Nothing has built its identity around unusual design choices, and the Phone (4a) Pro continues that trend. It has a transparent back with a Glyph Matrix on the left of a now wide camera module. 

For those unaware, Glyph Matrix is a circular LED display made up of 137 individually addressable LEDs. It can reach up to 3,000 nits of brightness and can show things like a stopwatch, a timer, or the weather without having to wake the screen every now and then.

Beyond aesthetics, though, the device is fairly typical in terms of size. It measures 163.7 x 76.6 x 8 mm and weighs 210 grams. The phone is also rated IP65 for dust and water resistance and has Gorilla Glass 7i protection on the front, an aluminum frame, and a glass back. 

The OnePlus 15R also has a glass front protected by Gorilla Glass 7i and an aluminum alloy frame. On the back, you can choose from either a glass finish or a fiber-reinforced plastic option, depending on the color options.

Where the OnePlus phone stands out is in durability. It carries a much stronger IP68 and IP69K rating, meaning it can withstand high-pressure water jets and immersion up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. 

The design language is also very different. It doesn’t have flashy elements, but rather an understated look with a flush back and a raised metallic camera module that resembles the flagship OnePlus 15. The phone measures 8.1 mm thick and weighs 213 grams.

Here, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro features a 6.83-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 3500 nits of peak brightness. The panel also supports 2160Hz PWM dimming to reduce flicker at lower brightness levels.

Nothing’s display is also  HDR10+ certified, and can show Ultra HDR images with up to one billion colors.

Interestingly, the OnePlus 15R has a 6.83-inch AMOLED display, but it refreshes at 165Hz. This screen is also PWM capable, HDR 10+, and Dolby Vision certified with a peak brightness of 3600 nits. 

But OnePlus has one extra gaming-focused feature. It features a dedicated chip that enables up to a 3200Hz touch sampling rate. This may not matter for most users, but it is definitely useful for competitive mobile games. 

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor built on a 4nm process. It is paired with either 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. To keep temperatures under control, Nothing has built in a vapor chamber cooling system measuring around 5,300 mm².

The OnePlus 15R, meanwhile, packs a flagship-level chip. It runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, built on an efficient 3nm process. It’s a much more powerful processor that delivers performance close to what you’d expect in a flagship device.

Nothing’s edge for the Phone (4a) Pro probably is in the camera. It features a triple rear camera setup led by a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia 700C with optical image stabilization. There is also a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom, which can extend to around 7x using in-sensor zoom techniques.

The third camera is an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens with a 120-degree field of view. It can record up to 4K videos at 30 frames per second. 

The OnePlus 15R has a simpler camera setup headlined by a 50MP-megapixel Sony IMX906 main sensor with optical image stabilization. It pairs with an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens. There is no dedicated telephoto camera here, so zoom relies on digital cropping.

However, OnePlus does offer more advanced video capabilities, including 4K recording at up to 120 frames per second. Both phones use a 32-megapixel front camera for selfies. OnePlus supports autofocus and 4K recording from the front, while Nothing limits it to 1080p at 30fps. 

OnePlus 15R wins here with a large 7,400mAh silicon-carbon battery. It supports 80W wired charging.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro uses a 5,080mAh battery for international models and a slightly larger 5,400mAh unit in India. Charging speeds reach up to 50W, and there is also a 7.5W reverse wired charging feature.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro starts at around $500 globally, with higher configurations reaching about $600 depending on the market.

The OnePlus 15R launches in India starting at ₹47,999 for the 12GB + 256GB model, with the 512GB version priced higher.

That puts both phones in a similar price range, even though their focus is quite different.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and the OnePlus 15R show how brands approach the upper midrange differently.

Nothing emphasizes design, LED lighting, and a flexible camera system with a periscope zoom lens. It’s a phone that tries to stand out visually while still offering solid everyday performance.

OnePlus, on the other hand, leans heavily into performance and battery capacity. With a flagship-level Snapdragon processor and a much larger battery, the 15R looks more like a performance-focused device.

In the end, the choice between the two depends on what matters more to users. A distinctive design and extra camera versatility, or stronger performance and longer battery life.

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