Nothing has launched its newest flagship smartphone, the Phone (3), at a London event, marking a return after a two-year gap. Priced starting at $799, the device aims to compete with major players like Samsung and Apple by offering a distinctive design and features tailored to tech enthusiasts.
Signature Transparent Design with a Unique Twist
The Phone (3) keeps the transparent design language introduced with the Phone (1), but introduces an unusual camera arrangement that breaks away from traditional layouts. This could be polarizing for users sensitive to alignment.
Replacing the familiar Glyph LED lights on the back, the Phone (3) features a small circular mini LED display called Glyph Matrix. Positioned at the top right, it displays 16-bit style patterns and offers more detailed notifications. Additionally, Nothing is launching mini-apps like spin the bottle and rock-paper-scissors for this new interface.
AI Features in Focus
Two AI-powered features debut with the Phone (3). Essential Space lets users record meetings and receive AI-generated transcriptions and summaries by simply pressing the Essential key and placing the phone face down. Essential Search functions similarly to the iPhone’s Spotlight, allowing keyword and natural language searches for settings, files, photos, and web content, enhanced by AI.
The Phone (3) sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with 1.5K resolution protected by Gorilla Glass 7i. It runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor built on 4nm architecture. The camera setup includes a 50MP main sensor (20% larger than Phone (2)), a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP upgraded selfie camera. The battery offers 5,150 mAh capacity (5,500 mAh in India) with 65W wired and 15W wireless charging.
Shipping with Nothing OS 3.5 based on Android 15, the phone will receive updates to Nothing OS 4.0 later this year. Nothing guarantees five years of software updates and seven years of security updates.
Preorders begin July 4, with general availability on July 15. Pricing starts at $799 for the 256GB model and $899 for the 512GB. This is the company’s second device widely available in the U.S., sold through its website and Amazon.
What The Author Thinks
Nothing’s Phone (3) offers refreshing design choices and genuinely useful AI-powered features that could appeal to tech-savvy users tired of conventional smartphones. However, competing against industry giants on both price and performance will be challenging. Success depends not just on hardware uniqueness but also on consistent user experience and software support.
