Nothing Says Essential Space Will Remain Free, At Least In Its Current Form

Nothing’s Essential Space feature is a clever use of AI, but a potential price point spotted for the feature suggested that it would be anything but cheap in the long run. In a new video, though, Nothing says that, at least in its current form, Essential Space won’t come with a price tag.

Essential Space launched on the Nothing Phone (3a) series and will presumably also be a core feature of Nothing Phone (3). The feature allows users to capture a screenshot with or without added voice notes using a dedicated key on the side of the device. That data is then processed using AI to pull relevant details or create reminders and lists.

It’s a clever idea, but one that many were surprised to hear they might have to pay for.

Hints were spotted in an APK that suggested Nothing would charge for Essential Space to the tune of $120/year. Nothing had confirmed that “no decisions” had been made around pricing at that point, but it was widely argued that the proposed cost was too high of a price to pay for what you’re getting.

Nothing seems to agree.

In an in-house interview with Carl Pei, Nothing confirms that there are no plans to add a price to Essential Space for the time being. In its current form, the feature will remain free, but there might be a “premium tier” down the road where there is “substantial value that people can get out of it.”

Carl Pei explains:

So I think that’s what happened, somebody got their hands on an older version of the APK and they decompiled it and saw that there [were] some strings related to charging for Essential Space. That was never in the production software, it was just like zombie strings we had there for while we were developing it.

But I think at the same time, we’ve not been that great at communicating. We saw the feedback and the questions and we didn’t really tell people what’s coming. But I think since then, we’ve clarified that, at least the current scope of the features, there won’t be a charge. There might be a premium tier in the future. I think most smartphone companies are also developing a premium tier.

For us right now, Essential Space is pretty bare bones. It’s like in a preview mode. We think it’s probably 10% done, [with] 90% left to build. If we’re going to charge, it has to be some substantial value that people can get out of it and not just the current product.

Nothing Phone (3) is set to launch on July 1, but Essential Space is available now on the Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro.

More on Nothing:

• Nothing Phone (3a) Series Review: Two winners, one clear choice
• Nothing says Phone (3) will be a ‘true flagship’ powered by Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
• Nothing confirms it was almost called ‘Essential’ instead [Video]

Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram

Add 9to5Google to your Google News feed.