Nothing Phone 3 Review: A Bold Redesign with a Pixel-Sized Attitude
The new Nothing Phone 3 is official, and it’s easily the company’s most polished and premium handset to date. Starting at $799, it enters the market not just as a mid-range disruptor, but as a true flagship contender. That puts it squarely in the same arena as the Samsung Galaxy S25 and the Google Pixel 9—a competitive and unforgiving space dominated by performance metrics, brand recognition, and legacy ecosystems.
But Nothing doesn’t play by the traditional rules. Instead, it leans into what made its brand resonate in the first place: unexpected design choices, bold experimentation, and a sprinkle of nostalgia. With the Phone 3, that ethos has evolved, refined, and in some cases, completely transformed.
Say Goodbye to Flashing Lights, Hello to the Glyph Matrix
Gone is the original Glyph Interface that made the back of the phone light up like a mini EDM concert. In its place is the Glyph Matrix, a new micro-LED display embedded in the rear corner of the phone. The idea? Cut down on unnecessary screen time by surfacing key information—notifications, progress indicators, contact alerts—right on the back of the device.
The Matrix is made up of 489 tiny LEDs and replaces the showy patterns of its predecessor with something more useful: low-res animations, simple widgets, and even mini games. There’s a physical Glyph Button beneath the glass that lets you interact with it, and Nothing plans to release an SDK so developers and tinkerers can create their own Matrix content.
It’s quirky, it’s fun, and it’s just practical enough to feel like a legitimate reason to flip your phone over.
Glyph Toys and Essential Space: A Software Playground
The Glyph Matrix isn’t just for show. With Glyph Toys, Nothing introduces widgets that serve everyday functions like clocks, stopwatches, and battery meters. There’s even Spin the Bottle—a cheeky game powered by a long press of the Glyph Button. Later updates promise features like caller ID via long-press interactions, and the possibility of turning your own photos into low-resolution, dot-matrix profile images.
On the software front, the Essential Key returns—an understated hardware button that launches Essential Space, a minimalist AI-powered notes app. New functionality includes Flip to Record, where long-pressing the key and flipping the phone starts an automatic audio recording and transcription. Out of the box, the Phone 3 runs Android 15 with Nothing’s signature lightweight UI, and comes with five years of platform updates and seven years of security patches.
Cameras for Creators, Zoom for the Curious
Nothing is clearly taking photography more seriously this year. The Phone 3 is armed with four 50MP sensors—three on the back and one on the front. There’s optical image stabilization on the main and periscope cameras, and all four lenses support 4K at 60fps video recording.
Even more impressive is the inclusion of a periscope telephoto capable of 3x optical zoom, 6x digital, and up to 60x AI-assisted zoom—mirroring high-end specs found in phones well above the $1,000 price range. That sensor also doubles as a macro camera.
Early hands-on tests suggest improved performance in low light, thanks to faster image processing and a new LED indicator light for video recording—a subtle nod to pro gear aesthetics.
The camera app has been updated with smarter presets, including Auto Tone, Portrait Optimizer, Night Mode, Macro Mode, and Action Mode, all aiming to bring flagship-level photography to a brand best known for design, not imaging.
A Display That Outshines the Competition
At the front of the Phone 3 is Nothing’s most impressive screen to date: a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with 1.5K resolution, 120Hz adaptive refresh, and up to 4,500 nits peak brightness. That’s brighter than any iPhone or Pixel and ensures sharp, vibrant visuals even in direct sunlight.
It’s a bold move for a brand that once compromised on screens to keep prices low—and it pays off. This display is more than flagship-worthy; it’s a statement.
The phone is also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance, making it more durable and practical for everyday use than previous models.
Performance Gains with a Familiar Name
Under the hood, the Phone 3 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, featuring a 3.21GHz octa-core CPU. While it doesn’t quite match the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite used in Samsung’s Galaxy S25, it’s no slouch. Nothing claims an 88% GPU boost and 36% CPU improvement over the Phone 2, and says the Phone 3 is five times faster than the 3a.
There’s also a major jump in AI performance—up to 60% faster than the Phone 2—helping to power features like Essential Search, a natural-language tool that scans your entire device for answers and content.
Configurations include:
- 12GB RAM + 256GB storage ($799)
- 16GB RAM + 512GB storage ($899)
Silicon-Carbon Battery: Future Tech in a Midrange Shell
Battery performance is another strong point. The 5,150mAh silicon-carbon cell supports 65W wired and 15W wireless charging. A 0–100% top-up takes under an hour, while a 50% charge is achievable in just 20 minutes.
Silicon-carbon batteries aren’t yet standard in the West, making this one of the first widely available smartphones to use the tech. It promises not just faster charging, but improved battery longevity—something few competitors are talking about.
Nothing says users can expect up to 80 hours of uptime on a full charge, though real-world testing will be the ultimate judge.
Flagship Form, Transparent Soul
The Phone 3 keeps Nothing’s signature transparent aesthetic, but now with a more subtle, refined layout. Inspired by the New York City subway map, the back is divided into three visual sections, with clean lines and no chunky camera island. It’s 18% thinner than the Phone 2 and uses smaller, custom-designed components to achieve a sleeker profile.
It’s a more grown-up design, but not without playfulness. The dot-matrix vibe is distinctly retro-futurist, evoking 90s tech nostalgia while hinting at a post-smartphone future.
Final Thoughts: Is This Nothing’s First True Flagship?
The Phone 3 is a turning point. It may not have every spec maxed out, but it has a strong identity—a rare trait in a world of increasingly similar slabs of glass and metal. Nothing’s flagship is finally flagship-worthy in more ways than one, without abandoning its roots in experimental design and software fun.
This isn’t just a phone. It’s a piece of hardware art, designed not to compete, but to provoke. It asks the question: What if your smartphone didn’t look like everyone else’s?
With pre-orders starting July 4 and general availability set for July 15, the Phone 3 will be available in black or white through nothing.tech, Amazon, and select physical pop-ups on July 10.
The only real question left is: do you want a phone that just works—or one that works differently?
