Nothing Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro are the latest smartphones from the UK firm led by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, and these handsets are equipped with an Essential key. This button is tied to the Essential Space app, which offers features powered by artificial intelligence (AI), such as Camera Capture, which is now rolling out to users. A new report suggests that Nothing could introduce a new subscription for access to some Essential Space features in the future.
Nothing’s Essential Space Might Require ‘AI Credits’ for Some Features
During a teardown of the latest version of the Essential Space app from the Nothing Phone 3a series, Android Authority discovered the presence of multiple strings that referenced a «free trial» and «AI credits». The former suggests that users will be able to try out certain Essential Space features before a subscription fee is required, while the latter indicates that users might be able to spend money on credits to access certain AI features.
It’s worth noting that the presence of these strings in the app does not indicate that all the Essential Space features are going to require a subscription in the future. Nothing could offer some functionality for free, while other advanced features might be locked behind a subscription. One of the strings reads «start 1 year free trial», but this could also change with a future update.
Additional strings discovered by the publication shed some light on how much the subscription might cost. The code in the Essential Space app suggests that customers might have to pay $120 (roughly 10,300), which could be an annual or a one-time fee. Regardless, it seems like a steep price for a smartphone that launched at $379 (roughly 32,500) in the US and Rs. 24,999 in India.
As of now, Nothing Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro owners can update the Essential Space app and install the Nothing OS 3.1 update to access the new Camera Capture functionality, which is rolling out to users. Gadgets 360 tested the feature, and found that it functioned as advertised.
Nothing isn’t the first OEM to suggest that it will eventually charge customers to use AI features on its smartphones. Samsung’s product pages for Galaxy AI devices indicates that AI features will be available for free until the end of 2025, and there’s no clarity on whetther the company would charge for access to AI features, or how much it might cost.
