{"id":67997,"date":"2026-04-15T18:28:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/except-for-one-design-flaw-the-nothing-phone-4a-pro-is-nearly-unbreakable\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T18:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:29:18","slug":"except-for-one-design-flaw-the-nothing-phone-4a-pro-is-nearly-unbreakable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/except-for-one-design-flaw-the-nothing-phone-4a-pro-is-nearly-unbreakable\/","title":{"rendered":"Except for one design flaw, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is nearly unbreakable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 id=\"what-you-need-to-know-3\">What you need to know<\/h2>\n<ul id=\"elk-eb289c40-ff23-48a7-937c-67875a6f7b6d\">\n<li>The Nothing Phone 4A Pro performs well in brutal durability tests, especially the bend test, thanks to its aluminum unibody.<\/li>\n<li>While the metal frame is rigid, the camera plateau is made of plastic.<\/li>\n<li>The biggest drawback is the poorly placed microphone hole, making it easy to accidentally damage the water-resistant mesh with a SIM tool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr id=\"elk-46324ea3-2d7c-4971-a970-45c757bc4a8a\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-254a663d-96bb-4787-ad32-2d6c1df84ecb\">Nothing new in the mid-range <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/phones\/nothing-phones\/nothing-phone-4a-pro-review\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/phones\/nothing-phones\/nothing-phone-4a-pro-review\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/phones\/nothing-phones\/nothing-phone-4a-pro-review\">The Phone 4A Pro just faced some tough tests.<\/p>\n<p>The JerryRigEverything YouTube channel put this $499 phone through scratch, fire, and bend testing. While it mostly impressed fans with its sturdy build quality, one design choice may jeopardize its water resistance.<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-254a663d-96bb-4787-ad32-2d6c1df84ecb-2\">The 4A Pro features a CNC-milled aluminum unibody, which brings back memories of the classic HTC One or the original Pixel.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-continues-below block py-2 text-sm\">Article continues below <default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"inline-block w-2.5 h-2.5 ml-2\" fill=\"currentColor\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\" viewbox=\"0 0 1000 1000\"><default:path d=\"M1000 100L500 900 0 100h1000z\"\/><\/default:svg><\/span><\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-('') after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-(0.7rem) after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-(#ccc)&#10;            before:content-('') before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-(0.7rem) before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-(#ccc)&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><\/p>\n<p>            you may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Due to the metal back, you will not get wireless charging, but in return the phone is quite sturdy. During a bend test conducted by JRE host Jack Nelson, it remained solid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fancy-box\" id=\"elk-52c6e73b-6d9c-41e6-94ae-030547d72007\">\n<p>Android Central&#8217;s Tech<\/p>\n<div class=\"fancy_box_body\">\n<p class=\"fancy-box__body-text\">There&#8217;s no aim to stand out with its premium aluminum unibody, and it&#8217;s got a really strong, solid feel to it. But it&#8217;s disappointing that a company that focuses so much on design details can overlook something as simple as hole placement. This would have been easy to fix with a small metal grill or a slightly smaller drill bit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-89002809-e56d-48ac-a714-f42a369e91d6\">However, the teardown revealed a subtle design flaw that may surprise owners. Usually, if you accidentally put your SIM device into the microphone hole, there is a twist or mesh inside to protect it. On the 4A Pro, the waterproof mesh sits right behind the hole.