Nothing, things worked differently with their third generation of phones. First of all the midrange nothing phone 3A (and 3A Pro), which combined stylish hardware with a competitive price. Now, the company has launched Nothing phone 3Which he is calling his first “true flagship”. In $ 799, it is not yet anything, a major new form of a large screen, four 50-megapixel cameras and the company’s signature gliff interface, developed in more compact glyph matrix.
There is nothing hardware design that actually distinguishes its phone from installed players, and the 2025 model is more wide and complex than before. At this price, however, it faces strict competition from entry-level flagships such as the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16. There is nothing enough to compete, beyond innovations and sometimes gimmick?
Nothing / Engadget
Nothing can be the first “true flagship” of the phone 3 company, but many glasses do not match that flagship monkey. Large screens, batteries and new glyph matrix make it a major step from the phone 2, but the camera performance is irregular and you will expect a more powerful processor at this price.
- Big, bright performance
- Unique hardware and software design
- Big silicon-carbon battery
- Camera performance is irregular
- Middleing processor
Hardware and design
Once again, nothing is a phone that attracts attention like another. Everywhere I go, people are curious when they see me using the phone 3, and the glyph matrix feels to confuse and delight them.
Nothing, unlike the protruding camera unit on the phone 3A Pro, three cameras of the phone 3 are recorded separately and a fraction of a millimeter is thrown out. Viewing through external returns, displaying screws and hardware modules, was arranged in three vertical rows. This time, it is more obvious that it is a design that thrives rather than a real glimpse in the components of the phone. For example, a curious semi-scar of glass, taken under the flash, does not seem to have a purpose (beyond a beauty).
Somewhere else, a red square next to the ultravide camera now serves as a recording light. This is another attractive touch that can be disabled in settings if you distract it. Off-selectors telephoto camera lens can also bother symmetry fans, but this is an option that I do not mind especially. The phone is 18 percent thinner than the phone 3 phone 2 and, without a camera collision of 3A Pro, it looks and feels a step over its predecessors.
The main attraction is Gliff Matrix: A circular dot-matrix display is made of 489 LED which reflects simple information, time and battery levels. While some loyal fans may miss the bold light show of the previous model, this recurrence is far more useful. Instead of a barrage of flashing lights, the matrix can tell you who is calling through unique patterns and, with future updates, custom art is assigned to your contacts.
Nothing continues in its retro tech design inspiration, and I believe I am a sucking for it. Dot-matrix text and number do nothing completely align with Android skin, making the entire device feel harmonious. A capacitive haptic gliff button under the matrix lets you cycling through information and equipment. The interactions are simple: a long press to start a small press or stopwatch to switch the mode.
Fortunately, you can use the Gliff Matrix tool and the Settings menu of the phone 3 to assign “toys”. Most of them are fickle and trivial, such as spin the bottle and magic 8 balls, and anything is not tapping in their community to create new matrix widgets. Hopefully, functionality will expand as more users will be involved. Some devices are less useful, although a level like a level that uses an accelerometer of the phone for a pixelized readout. It just looks a little impregnable; How much accuracy can you get from less than 500 pixels? Others are quite clever, such as a pixelated camera readout for a framing selfie.
With the required notifications, you can assign specific app notification or contact for a specific pattern or a unique pattern or a pixelized photo. However, it is challenging to make anything that does not look like blurred disturbances. The same settings menu allows you to adjust the glow of the matrix and how long the notifications persist.
The front front is all display of phone 3, with a 6.67 -inch screen and a resolution of 2,800 x 1,260. If you prefer a large screen, it is probably the biggest advantage of the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S25. It is nothing yet, reaching 4,500 nets for HDR materials yet – nothing is very bright compared to the phone 3A. It supports HDR 10+ and 120Hz refresh rates, which is protected by all Gorilla Glass 7.
Camera
Nothing with Phone 3 cameras is covered by fundamental. The triple-camera system includes 50-megapixel f/1.7 main sensor with optical image stabilization, a 50mp ultravide and a new 50MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom.
As we have mentioned in the review of some of our phones 3A, telephoto cameras are rare on more affordable smartphones. On the phone 3, there is a periscope zoom, which makes the camera unit out of the device and barely out of the device. It is also impressive to look at 3x zoom with a high-resolution 50-megapixel sensor, which allows you to harvest in images while maintaining loyalty. Nothing added a 6x zoom button in the camera app that harves the image further. The app also uses pixel-bining for more accurate color and better low-light paintings as default, resulting in a 12-megapixel images.
Overall, the camera system may be a bit inconsistent. During a holiday in Amsterdam, the phone 3 captured the crisp images of wildlife and architecture. Its action mode was particularly impressive, adding motion blur to the shots, keeping the subject fast. However, at other times, what should have been vibrant cityscape shots and street art, turned out to be muted and granulated. For example, psychidelic cat artwork that was incredibly alive in the person looked flat in photos. Matadetta revealed that the phone crank the ISO, a setting that I have not manually accommodated on a smartphone over the years. Some color variations are expected between the three lenses, images often seemed as if they were taken on different phones, something that was particularly clear in scenes with blue sky.
The telephoto camera phone 3 has a standout feature. I like the ability to play with zoom, and 3x optical zoom (plus additional crop) makes it a more useful camera than the iPhone 16 or Pixel 9, which is top out in 2x zoom. It is also an excellent macro camera, which uses zoom to prevent the phone from shaking on the subject.
software
Nothing once again outfits your phone with your specific Android skin. Aesthetics are all monochrome, serif fonts and dot-matrix touch. I immediately chose this skin while setting the phone for the first time, although finding some app icons can be more challenging without their original colors.
The required location, with your dedicated hardware button, adds nothing the most interesting software. Nothing since launching at the phone 3A, it can now add events to your Google calendar, remind you of tasks and summarize audio recording. My biggest issue, however, is accidentally killing the power button rather than the required key. The keys require a different shape or at least one more specific experience.
Performance and battery life
With Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S General 4 processor, the phone performs 3 concretely, but like the Snapdragon 8 Elite or Apple A18, there is not a device as a device with true flagship silicon. Some people may argue that the phone 3 is not a “true flagship” because its processor can be found in sub-$ 400 devices, but the chip is still powerful enough for most functions and sports, and even ray-trace graphics can distribute.
Nothing was chosen for the 5,150mAh silicone-carbon battery, which is one of the first phones we have tested with this new technology. This can store more lithium ions more than traditional lithium-ion batteries, which claims nothing that it promotes 10 percent in energy density compared to its predecessor. I did not feel any remarkable difference of the cooler of the phone 3, however. In our battery randdown test, the phone 3 was capable of playing a video file for just 23 hours. This phone is slightly shy than 2, but it has a small screen.
The phone 3 also gets a flagship-level charging speed, which supports 65W wired charging that completes the device within an hour from the empty (with a compatible charger). It also supports earbuds for 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. However, the lack of QI2 support seems like a inspection for “true major”.
Wrap
There is nothing compared to a similar price smartphone? The phone 3 provides a large 6.67-inch screen, a large battery and 256GB storage with fast charging-doubles the amount found in Pixel 9 and Galaxy S25.
However, a minimal-flying-flagship chipset and incompatible camera performance is separated from the appeal of an otherwise complicated phone with slicky software and a unique design. Gliff Matrix phone 3 is much more useful than the bright lights of the predecessors, even if the design is not quite bold. I hope that the company continues to develop the equipment available on it.
The phone 3 two years old is much better phone than anything phone 2, but it is also $ 200 more expensive, making any shortcomings more clear. While I want nothing to continue experimenting with your phone, it should probably prioritize the performance of the camera first.
