To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
- The five-star Nothing Phone (3a) is discounted down to just £229 in the Amazon Spring Deal Days sale
- This is the cheapest it has ever been, and a solid drop from the average price of £293 (calculated over the past 180 days)
- In my five-star review of the Nothing Phone (3a), I awarded it the Expert Reviews Best Buy award, due to its brilliant battery life, flawless display, useful AI features and the rare inclusion of a telephoto camera
We’re in the closing hours now of Amazon’s extra-long Spring Deal Days sale bonanza but that doesn’t mean that you’ve missed the boat on the biggest bargains. My favourite budget phone deal of the event is this fantastic price drop on the Nothing Phone (3a), which sees the price drop from an average of £293 to a record-low of just £229.
This is, in fact, the second price drop that the Phone (3a) has received in the Spring Sale – it first dipped down to £239 before getting an extra tenner off and settling at this new rock-bottom price.
It was already very tempting at its original retail price of £329 – a phone that offers a telephoto camera and a dedicated AI suite for this kind of money is essentially unheard of – but this excellent discount makes it an unmissable bargain.
If you want a killer budget phone that stands out from the crowd, jump on this Nothing Phone (3a) deal before midnight tonight, at which point the Spring Sale ends and this deal turns back into a pumpkin.
What does the Nothing Phone (3a) do well?
As alluded to above, there are two main features of the Nothing Phone (3a) that you just don’t usually see for this kind of money. The 2x telephoto camera is my favourite, producing sharp and striking optical zoom shots – particularly useful for snapping portraits – with detail and colouring that matches the excellent main camera.
The Essential Space AI, activated via a dedicated button on the lower right side of the phone, serves as a juiced-up screenshot function, snapping your screen’s content, along with your choice of notes or voice recordings, and filing them away in a dedicated app for later recall. Best of all, the AI intelligently sorts and organises your captures, allowing easy searching later, or things like events to be automatically compiled into a to-do list.
Beyond those two unique features, the Nothing Phone (3a) is just a very good phone for this price. Performance and battery life are among the best in this price range, with the latter in particular impressing with a result of over 30 hours in our testing, and the 6.77in AMOLED display is sharp, bright and beautifully colour-accurate, with an average Delta E of just 0.85 – our target is 1 or under here, so that speaks to excellent accuracy.
What are the downsides?
I’m generally a fan of the Nothing software – the widget style is very accessible and customisable, while those who prefer a more traditional look can still opt for the classic Android aesthetic instead.
Compared to phones around its price, the Phone (3a) has decent software support, with three OS updates and six years of security patches promised. As with all phones under £500, however, the threat of Google’s Pixel A-series looms large. In this case, the Pixel 8a can be picked up for around £309, and was promised seven years of software support back in 2024, meaning that it will remain updated through to 2031, whereas the Nothing’s OS updates drop off in 2028.
The only other complaint of note (this is seriously such a well-rounded budget phone) is the placement of the Essential Key. Low down on the right side is fairly annoying to access, regardless of which hand you hold it in, and it can all-too-easily be accidentally activated by a car phone holder. Nothing is very aware of this issue, as the recently announced Nothing Phone (4a) moves the button to high-up on the left edge, which works far better.
Should I buy the Nothing Phone (3a)?
Of course, to get that superior AI button placement, you’ll need to shell out over £100 more, as the new Phone (4a) starts just a little higher than its predecessor, at £349. I don’t know just yet how else it compares to the Phone (3a) – keep an eye out for my full review coming very soon.
For now, even with the shorter software support roadmap and wonky Essential Key location, the Nothing Phone (3a) is an absolutely outstanding phone. And at this price, it’s a certified bargain. I’d have recommended it at the average price of £295 but this deal price of £239 is too good to pass up. It’s the cheapest that it has ever been and broadly just a ridiculously good price for a fantastic and unique phone.
If you want to check out what other bargains we’ve dug up, head on over to our central Amazon Spring Deal Days hub, where you’ll find all of our favourite offers on everything from TVs to vacuum cleaners and much more.
