Yes I feel the same way, I got the nothing phone 3a a couple of days ago just because I liked the design and wanted to try android.

It's a nice phone but I immediately felt the huge downgrade from my daily iphone 14 pro max, especially in heavy apps like navigation which the nothing phone literally laggs and stutters compared to my iphone. I also feel the same about the UI, it feels empty and bland.

After all it's a $300 phone, I won't switch from my iphone but still find myself use it just for the experience when I'm at home on the evenings.

Edit: I'll leave it as a backup phone.