Introduction to the Nothing Phone 3
The smartphone market in 2025 has been saturated with highly iterative flagships from big players like Apple, Samsung, and Google. Amidst this crowd, Nothing—a company founded by Carl Pei—has carved a niche through bold design and a unique identity. With the launch of the Nothing Phone 3, the company is no longer content with being seen as a quirky alternative. This is Nothing’s first true flagship, equipped with serious hardware, an upgraded Glyph interface, advanced AI tools, and an aesthetic that continues to challenge the status quo.
Nothing Phone 3 is priced from $799 for the base 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage configuration. The higher-end model with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage is priced at $899. It is available in major markets including the US, UK, India, and parts of Europe.
Nothing Phone 3: A New Chapter in Design Philosophy
Nothing has always emphasized design, but Phone 3 represents a matured evolution. The transparent back that turned heads in the Phone 1 and 2 returns, but this time it is more refined. The Glyph Interface has been reimagined. Instead of long light strips, the Phone 3 features a “Glyph Matrix”—a pixelated LED arrangement in the shape of a circle located in the upper right corner of the back panel.
This new LED matrix is more than just an aesthetic gimmick. It can be customized to show notifications, animations, and real-time information. Users can use it to display clocks, battery charging percentages, AI-based alerts, and even play mini-games like a pixelated Magic 8-Ball. The redesigned Glyph Interface balances functionality with minimalism and integrates seamlessly with Nothing’s OS 3.5 UI.
The frame of the Phone 3 is made of aircraft-grade aluminum. The rear uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, while the front features Gorilla Glass 7i. The phone is IP68 rated for water and dust resistance, a first for Nothing. This durability boost makes the Phone 3 far more appealing to users looking for reliability alongside style.
Nothing Phone 3: Display Technology and Visual Performance
The Nothing Phone 3 features a 6.67-inch flexible AMOLED display with a resolution of 2800 x 1260 pixels. This places it in the “1.5K” resolution category—offering significantly more detail than Full HD+ displays, while drawing less power than full 4K screens. The panel supports HDR10+ and can reach a staggering 4,500 nits of peak brightness.
One of the most appreciated aspects of the display is its uniform, ultra-slim bezels—only 1.87 mm thick on all sides. This creates a truly immersive edge-to-edge viewing experience. The display supports a variable refresh rate from 1 Hz to 120 Hz using LTPO technology, ensuring buttery-smooth scrolling and high responsiveness while saving battery when high refresh is not required.
Color accuracy is excellent, thanks to full DCI-P3 color gamut support. The display also incorporates a low blue-light emission filter, reducing eye strain during extended use. Gamers and media consumers will appreciate the touch sampling rate of 240 Hz, which delivers responsive control.
Nothing Phone 3: Performance Powered by Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
Nothing made a conscious decision to power the Phone 3 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, rather than the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Elite Edition. This choice offers a balance between high performance and energy efficiency. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is built on a 4nm process and features a powerful Adreno GPU, integrated X75 modem, and hardware acceleration for AI and machine learning tasks.
In real-world usage, the Phone 3 performs like a flagship. Whether multitasking between intensive apps, editing photos and videos, or gaming, the experience is smooth and consistent. Benchmarks place the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 slightly behind the Elite Edition, but far ahead of last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This makes it one of the fastest devices in the mid-to-premium segment.
Thermal management is aided by a vapor chamber cooling system and advanced graphite layering. Even during extended gaming sessions, the device remains comfortable to hold and avoids severe throttling. The inclusion of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage ensures lightning-fast app launches, file transfers, and overall system fluidity.
Nothing Phone 3: Battery and Charging Technologies
Battery life is one of the strongest aspects of the Nothing Phone 3. It features a 5,150 mAh silicon-carbon battery (5,500 mAh in the Indian model), which supports more charge cycles and higher energy density than traditional lithium-ion batteries.
The phone supports 65W wired fast charging, capable of taking the battery from 0 to 100% in about 45 minutes. It also supports 15W Qi-compatible wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging for powering accessories like earbuds or smartwatches. The battery optimization features in Nothing OS ensure that background apps are intelligently managed, extending the time between charges.
Users who prioritize endurance over everything else will appreciate that the Phone 3 easily lasts a full day with heavy use, and can stretch to nearly two days on moderate use. It’s ideal for travel, gaming, and content consumption without worrying about mid-day recharging.
Nothing Phone 3: Triple Camera Setup With Versatile Capabilities
The camera system on the Phone 3 has received a notable upgrade. All three sensors on the rear are 50 megapixels, maintaining consistency in image quality across different focal lengths.
