Nothing Phone 3 Review: Flagship-Ish

Nothing says that the phone 3 is its “first true flagship phone”, and it has invested its money where he has his mouth. The phone is being launched full US, and at $ 799, its price is the same as Pixel 9, Galaxy S25, or iPhone 16.

This phone simplifies the 3 freshly, because only two real questions that matter: Is it as good as those three? And will it be as good as we are expecting from the new Pixel and iPhone model that are right around the corner?

The answer is going to come down how much you like its unique look. The bad news for nothing is that the design of the phone 3 is more divisive among any biggest fans.

The phone is the first to dig the 3 glyph interface, an abstract pattern of LED dots and strips that became a design of nothing, when the phone was launched in 1 2022. It is replaced by something small and subtler: a circular dot matrix display dubbed the glyph matrix.

Gliff Matrix can display pictures and icons, so instead of trying to remember what lights you show for a phone call from your mother, you can set an emoji to represent it (you can also use a photo, but these are the same as old lights when these dot matrix). You can use nothing made design or produce your own from an image, but if you want to use a specific emoji or app icon, you have to get a grip of the image file to replace it. It is required to enable everyone manually, contact by contact, app by app, so it is a reasonable task to install.

Gliff matrix can also do wise things like displaying time or remaining battery, stranger things such as solar clock or using a rear camera, make selfie frames, and spin the play rock, paper, scissors or bottles such as strange strange accessories. Practical or not, these are collectively dubbed gliff toys, and you can cycle through them using a hidden haptic button on the rear of the phone. You can always set watches or battery indicators in the form of a display, which is also a matter of boring use, but the best part of it for me.

The end result is a system that is very practical that it used to do – although it does not fully do to overcome the allegations that it is a gimmick – but feels less unique, in view of many years of ASUS ROG phones, which is the second screen.

It also leaves the rest of the phone bare. The asymmetric camera placement of a lot of phones has already been written, but it is a barren white place that causes me more bothering. The design language of nothing is about all details and dohickeys that draw the eye and signal on the hardware below. But here, there is a tight cluster of cameras and other details at the top of the phone, and there is a lot below, fine, nothing. I love the look of other hardware of the company, but the phone 3 is its first design – very busy on top and is also empty everywhere.

Nothing different design language runs through software. OS 3.5 based on Android 15 is nothing, minimal and monochrome, which has lots of adaptation capacity – below for details like the layout of the quick settings menu. Grassscale looks great, although it’s a bit unexpected when you are trying to find an app icon in a crowd, but you can always switch to the standard color icon of Android if you want. A new AI-powered global search bar, apps, contacts, settings and more help to draw.

Other large AI features are found in Returning Essential Space, which is triggered by a dedicated hardware key to save screenshots and voice notes, which will analyze you to give a reminder about events or tasks, which has a new option to add events to the Google calendar. It can also summarize audio recording, although you are limited to 300 minutes a month, with no option to buy more, and you only get a summary, not a full transcript.

But there is much to be a flagship than just looking at the part. The “Flagship” of Phone 3 “Snapdragon 8S General 4 Chipset Angered by some fans, which is also found in $ 399 Poco F7. And of course, it is a chip for the lower end of the flagship space, Snapdragon 8 is less powerful than the elite that you will find in the Galaxy S25. But Google’s Pixel Line has provided less pure power as the company has switched to the in-house tenser chips, and 8S General 4 is competitive with it. It is lagged or stuttering with the phone in my few weeks, photo processing is quite fast, and it handles gaming comfortably.

Some glasses are strong: 12GB RAM and 256GB storage are great for the base model, doubling the location of rivals. The 5,150mAh battery is larger than options and is relaxed on the day, while 65W wired charging is the fastest. The bright 120Hz OLED display is no different from the competition outside of growing at 6.67 inches.

Nothing earlier cameras were capable, but it does not cut for a flagship. Nothing upgraded the phone 3 hardware with a triple rear camera that uses a 50-megapixel sensor across the board-beaten all its rivals on-conclap, including a selfie camera. It says that it is also software twics, also, priority to rich shadows and natural highlights.

The main camera works well in good light through the evening. Some shots have a flat sheen of excessive HDR effects, which removes the opposite and expansion, although even post-processing is not more restrained than something. Once dark, the results leave the results, however, and the camera highlights and crush the blacks in this process.

Telephoto is the best feature that is going for this camera, partly because the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 are not one. The color tuning is different from the main lens, flatter and cool, but it takes photos with an attractive, natural bokeh effect, especially in macro mode.

Overall, cameras are slightly left behind from competition, but this telephoto can be an attractive reason to consider it – although rumors of jumping on three cameras with Pixel 10, this advantage could disappear.

Back to big question: Should you buy it on other flagships? The phone comes with 3 more storage, a large battery and fast charging. This is likely to defeat the upcoming pixels and iPhone models on those fronts. But neither chipsets nor cameras remain up, and there is a risk that those gaps grow in the next few months.

Nevertheless, none of those other flagships look like this. Depending on your taste, it can be a point in their favor. I do not like the design of the phone 3. But it is specific, and gliff matrix Be able to If you take time to customize it then be powerful. If he appeals, nothing is a phone 3 is a unique flagship. Just make sure that you are happy to put the form on the function.

Photos by Dominic Preston / The Verge