Everything We Know about the Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro

By Dean Blake - Guide

Published: 5 Mar 2025

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Readtime: 7 min

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• Nothing’s latest phones, the (3a) and (3a) Pro, are launching later this month
• The (3a) starts at AU$599, while the Pro lands at AU$849.
• Both phones come equipped with Nothing’s new AI function, Essential Space

When I reviewed UK-based tech brand Nothing’s flagship Phone (2) earlier this year, I was mainly concerned with what the company would be dropping next. Well, now we have a very good look at what that next step is.

The Nothing Phone (3) is launching on 11 March, and starts at AU$599, while the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro launches on 25 March at AU$849. You can pre-order them at select retailers starting 4 March.

The Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro were originally shown off about a month ago, but with very limited information. Well, now we have our hands on the devices, and while you can expect a review in the next week or two, I wanted to lay down everything we already know about the phones.

Firstly, they’ve got a brand new design, showcasing the impressive craftmanship Nothing is known for. You can really mistake a phone by Nothing with any other tech brand, which I think is a strength and a differentiator in a sea of slightly curved rectangles, and while the design of the (3a) is certainly different than the (2) and (2a) before it, it isn’t likely to be mistaken for anything else.

There’s quite a bit updated internally, which we’ll get to, but it’s also worth noting that there’s also a brand new button on the side of the device that launches something called ‘Essential Space’ – Nothing’s own, mindfullness-focused take on AI. The goal with Essential Space is to act as something of a personal assistant to you: remembering important information for you, collating screenshots such, so that when you need to know something, it’s already got the answers for you. Again, I’ll be testing these phones over the next few weeks, so I’ll report back on how helpful this is, but that’s what Nothing’s going for.

Tech Specs

The Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro, despite being launched before the upcoming flagship-replacement (3) phone, fit more comfortably into the ‘affordable’ smartphone category. That is to say that while the (3a) recieved a bump in power compared to the (2a), it’s not leading the industry in terms of graphical or computational power.

Rather, it’s meant to deliver what you need from a phone, with a little bit of special sauce, for a more affordable AU$599.

It wouldn’t be a new device by Nothing without a focus on design. While the (3a) looks like an evolution of the (2a) in terms of camera placement and glyph design, the (3a) Pro is a bigger step away from what the brand has done before.

Of note is the bigger camera system housing a ‘periscope’ camera, rather than the more traditional telephoto lens seen in the (3a).

What does this mean for the mobile photographer? Well, a ‘periscope’ design allows for a longer zoom lens that stretches the width of a phones interior, rather than one that pushes further out of the phones exterior. Essentially, it’s a better use of space, and means you’ll get better quality photography without the excess camera bump seen in other camera-focused phones.

Is ‘Essential Space’ Essential?

I want to preface this by saying that we haven’t had much time with Essential Space, and definitely can’t come down one way or another on it’s overall usefulness just yet. What I can confirm is that, as some pre-release questions have asked, the Essential Space button cannot be remapped to another feature. You’ll double click it to open the Essential Space app, long-press it once to capture a screenshot of your screen, and hold it down to capture your screen and audio at once.

Everything you capture will be catalogued in the Essential Space app for you to reference later, should you realise you captured something you needed to remember (that’;’s the whole point, remember?)

The button is set in a similar place to Apple’s Camera Control, i.e. on the lower right hand side of the unit, and is purposefully made to standout from the rest of the design – being a shiny, metallic finish compared to the matte finish elsewhere. It’s easy enough to hit when you need it, but I do wish it could be remapped to another function depending on each user’s preference.

Why can’t I click that button and open YouTube Music? Or Spotify? Or Gmail? Or whatever else I want. It’s a bit odd for a company so focused on personal expression and customisation when it comes to their Glyph interface to also lock you in to a one-use button which, no offense to Nothing, becomes useless if someone doesn’t want to interact with it.

It’s Bixby all over again.

The Battle for Budget is getting Brutal

Unmappable buttons aside, it’s clear the beginning of 2025 is a fight over the lower-end of the market, with the Apple iPhone 16e launching earlier this month, Nothing’s Phone (3a) coming in a matter of weeks, and Google’s Pixel 9a leaking all over the place.

While we don’t know the price point of the Pixel 9a, Apple’s ‘budget’ model comes in at just under AU$1,000, sitting at the high end of what you’d consider budget, while Nothing’s (3a) and (3a) Pro sit well under that threshold, at AU$599, AU$689, and AU$849, depending on which model or storage options you’re after.

Compare these prices with those of the iPhone 16 Pro (From AU$1,799), Google Pixel 9 Pro (From AU$1,699), and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (From AU $2,149), you’ll see there is a huge margin between the high and low-end of the smartphone market, and, honestly, unless you’re an avid mobile photographer or videographer, there’s fewer reasons to own something so expensive every year.

I do personally wish someone would make a phone in a form-factor smaller than 6.1” though, but for some reason, that ship seems to have sailed.

When are the Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro Launching?

The Nothing Phone (3) is launching on 11 March, and starts at AU$599, while the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro launches on 25 March at AU$849. You can pre-order them at select retailers starting 4 March.