Nothing Accused of Faking Phone 3a Camera Comparison
In the build-up to the March 4 launch, Nothing has been aggressively promoting the Phone 3a series by trickling bits of information across their media channels. This also included a controversial attempt to showcase the Phone 3a’s camera superiority over the latest iPhone. However, viewers were quick to point out inconsistencies in the comparison.
Nothing Allegedly Faked the Video Comparison, Used Ultrawide Instead of Main Lens in Sample Shots
In a YouTube video titled “Unreleased Phone (3a) vs iPhone 16 Pro Max,” the company compared the Phone 3a’s camera to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Even though the iPhone is priced at four times the 3a, Nothing sort of prides itself on showing how its devices outperform the “competition” at a fraction of the price.
The comparison included several photos and a video proudly showcasing the Phone 3a’s new periscope camera, and how the stabilization on it was better than the iPhone. Nothing even included a link to Google Drive in the video description to try to be “more transparent.” However, this backfired.
Some people pointed out that the sample video for the Phone 3a wasn’t entirely raw but instead edited, thereby undermining the authenticity of the comparison. In the image comparison, particularly the food picture, Nothing claimed to have used 5x zoom on the iPhone and 6x zoom on the 3a, with the latter looking “equally good.”
The catch, however, is that the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 5x zoom takes photos at 120mm with an f/2.8 aperture, but the metadata showcased 152mm on f/1.78, which means that the image was taken on the main sensor, zooming it in at 7x.
Even with the video comparison, the Nothing Phone 3a’s shot was taken via its main sensor, but for the iPhone, the sample video came from its ultrawide. Nothing did however accept part of their mistake and pinned a comment under the very same video acknowledging their mistake.
In editing, a clip shot using the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s ultrawide lens was mistakenly used in the video stabilisation comparison instead of one shot using its standard lens. There was no intent to mislead, and we’ll be more careful to ensure even greater scrutiny in future comparisons.
The phone will be available starting March 4, 2025. Until then, this is all we know, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
