Thought Nothing was done with new phones for 2025? Think again.
As we reported earlier this month, the company has confirmed that it’ll launch its “first entry-level smartphone” this week: the Phone (3a) Lite.
Specifically, the phone will be unveiled this Wednesday, 29 October, so you don’t have to wait long to find out all about it.
An official blog post announcing the news gives little away, although we do have confirmation that the phone will include some transparent design elements, just like Nothing’s other handsets. The “Light up the everyday” tagline also suggests that the rear ‘Glyph’ lights will be returning, despite their removal from the flagship Phone (3).
The post is accompanied by a rather cryptic teaser image (shown above) that doesn’t tell us much.
But even before it launches, I have one big question: why? In the context of Nothing’s other phones and everything that’s come before, the Phone (3a) Lite doesn’t make much sense at all.
Carl Pei suggested there wouldn’t be one
At Tech Advisor, we report on plenty of rumours regarding upcoming smartphones, adding the caveat that they may not ever come to pass.
However, when information comes directly from the manufacturer, we tend to believe it. So, when Nothing CEO Carl Pei posted on X after the Phone (3) launch in July to say “the series 3 familia is complete”, we took that to be a fact.
Was that a deliberately misleading post, or has something significant changed since then?
We might never know, but Nothing’s assertion that the Phone (3a) Lite will be “completing our Phone (3) Series lineup” suggests a clear shift in strategy.
But that’s not all. Some facts about existing models make me believe that a fourth phone is totally unnecessary.
Nothing already has a budget phone sub-brand
Until now, each Phone (3) series handset made a lot of sense. At one end of the scale, the regular Phone (3a) offers the best smartphone experience of any sub-£400 handset. Conversely, the £799/$799 Phone (3) adds something genuinely unique to the flagship smartphone space. In the middle, the Phone (3a) Pro balances premium features with a modest £449 price tag.
Luke Baker
You might be thinking that there’s an opportunity in the budget smartphone space, but that’s where Nothing’s CMF sub-brand comes in. The CMF Phone 2 Pro, which launched in May, already offers a compelling experience for just £219, and I highly doubt the Phone (3a) Lite would go even cheaper than that.
Which brings me to my next concern…
It probably won’t be much cheaper than the Phone (3a)
At the time of their respective launches, there was a £100 price difference between the £219 CMF Phone 2 Pro and the regular Phone (3).
Prices fluctuate all the time, but it gives Nothing a very small cost range to slot in another new phone, unless it surprises us all with a sub-£200 device.
Indeed, according to French site Dealabs, the Phone (3a) Lite will retail between €239.99 and €249.99 in Europe. Assuming the UK figure is similar (judging by the (3a) and (3a) Pro, a US launch seems unlikely), that would make it around £70-80 cheaper than the Phone (3a) when paying full price.
Luke Baker
Given how good the Phone (3a) is, it’ll be hard to convince people not to spend the extra money, especially if there are significant downgrades on the (3a) Lite. And with Black Friday just a few weeks away, the Phone (3a) feels ripe for significant discounts, even though nothing (unavoidable pun) is confirmed at this stage.
I really hope I’m proved wrong, and that the Phone (3a) Lite is a superb device that more than justifies its existence. But at this stage, I really can’t see that happening.
Interested in the Phone (3a) Lite’s likely rivals? See our full guide to the best budget phones you can buy.