The main camera uses a 1/1.3-inch sensor with optical and electronic stabilization. It captures excellent detail in daylight, with accurate color rendering and wide dynamic range. Low-light performance is aided by multi-frame noise reduction and AI image stacking, although performance still falls slightly short of Samsung or Apple’s top flagships.
The ultrawide camera offers a 114-degree field of view and doubles as a macro lens. Unlike earlier models, macro photography on Phone 3 is now handled through autofocus capabilities built into the ultrawide module, allowing crisp and clear close-up shots.
Perhaps the most significant addition is the periscope telephoto camera. Offering 3x optical zoom and up to 60x AI zoom, this camera provides impressive reach while retaining usable quality up to 10x. Zoomed shots are supported by OIS, which keeps images stable even at higher magnifications.
The front-facing 50 MP selfie camera supports 4K video recording and offers enhanced face tracking during video calls and content creation. Whether using the main camera system or the front shooter, video performance is strong thanks to support for 10-bit HDR recording, gyro-EIS, and real-time background blur.
Nothing Phone 3: Software and Nothing OS 3.5
Nothing OS 3.5 is built on Android 15 and continues the brand’s commitment to minimalism, elegance, and utility. The software feels clean and lightweight but incorporates meaningful enhancements. The Phone 3 will receive five major Android OS upgrades and seven years of security patches, placing it among the top in the industry for long-term support.
Essential features include the Essential Key, a customizable shortcut button that can launch apps or specific actions like voice recording or note-taking. Essential Space is an AI-enhanced interface that summarizes calendar events, email threads, and voice memos into compact and actionable information.
Essential Search is a universal search bar that queries across apps, settings, files, and the web. AI-driven intent prediction helps users find what they need even if they mistype or misremember file names.
New widgets, themes, and animations give users control over their home screen experience. Privacy is prioritized, with enhanced permissions, automatic camera/microphone usage logs, and an AI engine that detects suspicious app behavior.
Nothing Phone 3: AI-Powered Features for Smarter Usage
AI is deeply embedded into the Nothing Phone 3 experience. From camera scene detection to adaptive battery optimization, artificial intelligence plays a critical role in improving day-to-day usability.
Voice transcription and summarization tools powered by on-device machine learning are helpful for students, professionals, and content creators. During calls or meetings, users can record audio, then get a concise summary in seconds.
AI wallpapers dynamically adapt colors and textures based on your app usage or weather. The Glyph Matrix itself is powered by AI algorithms that learn your habits and suggest information to display at relevant times—like showing your commute ETA automatically when you unplug the charger in the morning.
The camera’s AI engine can detect over 70 scene types, including pets, documents, food, and night landscapes. Real-time adjustments ensure optimized results without user intervention. In short, AI is not just a marketing buzzword—it significantly enhances the practical functionality of the device.
Nothing Phone 3: Availability, Colors, and Pricing Strategy
Nothing Phone 3 is available in two colors: classic black and a translucent ice white. Both versions feature the signature transparent back and premium aluminum frame.
As of July 15, 2025, the phone is available in the United States, Canada, UK, Europe, Singapore, and India. Pre-orders started on July 4, and the phone is available both through Nothing’s own online store and retail partners like Amazon, Best Buy, and Flipkart.
In the US and UK, the pricing is straightforward: $799 or £799 for the 12/256 GB model and $899 or £899 for the 16/512 GB variant. In India, pricing starts at ₹79,999, which positions it as a high-end device, even though it is significantly cheaper than iPhone or Galaxy Ultra models.
Nothing Phone 3: Market Position and Competition
Nothing Phone 3 finds itself in a unique space—offering nearly flagship-tier specs and a genuinely unique user experience, while staying hundreds of dollars cheaper than Samsung and Apple’s top-end devices.
Its primary competitors include the Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, OnePlus 13, and iPhone 16. While all of these offer better raw performance or more established ecosystems, they lack the experimental design and extended support promise of the Phone 3.
The Glyph Interface, Essential AI features, and minimalist software give the Phone 3 a distinct identity in a sea of sameness. Tech enthusiasts, design-focused users, and early adopters are likely to be its strongest supporters.
Nothing Phone 3: Conclusion: A Bold Step Toward Mainstream Excellence
Nothing Phone 3 represents more than just a hardware upgrade—it is a statement of maturity. From its striking design and upgraded Glyph Matrix to its long-term software support and AI integration, the phone redefines what a sub-$900 flagship can offer in 2025.
