Nothing Phone (3a)’s Essential Key isn’t the game-changing feature I was hoping for

At least, not yet

Ever since I got my first smartphone, I’ve used it as a second brain of sorts. Whether it’s quickly noting down a thought, setting an important reminder or saving a restaurant someone has recommended, I’ve come to rely on it when my memory fails me. 

However, this current workflow isn’t exactly seamless. My Google Keep app is currently a cluttered mess, Google Photos keeps warning me I’m running out of storage, and I have almost a thousand places starred on Google Maps. I’ve finally overcome my Chrome tab addiction, but every interesting site has just migrated to Pocket instead. 

That’s why the new Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro immediately caught my attention. A new physical button known as the ‘Essential Key’ allows you to quickly capture anything you want to remember, before it’s then organised using AI in the ‘Essential Space’ app. 

Except, it can’t really do that yet. The Early Access version on my (3a) Pro sample is essentially a glorified voice recorder. The only thing you can capture is your voice, which is then transcribed using AI and appears within the app. It’s not exactly new or groundbreaking, and certainly won’t help me overcome my digital clutter problems.

Instead, it’s the promise of future updates that I’m anticipating. Camera Capture will supposedly allow you to send photos to Essential Space as soon as you take them, where AI can analyse them and make key information searchable. 

Then, Smart Collections aims to take the hassle out of sorting everything, automatically grouping images, audio and text with a common theme. If you’ve recorded what sounds like a list of tasks, it’ll be arranged like a to-do list. 

Alongside a powerful AI-enhanced search, it should bring Essential Space much closer to what I was hoping for. For now, all I can tell you is that the transcription is as accurate as I’ve seen on any phone to date. 

If Essential Space works as advertised, it’d make the Nothing Phone (3a) or (3a) Pro a big part of my more organised digital life. In the meantime, I’ll probably keep creating way too many notes and filling up my storage with too many photos.