and a serviceable MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset paired with eight gigs of RAM. It doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to get this one in the States, though.

The 3a Lite is the cheapest in Nothing’s Phone 3 series, coming in a full £80 under the midrange Phone 3a. Nothing made some concessions to hit that lower price point. The 3a Lite has a MediaTek chipset where the 3a’s got a beefier Snapdragon 7s Gen 3; worse dust resistance (IP54 rather than IP64); and slower charging.

Its camera system is a downgrade, too. The 3a Lite has the same 50 MP primary 8 MP ultra-wide sensors as the 3a, but here they’re joined by a spec sheet-padding 2 MP macro camera rather than a telephoto shooter.

In what Nothing calls an “evolution” of its trademark Glyph Lights, the Phone 3a Lite comes with a single Glyph Light LED, positioned near the bottom right corner on the phone’s back. The light can be customized to flash in different patterns for different types of notifications, so it’s at least functionally similar to Nothing’s more elaborate Glyph setups.

The 3a Lite does retain Nothing’s Essential Key, though it’s unfortunately still right next to the power button. The 3a Lite’s 6.77″ 1080p AMOLED display seems unchanged from the pricer Phone 3a. Both phones also have 5,000 mAh batteries in common.

The Phone 3a Lite is the cheapest phone Nothing has released to date, outside its CMF sub-brand. If you’re in the UK or EU market, you can grab the Nothing Phone 3a Lite in black or white colors from nothing.tech right now for £249 or €249. Nothing hasn’t announced availability in other territories.