Nothing Phone (3): In summary
- The challenger brand’s third-generation smartphone and “first true flagship”
- Launched on 1 July 2025 in London alongside Headphone (1)
- Price from £799/$799
- Many upgraded specs compared to predecessor and a switch to the Glyph Matrix display
Nothing has entered the flagship smartphone market with its latest handset, the Phone (3).?
With superior specs to its predecessor and a price that firmly sets it as a rival to the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixels of the world, Nothing is treading new ground while retaining its challenger roots.?
The Phone (3) has a radically different design to that of the big Android phone makers out there, with a move from the firm’s quickly iconic Glyph Interface to a Glyph Matrix display for starters, which is more useful and customisable.?
Nothing also focuses on software as much as hardware, with Nothing OS 3.5 being “Effortlessly intuitive and meaningfully customisable,”?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Phone (3), which was launched alongside Headphone (1), including its release date, price and specs.
Read our hand-on with the Phone (3) from the Nothing launch event
When will the Nothing Phone (3) be released?
In summary
- Officially launched on 1 July
- Pre-order starts 4 July
- Staggered release on 12 and 15 July
If you’re keen to get your hands on the Phone (3), then there’s not long to wait. You can pre-order the phone from 4 July ahead of its staggered release date.
Nothing will first launch the phone on 12 July via Nothing Drops (in most regions), which we assume includes London, where the firm has a bricks and mortar store.
It will then go on general sale on 15 July, which will no doubt include retailers such as Amazon.
Both the Phone (1) and Phone (2) arrived in July 2022 and 2023, respectively, so Nothing is hitting an annual refresh cycle.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
How much does the Nothing Phone (3) cost?
In summary
- Price starts at £799 or $799
- Two models available
Ahead of the Phone (3) launch, CEO Carl Pei said the device would cost “around £800” and has been true to his word.?
In fact, the phone is £1 cheaper than that with a starting price of £799, with the same figure in US dollars and Euros.?
This will get you 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage, but you can upgrade to 16/256GB for £899 (again with the same figure in dollars and Euros.?
Here are all the Nothing Phone (3) prices in a table for ease.
| UK | US | Europe |
| 12 + 128GB | £799 | £799 | €799 |
| 16 + 256GB | £899 | $899 | €899 |
What are the Nothing Phone (3) specs and features?
In summary
- A move to full-on flagship design and specs, including a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
- Every camera is 50Mp, including new periscope
- Ditching the glyph interface for Glyph Matrix and Glyph Button
- Faster charging than key rivals
- Impressive software support promise
To be its first “true flagship” phone, Nothing has had to up its game with the specs and features on the Phone (3). Overall, it’s safe to say that it has done exactly that, with just about every area getting an upgrade, often to a large degree.?
Here’s a full list of specs for the Phone (3) after which we’ll unpack each area of the handset, from display to cameras to charging.?
- Nothing OS 3.5 powered by Android 15?
- 6.67-inch flexible AMOLED, 1260 x 2800 (460 PPI), 120Hz adaptive?
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 4?
- 12/16GB RAM?
- 256/512GB storage?
- 50Mp main camera, f/1.68, OIS?
- 50Mp ultrawide, f/2.2?
- 50Mp periscope, 3x zoom, f/2.68?
- In-display fingerprint sensor?
- NFC?
- Bluetooth 6.0?
- Wi-Fi 7?
- Dual-band GPS?
- Stereo speakers?
- Two high-definition mics?
- 5150mAh battery (5500mAh in India)?
- 65W wired charging?
- 15W wireless charging?
- 7.5W reverse wired charging?
- 5W reverse wireless charging?
- Dual nanoSIM?
- eSIM?
- IP68?
- Gorilla Glass 7i front?
- Gorilla Glass Victus back?
- Glyph Matrix rear display, 489 micro LEDs?
- 160.6 x 75.59 x 8.99mm?
- 218g?
- 5 years OS updates?
- 7 years security updates?
- Launch colours: Black, White
Design & Build
It’s unsurprising that Nothing has done a semi-overhaul for the design of the Phone (3). This was needed for it to be ‘true flagship’, but Nothing has certainly retained its recognisable style at the same time.
The transparent design of previous phones is gone in place of a “more mature” look, though it’s clearly still eccentric if you compare it to just about any Android or iPhone rival.
Nothing says the back “celebrates asymmetry with geometric flair. Soft curves and discs meet the discipline of a three-column grid, balancing playful expression with a timeless, structured aesthetic.”
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Whether you like this design is another matter. Some commented negatively on leaked renders (which turned out to be correct), largely due to one of the cameras being so close to the edge of the phone.
Regardless, where you stand, we applaud Nothing for doing something completely different to the big players.
A key element of the new design, which is once again available in black or white, is the new Glyph Matrix but we’ll give that it’s own section below. It also features the Essential Key found on the Phone (3a) Pro.
Before we get to that, the Phone (3) has upgraded durability with Gorilla Glass 7i at the front and Gorilla Glass Victus at the back. It’s also IP68 dust and waterproof rated which is a step up from IP54 on the Phone (2).
Glyph Matrix
Nothing confirmed the Glyph Interface would be replaced ahead of the launch. It then confirmed and teased the Glyph Matrix; however, we know where it’s placed and how it works now.
