Nothing’s latest quirky smartphone is a huge aluminium Android with three cameras and a big LED matrix screen on the back that challenges the notion mid-range phones can’t be just a bit more fun.The Phone 4a Pro is a bit of a departure from UK-based Nothing’s previous glass-clad transparent designs. It still has a touch of those elements but only in the camera island at the top, with the rest of the body now solid aluminium – a rare sight in the world of Android phones.It costs £499 (€479/$499/A$949), sitting above the regular Phone 4a at £349 and below the top-of-the-line Phone 3 costing £699. That puts the Phone 4a Pro in direct competition with some very good, if less interestingly designed, rivals such as the Google Pixel 10a.The screen is bright, colourful and crisp with a high 144Hz refresh rate that keeps your scrolling smooth. It’s great for watching video on the commute. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianThe slim aluminium body feels great, but the 4a Pro is a very big phone with a huge 6.83in OLED screen on the front. Only a handful of phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra or iPhone 17 Pro Max are quite that big, making it a two-handed affair most of the time.The large camera island on the back contains a big, bright circular dot-matrix LED screen, which can display notification icons, the time, timers, volume and charge levels. But it can also be used as a rough selfie screen for the rear camera or to show fun little widgets such as a moon phase tracker or others downloaded from Nothing’s user community.The dot-matrix LED screen on the back of the phone can show timers, notifications and other tools. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianSimilar to previous iterations of Nothing’s Glyph interface, much of it is a bit gimmicky, but having the time on the back of the phone or seeing icons for certain notifications is surprisingly useful.Specifications