Top 5 Nothing Phone 2a features that stood out for me

Enabling it is super simple. Just long-press on a notification and flip the switch for Essential Glyph. You can turn it on for specific apps or even for certain contacts (like your significant other, maybe?).

Lock screen widgets

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When I first heard about lock screen widgets, I was like “meh.” Why would I need to add stuff that’s already a swipe away through the quick settings? Boy, was I wrong. After a week with the Nothing Phone 2a, I’ve become so accustomed to having the hotspot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and dark mode tiles readily available that I can’t imagine going back.

For example, my Bluetooth speaker at home is paired with both my laptop and phone, and I switch between the two devices quite often. With the Bluetooth widget, all I need to do is tap the icon to turn off my phone’s Bluetooth, forcing the speaker to connect to the laptop instead. The process has become so much more seamless.

Hide apps

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We all have those apps on our phones that we open maybe once a month, if that. They sit there, collecting virtual dust in the app drawer, making it a cluttered mess to scroll through. The “Hide Apps” feature on the Nothing Phone 2a is a godsend for organising your app collection.

Simply swipe right on the app drawer to launch the hidden apps section, and tap the pencil icon to add apps to this hidden space. Out of sight, out of mind – until you actually need them, of course.

Music, screen time, and step count widgets

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A recent Nothing OS update added a bunch of new widgets, but three of them have quickly become my personal favorites: music, screen time, and step count. The music widget adds a pop of color to the home screen and is thoughtfully designed. Right or left swipes control help you seek tracks, while tapping it plays or pauses your tunes.

Meanwhile, the step count and screen time widgets deliver key stats at a glance, helping you stay mindful of your digital wellbeing and physical activity.

Perplexity Pro: The unexpected perk

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While not technically a Nothing Phone 2a feature, the included Perplexity Pro membership is such a perk that I can’t help but count it as one. Every purchase of the Phone 2a fetches you a one-year subscription to Perplexity Pro, which would normally set you back a whopping Rs 20K – almost the same price as the phone itself.

If you haven’t tried Perplexity yet, it’s an AI-powered search engine similar to Microsoft’s Copilot but with more nuanced responses. The Pro version also grants you access to GPT-4 Turbo and Claude’s advanced Opus models.

Perplexity is great for stuff ChatGPT can’t handle – citing sources and fetching real-time information. It’s also a fantastic alternative to Google Search if you want a quick, objective response to a query without having to dig through the web. The Perplexity app even offers a search widget you can replace the Google Search widget on your home screen with.

Of course, since the subscription is just for a year, these perks are temporary, but I’m still going to make the most of it while I can.