The small display is a “bespoke disc of LEDs that act as a visual layer of interaction” at the top corner of the rear. Or in other words, a Tamagotchi on the back of your phone but it does other things instead of a digital pet.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Made up of 489 micro LEDs, the Matrix can do things like provide information without looking at or unlocking the main screen, such as caller ID. You can assign contacts custom icons with pixelated avatars.
It has various tools and widgets which you can cycle through with the Glyph button, also found on the back. You can hold it to play.
Here are some of the things the Glyph Matrix can do, with more on the way.
- Glyph Mirror – Use the rear display to perfectly frame selfies
- Camera Countdown – A visual countdown when using the camera timer
- Glyph Torch – A powerful burst of light and an excellent fill light
- Volume Indicator – A visualisation of volume levels
- NFC – An animation comes to life when NFC is triggered
- Spin the Bottle – Tap, spin, land
- Rock Paper Scissors – Let fate decide
- Digital Clock – Displays the time in 12 or 24-hour formats
- Battery Indicator – Visually check charge level
- Stopwatch – Precision timing
- Solar Clock – A visual representation of the sun’s journey
- Magic 8 Ball – A Nothing Community co-creation; ask away
- Leveller – Another community-built tool for perfect alignment
Screen & Speakers
The display on the Phone (3) is a little smaller than its predecessor, but only by 0.03-inch, so it’s effectively the same size.
It’s 6.67-inch and offers a flexible AMOLED panel with a 460ppi pixel density, 4500 nit peak brightness and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
A tiny 1.87mm bezel on all sides keeps things modern and the display is upgraded compared to the Phone (2) in just about every way.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Nothing calls is a flexible screen, but it’s not dramatic. It’s just a subtle curve at the edges rather than something like the Motorola Edge 60 Pro.
There’s a fairly standard set of stereo speakers (no mention of Dolby Atmos or similar) for audio. There isn’t a 3.5mm headphone jack either, but Nothing makes plenty of wireless headphones, including the new Headphone (1).
Announced ahead of time, the Phone (3) is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor.
The 8 series is flagship level, but the 8 Elite is the top-tier chipset so the news was received with some grumbling and criticism. However, this is Qualcomm’s latest chipset and the firm has defended its decision, pointing out it is a current-gen chipset.
“Phone (3) is designed to handle it all, whether you’re editing 4K video, gaming with console-grade visuals, juggling apps and AI tools, or just powering through the everyday. Everything runs fast and feels fluid,” said Nothing in regards to the 8s Gen 4.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
A leaked Geekbench score before the launch appeared to show it outperforming the Pixel 9 Pro, though it is the same chip found in the cheaper Poco F7.
There’s 12GB of RAM (LPDDR5X) as standard, paired with 128GB of storage (UFS 4.0), or you can upgrade to 16/256GB for an extra £100/$100.
Part of the choice to use the 8s Gen 4 is power efficiency, which affects battery life – more on that below.
Other core specs are top-tier, including Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7 and support for eSIM.
Cameras
As expected, the Phone (3) gets a triple rear camera setup, all of which use 50Mp sensors. In fact, the front camera is 50mp, too.
Like a lot of flagship phones, you get a main camera along with ultrawide and periscope options. The latter offering 3x optical zoom.
The main and periscope cameras have OIS (optical image stabilisation) and the phone supports up to 4K/60fps video recording.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
“Phone (3)’s all-50Mp, all-4K 60fps camera system makes it the ideal creators’ tool, with enough pixels to bridge the gap between focal lengths, and edit-worthy quality across photos and footage,” said Nothing.
Features include the TrueLens Engine 4, promising richer details in shadow, natural highlights and ‘distinctive camera tuning’. Nothing also promises to blend AI capabilities with classic photographic sensibilities.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset enables real-time scene recognition, lower noise, smoother motion and more, while the 4K Ultra XDR Video System means each frame is captured with dual exposure for vibrant and true-to-life footage, according to Nothing.
Battery & Charging
Rumours of a battery larger than 5000mAh were correct.
The Phone (3) has a 5150mAh which one leak suggested as the exact capacity, though it said charging would be 100W when it’s a more humble 65W.
That’s still faster than Samsung and Google rivals, though, which top out at 45W. Like those brands, there’s no fast charger included in the box.
If you’re in India, you’ll get an even larger 5500mAh battery.
Nothing says it’s the firm’s most advanced battery yet and is “engineered to deliver up to full days of power”, thanks in part to silicon-carbon tech.
In terms of wireless and reverse charging you get 15W wireless, 7.5W reverse wired, and 5W reverse wireless.
Nothing says you can top the Phone (3) by 72% in just 30-minutes and it’ll be fully charged in less than an hour.
Software
The Phone (3) arrives running on Android 15 and Nothing OS 3.5 out of the box, with the firm saying it has focused on software as much as it has hardware.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Nothing calls the user interface “Effortlessly intuitive and meaningfully customisable,” adding that it “combines the best of Android with custom features, advanced personalisation, and trademark Nothing aesthetics.”
Other than customisation, key features include Essential Space, which is “your second memory, built to end mental overload”, as well as Essential Search, a universal search bar.
Importantly, the Phone (3) gets an impressive five years of Android OS updates along with seven years of security updates.
It has also confirmed that Android 16 and Nothing OS 4.0 will be available for the Phone (3) in Q3 2025.
Topic: Nothing Phone (3): Everything you need to know (Read 137 times)
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August 25, 2025, 03:01:49 AM