Personally think Nothing should stick to the 3a/3aPro price segment. They do well there in terms of price:spec:styling:software balance. Trying to compete in the higher end and they will lose out in one form or another in the eyes of spec people.

I do like their software — if my router and wireshark logs from testing a friend’s 3a Pro are anything to go by, Nothing OS is a lot better than most Android makers in terms of privacy* (excluding all the phoning home done by Google services, obviously) — and their security update promises seem to be in line with most competitors, but they are definitely not ready for the upper end of the market yet.

Currently searching for a replacement ‘dirty’ daily device (anything with Meta and Google apps installed is considered dirty in my book), and since a Pixel with GrapheneOS has too many unknowns in terms of banking or insurance app compatibility (also because Pixel hardware reliability is a bit crap in my experience), I’m looking for the next best thing. If I go with Nothing, it will probably be a 3a or 3a Pro. Won’t even bother with this so called ‘flagship’ model.

*although that Nothing Chats security fiasco still leaves me a bit suspicious of them

This post has been edited by dev/numb: Jul 20 2025, 08:54 PM

I’m considering the regular 3a. Looks better, imho (especially the blue or white). Cameras aren’t important to me. Only use em for document scanning and QR codes most of the time. OS updates aren’t a concern for me since Nothing still promises 6yrs of security updates. Heck, with Google trying to shove Gemini down our throats, I would actually prefer to stay on Android 15 and just receive the security updates. Not that I see myself keeping a phone that long anyway. Only downside is lack of e-sim support on the 3a. Lack of Nothing service centres is also a concern, but the phone is cheap so not much of a loss if need to buang a year down the line.

For me their hardware is okay. It’s the software I hate. So much bloatware. China brands in particular are a joke. A friend once came over with his kid who had a Poco and asked to join my wifi, and later my router firewall logs showed all sorts of sketchy links the Poco was trying to phone home to. Only way to clean up a China phone is to root and flash, but then you will struggle with banking and finance apps. At least with NothingOS, it’s pretty much stock Android with some skinning. I can easily debloat and harden using Shizuku and Canta without having to unlock bootloader.

This post has been edited by dev/numb: Aug 4 2025, 04:30 PM

Fyi, there is a dedicated Nothing 3a Series thread here;
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5507682

As for Shopee, check the product description to confirm it’s a Malaysia set. If the seller is reliable, you can open a chat with them and ask them to check for you. Afaik for the (3) all region models have e-sim support. 3a Pro not sure. I think some regions sell a cheaper 8/128GB model that doesn’t have e-sim. Malaysia only gets the 12/256GB model, so if it’s listed as Malaysia set confirm have. For regular 3a only Japan market gets e-sim.

Can you guys running latest Nothing OS share your experience with the Private Space? So far I’ve read a lot of conflicting info, mainly because all those posting on reddit or nothing forums are not knowledgeable.

What I want to know is if Nothing’s Private Space is the same as Android’s Privacy Space?

Normally for regular Android 15 (eg: stock Pixel) when you setup Privacy Space it will ask you for an alternative google account or offer to create a new one for you. Once created you will see a separate Play Store and some other Google apps inside that Privacy Space. You cannot move them out of that space.

Is Nothing’s Private Space the same or different? Because if there’s no separate account required and you can move/clone apps then it is more like Samseng Knox and totally different.

This post has been edited by dev/numb: Aug 6 2025, 06:46 PM

Thanks for sharing your experience. Means it’s closer to Samsung Knox. Bummer

Android’s own Privacy Space is much more powerful since you have to create a fully separate Google account to use it and cannot move/clone apps in and out of it. If Nothing implemented Google’s version, I could, in theory, fully degoogle my main profile (remove Google Play Services also) using Shizuku + Canta*, and just silo all the “dirty” apps (like WhatsApp) into the private space and set it to remain unlocked (to receive notifications) until phone is restarted, all without needing to root.

*also plan to remove that Essential Space/Recorder function and remap the key, since I have no interest in training their AI for free. Currently studying ppq.ai and nano-gpt APIs so maybe I can remap that button to launch a script for their service to proxy my queries.

Either way, I only plan to buy after seeing what Nothing OS 4.0 offers. If they move to Android’s original privacy space, would be nice.

I don’t like that it sends a request to a server somewhere. If local, different story.
When Nothing OS 4 drops, can you update here if they let us remap that Essential button.
I know we can do it no, but it requires the keymap app to be running in the background at all times, which I don’t like.