Hi Everyone, this is gonna be my first post on the Nothing community and I just wanted to share my impressions with the Nothing phone 3a which I’ve acquired yesterday.
Just for added context, I’ve used the Nothing phone 1 and the Nothing phone 2 briefly, and had used the Nothing Phone 2a last year for the extended period and had been bouncing back and fourth between iOS and Android (Samsung, Realme, OPPO) back in 2024.
Back in November of 2024, When Apple launched the promised iPhone packing in a ton of AI features, as an avid user of Apple devices, I got on the train and acquired the iPhone 16 which in all honesty, after using this as my daily for the past few months, is just a glorified refurbished iPhone of the past with some incremental enhancements.
Now because of the relentless anticipation for updates to be rolled out which no clear direction on when these AI enhancements would come into play, I figured, I consider going back to Nothing, as there’s just more value for the money versus an expensive piece of tech that barely does anything really special.
Like past smartphones I would acquire and do a review with, it is a general rule for me to have an open mind as opposed to having preferences on what I want. Additionally, unlike most who always aim to have a flagship or the latest and greatest of what a brand offers, I actually have a soft spot for entry levels to mid-range devices mainly because most consumers would be in that category and I did grew up in hard times which limited my capacity to acquire such tech 10 years ago.
This was acquired through Digital Walker (not sponsored), literally went there and purchased the 256 GB model, and to be fair it was a bit of a toss up if I would go for the CMF Phone 1 which is currently discounted or go for the newer 3a series.
I went with the later and opted to go for the 256 GB variant since my iPhone 16 got clipped to 128 GB due to the price point.
Design wise, it is very much familiar with the previous 2a that I’ve owned, although on GSMArena, it did indicate that there are some very minor changes with the screen display size as well as the dimensions of the body and all that, to my hands, this is quite the big phone 😅. Probably what contributed to this “feel” is the fact that I was using a 6.1″ iPhone, so having to bump that to 6.77″ it does feel massive, but all in good as I get to enjoy more content on display.
Additional Features:
A few things I’ve noticed was the ring tones, I still remember the original set of ringtones pre-installed on my 2a, and the set of tones for the 3a have been updated which is great.
The introduction to the Essential space is interesting, although from the looks of which it is still in its early stages but, considering the device is to get 3 years of software updates, i’m very much excited to see what enhancements this device would get that would take advantage of the essential space.
One thing that I normally would look for with Android devices is the ability to hide apps, or to secure applications I don’t want people looking into. I’m glad that Nothing had included this new update which then allows you to hide or secure applications, files and the like which i very much appreciated.
While I can’t say for sure if this is going to be my daily driver for the next month to the years to come, but one thing is for sure, i’m gonna be going all in with the 3a and will try to create more content, social media posts and reviews with this device, very optimistic on what this thing can do.
P.S.
While i have not actually done any actual testing, i’ve been playing Diablo Immortal on this at 60FPS and the gameplay is AMAZING!🤣
Cheers for now!
