(Image source from: Indiatoday.in)
Nothing is a relatively new entrant in the smartphone industry. However, this fresh tech company, led by former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has already attracted a loyal following of fans who support its products and continue to return for new offerings. To show appreciation to this growing community, Nothing launched a project last year, inviting fans to redesign one of its current phones. This effort resulted in the Nothing Phone 2a Plus Community Edition. Clearly, this was not just a single event, as Nothing has come back with a second version almost precisely a year later. This edition is also based on an existing Nothing phone, named the Nothing Phone 3a Community Edition.
According to Nothing, it took nine months and received 700 ideas to create the Nothing Phone 3a Community Edition. From the submissions and the following selection process, the company chose four winners: Emre Kayganacl (Hardware Design), Ambrogio Tacconi and Louis Aymond (Accessory), Jad Zock (Lock Screen Clock and Wallpaper Design), and Sushruta Sarkar (Marketing Campaign). This limited edition product (restricted to 1,000 units) includes features based on what the winners designed individually and submitted to Nothing for evaluation. The Nothing Phone 2a Plus Community Edition was well-known for its glow-in-the-dark back. In contrast, the Nothing Phone 3a Community Edition is a bit more subtle. India Today Tech had an exclusive preview of this new community edition phone from Nothing, and here’s everything important to know about it. Instead of the usual black, white, or blue, the Phone 3a Community Edition comes in a striking teal color, while Nothing’s signature transparent design remains and is clearly the most eye-catching feature of this phone – even in this new hue. This color choice is also reflected in the phone's retail packaging. Nothing mentions that this color is a nod to gadgets from the 90s.
The teal color catches your eye and is paired with pink and yellow highlights. The Essential Key is now pink instead of black, and the power button is silver. The volume button remains black like before for some unknown reason. Overall, it’s a mix of bright and vibrant colors that are quite noticeable, so you can interpret it as you wish. The Glyph lights are also the same as on the regular Phone 3a. A fun new item included with the Phone 3a Community Edition is a set of dice. You receive 6 dice in a box, all featuring numbers in Nothing’s well-known font. The back of the dice box has rules for a game called Farkle, which you can play to pass the time.
When you turn on the device, you will see a unique wallpaper that corresponds with the back design. You can pick from four choices, in addition to the standard wallpapers found on Nothing devices. There are also some hidden surprises for attentive Nothing users. The Community Edition includes a customized clock face. The rest of the specifications are the same as the normal Phone 3a. It features a 6.77-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The borders around the screen are consistent. The Phone 3a Community Edition runs on the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor and is available in just one model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Phone 3a includes a triple rear camera setup: a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 50-megapixel 2x telephoto lens. The front camera is 32 megapixels. The Nothing Phone 3a Community Edition costs Rs 28,999 in India. Only 1,000 units of this version will be produced. In India, the device will be available at a special launch event in Bengaluru on December 13.