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson&#8217;s tear shows that one wrong stroke of the SIM tool can break the first layer of water protection. Nothing added a second moisture barrier deeper inside, but it is easier to damage the first layer than usual.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-a33e9977-39ba-44fd-a347-4800d9548738\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"hardware-hits-and-misses-3\">Hardware is hit and miss<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-de224c6a-1d68-48d0-99ec-a63e384fea36\">Apart from the metal body, durability results were mixed. The 6.8-inch AMOLED screen uses Gorilla Glass 7i, which withstands scratches at level 6 and deep marks at level 7 on the Mohs scale. That&#8217;s pretty standard, but 5,000-nit peak brightness is impressive for a $500 phone.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-KpSh6DNn4BE54YaSJshs2b\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-KpSh6DNn4BE54YaSJshs2b slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted partner in the world of Android<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The main camera lenses are glass, but the clear area around them is plastic. This has its pros and cons: it won&#8217;t break if you drop the phone, but it will wear and scratch more easily than the rest of the device.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fancy-box\" id=\"elk-35727831-4ca7-4455-9212-b9a4e2d0a186\">\n<p>Android Central&#8217;s Tech<\/p>\n<div class=\"fancy_box_body\">\n<p class=\"fancy-box__body-text\">I&#8217;m glad to see the return of the metal unibody. I&#8217;ve always liked the solid, practical feel of aluminum more than the delicate look of modern glass phones. Still, it&#8217;s clear that Nothing focused so much on being innovative that it missed some fundamentals. Creating a microphone hole that allows a SIM device to get past the water seal is a beginner mistake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-af705014-0de0-48ac-ab41-14df9c200a8f\">Inside, the Nothing uses a large vapor chamber to help with cooling. The Indian version of the phone comes with a 5,400mAh battery, while the US model has a slightly smaller 5,080mAh battery.<\/p>\n<p>The Nothing Phone 4A Pro is a great option for those who are tired of phones with fragile glass. It&#8217;s hard, unique, and possibly the best <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/best-cheap-android-phones\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/best-cheap-android-phones\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/best-cheap-android-phones\">Best built budget phone in its price range. However, the plastic camera housing and weak microphone mesh mean it&#8217;s not completely worry-free.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"elk-iuuLBjIT4vo\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-iuuLBjIT4vo\" data-yt-video-token=\"iuuLBjIT4vo\" title=\"I have a bad feeling about this... - YouTube\">\n<span class=\"youtube-video-title\">I feel bad about this&#8230; &#8211; YouTube<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"play-button\" viewbox=\"0 0 234.67 165.33\"><default:path fill=\"red\" d=\"M229.763 25.817c-2.699-10.162-10.65-18.165-20.748-20.881C190.716 0 117.333 0 117.333 0S43.951 0 25.651 4.936C15.553 7.652 7.6 15.655 4.903 25.817 0 44.236 0 82.667 0 82.667s0 38.429 4.903 56.85C7.6 149.68 15.553 157.681 25.65 160.4c18.3 4.934 91.682 4.934 91.682 4.934s73.383 0 91.682-4.934c10.098-2.718 18.049-10.72 20.748-20.882 4.904-18.421 4.904-56.85 4.904-56.85s0-38.431-4.904-56.85\"\/><default:path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"m93.333 117.559 61.333-34.89-61.333-34.894z\"\/><\/default:svg><br \/>\n<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"watch-on-youtube-iuuLBjIT4vo\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/iuuLBjIT4vo\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/iuuLBjIT4vo\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">see here <default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"youtube-logo\" viewbox=\"0 0 507.9 113.39\"><default:g fill=\"#fff\"><default:path d=\"M64.792 80.99V32.396l42.082 24.297zm93.803-63.285a20.285 20.285 0 0 0-14.32-14.32C131.642 0 80.99 0 80.99 0S30.337 0 17.705 3.385a20.286 20.286 0 0 0-14.32 14.32C0 30.338 0 56.693 0 56.693S0 83.049 3.385 95.68A20.285 20.285 0 0 0 17.705 110c12.632 3.386 63.285 3.386 63.285 3.386s50.652 0 63.285-3.386a20.284 20.284 0 0 0 14.32-14.32c3.385-12.632 3.385-38.988 3.385-38.988s0-26.355-3.385-38.988m94.473 74.326c.887-2.314 1.332-6.098 1.332-11.35V58.556c0-5.097-.445-8.822-1.332-11.178-.888-2.355-2.452-3.533-4.69-3.533-2.163 0-3.69 1.178-4.577 3.533-.888 2.356-1.332 6.081-1.332 11.178V80.68c0 5.25.424 9.035 1.275 11.35.848 2.318 2.392 3.475 4.633 3.475 2.239 0 3.803-1.157 4.691-3.475zm-17.953 11.122c-3.207-2.16-5.486-5.52-6.835-10.079-1.352-4.554-2.027-10.617-2.027-18.185v-10.31c0-7.644.771-13.784 2.316-18.417 1.544-4.633 3.956-8.011 7.24-10.135 3.282-2.123 7.587-3.186 12.916-3.186 5.251 0 9.459 1.082 12.626 3.243 3.165 2.162 5.482 5.542 6.95 10.136 1.466 4.595 2.2 10.715 2.2 18.36v10.31c0 7.567-.714 13.65-2.142 18.243-1.43 4.595-3.747 7.955-6.951 10.077-3.205 2.124-7.548 3.186-13.03 3.186-5.64 0-10.06-1.082-13.263-3.243m248.053-57.981c-.81 1.005-1.352 2.646-1.621 4.923-.272 2.278-.404 5.734-.404 10.367v5.097h11.697V60.46c0-4.555-.155-8.011-.463-10.367-.309-2.355-.868-4.014-1.678-4.98-.812-.966-2.067-1.449-3.766-1.449-1.7 0-2.954.503-3.765 1.506zm-2.025 29.886v3.591c0 4.557.132 7.974.404 10.251.269 2.279.828 3.94 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2.838-3.241V34.229h15.986m81.995.001v71.007h-12.511l-1.391-8.688h-.345c-3.402 6.564-8.498 9.845-15.292 9.845-4.711 0-8.186-1.543-10.426-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.358-7.915-3.358-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.347 5.426 1.041 6.776.696 1.353 1.855 2.027 3.476 2.027 1.391 0 2.723-.423 3.996-1.275 1.275-.849 2.22-1.928 2.839-3.241V34.229h15.985\"\/><default:path d=\"M365.552 20.908h-15.87v84.329h-15.637v-84.33h-15.869V8.05h47.376v12.858m76.811 53.636c0 5.174-.215 9.229-.639 12.162-.424 2.937-1.139 5.021-2.143 6.255-1.004 1.236-2.357 1.854-4.053 1.854a7.404 7.404 0 0 1-3.65-.927c-1.12-.618-2.026-1.544-2.722-2.78V50.796c.54-1.93 1.467-3.513 2.78-4.749 1.313-1.234 2.74-1.853 4.285-1.853 1.623 0 2.876.637 3.766 1.91.886 1.275 1.505 3.418 1.853 6.43.348 3.011.523 7.297.523 12.857zm14.652-28.964c-.967-4.478-2.531-7.721-4.692-9.73-2.163-2.007-5.136-3.011-8.919-3.011-2.935 0-5.676.83-8.224 2.49a16.926 16.926 0 0 0-5.908 6.545h-.117l.001-37.416h-15.405v100.777h13.204l1.622-6.717h.347c1.235 2.393 3.088 4.285 5.56 5.675 2.47 1.39 5.213 2.085 8.225 2.085 5.404 0 9.382-2.491 11.931-7.471 2.548-4.982 3.823-12.76 3.823-23.341V64.23c0-7.953-.484-14.17-1.448-18.65\"\/><\/default:g><\/default:svg><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What you need to know The Nothing Phone 4A Pro performs well in brutal durability tests, especially the bend test, thanks to its aluminum unibody. While the metal frame is rigid, the camera plateau is made of plastic. The biggest drawback is the poorly placed microphone hole, making it easy to accidentally damage the water-resistant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[5639,21643,1602,1581,21644],"class_list":{"0":"post-67997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-devotionals","8":"tag-design","9":"tag-flaw","10":"tag-phone","11":"tag-pro","12":"tag-unbreakable"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68004,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997\/revisions\/68004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}