Unveiling Hidden Gems: My Surprising Experience with the $799 Nothing Phone 3

Nothing’s new flagship phone is its most expensive and risky product yet. At $799, the Nothing Phone 3 no longer undercuts its midrange competitors. Instead, the handset takes on the likes of the iPhone Pro, Pixel Pro, and Galaxy S phones of the world with a striking design, functional AI features, and fine software tuning. 

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And it does so while sacrificing its most iconic feature, the Glyph Lights, which have now been replaced by a more subtle and unique Glyph Matrix interface. More on that later.

I went hands-on with the Phone 3 at Nothing’s launch event in London, and here’s why it’s poised to make a splash in an ever-competitive market.

Putting the ‘fun’ in functionality

As a tech enthusiast, I couldn’t help but see the various Nothing Phone 3 renders that were leaked ahead of launch, and went into the hands-on session with lowered expectations. I wasn’t expecting much from the asymmetric design, but the Phone 3 has surprised me for the better. Dare I say, I love its weirdness.

The new Glyph Matrix on the back cover adds a playful touch to what would otherwise be another slab phone, and I’d argue it’s more functional than the Glyph Interface of past models.

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The Glyph Matrix consists of 489 individual mini-LEDs, which are controlled by a physical Glyph Button on the back. You can switch between utilities like a stopwatch and Glyph Mirror, ambient interactions like battery indicator and clock, and games like Magic 8 Ball, or completely turn off the LEDs for a more understated look.

A physical button to turn the LEDs on and off and switch between different functionalities is a smart move – so much so that I’d call the Glyph Button the biggest addition to Nothing’s design this year. In the past, there have been times when the Glyph Lights were triggered unwillingly in public places, and I had to struggle to turn them off through the quick-setting tile. The new design saves me from doing that.

In addition, there’s a red square underneath the transparent back cover that blinks when you’re recording audio or shooting a video. It’s a nice touch for ambient information. 

Is this the Android phone to convert iPhone users?

The Nothing Phone 3 is an expensive proposition at $799, but I don’t want to dismiss it just yet. At 218 grams, Phone 3 isn’t the heaviest flagship phone. You get flat sides with curved corners and a glass sandwich design that feels ergonomic to hold and supports IP68 dust and water resistance.

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It features a 6.67-inch LTPS AMOLED display, which goes from 30Hz to 120Hz instead of going all the way down to 1Hz like LTPO panels. The latter is more battery efficient, but Phone 3’s 5,150mAh battery should be enough to last an entire day. I could only interact with the Nothing Phone 3 in indoor lighting, so I have no comments on outdoor legibility yet. 

Unlike other flagships, the Nothing Phone 3 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, which doesn’t have the new Oryon CPU cores. By specs alone, expect the performance to be on par with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. 

Nothing says that going with 8s Gen 4 over the 2024 flagship SoC helped them commit to longer software support. The Phone 3 is promised to receive five years of Android OS updates and seven years of security updates. 

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The Nothing flagship features three 50MP cameras on the back and a 50MP selfie camera on the front. Its 1/1.3-inch main camera is claimed to deliver “lossless 35mm (1.5x) and 48mm (2x)” shots, and it’s paired with a 3x optical zoom-capable periscope sensor and a 114-degree ultrawide angle camera.

The Nothing Phone 3 supports TrueLens Engine 4, which is said to process photos 125% faster than Phone 2. It also helps improve HDR performance, real-time scene segmentation, lower noise, and smoother motion.  

It runs Android 15-based Nothing OS and is promised to get Android 16 later this year. It comes with my favorite AI feature, Essential Space, which houses everything that you record with the Essential Key and more. There’s also a new feature called Flip to Record, which records and transcribes audio recordings when you put the phone face down.

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Based on my early impressions, the Nothing Phone 3 seems like a solid phone for $799, despite the absence of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Going by my past experiences, I like Nothing’s software tuning and animations. If the Phone 3 can deliver the same fluid software experience alongside improving camera performance, it’ll likely be contending with the best phones on the market throughout the rest of 2025.