After the MWC rush, this week has been fairly quiet in terms of new launches, but the arrival of the Nothing Phone (3a) could make a big splash in the market – more so than the Galaxy A56, which is yet to come and might have its lunch eaten by the Galaxy S24 FE once it does arrive.
The Nothing Phone (3a) is a mid-ranger and is available in two configurations, both under £400. Nothing doesn’t do small phones, so this one is equipped with a 6.77” 1080p+ display (120Hz, 10-bit, HDR10+, 3,000 nits). Instead of a Dimensity chip, the company picked a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 this time around. The battery is a 5,000mAh cell with 50W wired-only charging.
The camera setup includes a 50MP main (1/1.57”, OIS) and now a 50MP 50mm telephoto (2x), plus an 8MP ultra-wide and a 32MP selfie. Check out our hands-on review for camera samples. If that isn’t enough camera for you, you may want to wait a couple of weeks for the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro to arrive.
Speaking of, the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro gets a better tele camera – a 70mm periscope with OIS (sorely needed at longer focal lengths) and a 50MP sensor. The main camera adds Dual Pixel AF, while the selfie camera gets a 50MP sensor capable of 4K @ 30fps video capture (the regular (3a) selfie cam tops out at 1080p). Another thing to note is that the Pro has an eSIM, which is becoming a must-have for travel. One last thing to note, you can get a pair of Nothing Ear (a) TWS buds for just £15 more (these go for £80 on their own right now).
While we wait for Samsung to release the Galaxy A56, here’s a look at the Galaxy S24 FE. It costs more – the A56 256GB is £500 – but the S24 FE is paired with free Galaxy Buds FE and a Galaxy Fit3. Plus, it has a faster chipset (Exynos 2400e vs. 1580), better water resistance (IP68 vs. IP67), a telephoto camera (8MP 75mm) and a USB-C port capable of outputting DeX to an external display. Note that S24 FE’s battery is smaller (4,700mAh vs. 5,000mAh) and slower to charge with a cable (25W vs. 45W), but it also has a wireless option (15W).
For the same price as the S24 FE, you can have a Xiaomi 14T Pro instead. This comes with the slightly faster Dimensity 9300+, plus a higher quality display – with 144Hz refresh rate and 12-bit colors, plus Dolby Vision. And the 5,000mAh battery on this one can do 120W over USB-C and 50W with the right wireless charger. The camera system includes a 50MP main with a larger sensor, 50MP 60mm telephoto and a 12MP ultra-wide.
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the iPhone 16e while it was still on pre-order. It became available at the end of February, but there are no discounts yet.
You can also look at the iPhone 16 and 15, both of which have a token discount of £60. The 16 is a strict upgrade over the 16e, though it does cost £140 more, even with the discount. The iPhone 15 loses Apple Intelligence but gains a 12MP ultra-wide camera and a Dynamic Island instead of a notch. Plus, both the 16 and 15 have proper MagSafe support. And the 15 is only £40 more than the 16e.
Apple released its new tablets and computers this week. The new basic iPad now flaunts 128GB base storage, but not enough RAM or chipset performance to run Apple Intelligence. The A16 chipset still offers a performance boost over the 2022 model, but this and the storage are the only things that Apple changed.
Apple recently refreshed the iPad mini and while it picked an older chipset for it as well, at least it went with an A17 Pro and paired it with enough RAM to run Apple Intelligence. Even if you don’t care about AI, the extra performance is tangible. The mini is currently £100 more than the vanilla model, but make sure that the smaller (8.3” vs. 11”) form factor is right for you.
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