Nothing Phone (3) review: Miffed by the Glyph

Best Prices Today: Nothing Phone (3)

In 2025, unless you want a foldable, it’s fair to say that the smartphone market is a bit boring. Established phone makers continue with their tried and tested methods, resulting in models that often sell well but do little to get consumers truly excited.  

British company Nothing has taken the opposite approach. Across all six of its handsets so far (and two more from sub-brand CMF), it’s combined bold hardware with genuinely unique software. Yet, as the company has confirmed, its market share in the first six months of 2025 sat at just 0.2%. 

Will the company’s first flagship help change that? A first main phone launch in the US since the Phone (2) two years ago should help that, but the Phone (3) faces very strong competition from the Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16. 

Does it really do enough to tempt you away from Google, Samsung and Apple? I spent a week using the Nothing Phone (3) as my main phone to find out. 

Design & Build

• New ‘Glyph Matrix’ screen
• Semi-transparent design remains
• IP68 water and dust resistance

The design of the Phone (3) is undoubtedly the main reason to buy it. Not only is it very different to every other premium handset out there, but it’s also a big shift away from what we’ve seen on past Nothing phones. 

If you’ve already read anything about the Phone (3) before this, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The ‘Glyph Interface’ lights that defined previous models are gone, replaced with a new ‘Glyph Matrix’ display in the top-right corner. 

This small, monochrome LED display has lots of potential, going far beyond the custom notifications and unique caller light patterns we saw from the lights.  

Much of the experience centres on ‘Glyph Toys’, which allow you to interact with the screen via a dedicated ‘Glyph Button’ on the back of the phone. With a single press to cycle between toys and a long press to trigger one, it’s very easy to use, yet incredibly limited at launch. 

On my review unit, only four tools are available: a digital clock, a stopwatch, a battery indicator and a ‘Spin the bottle’ tool. It saves having to flip the phone over and potentially get distracted, but it’s everything it can’t do yet that really frustrates me. 

Nothing has confirmed that there’ll be further ‘Glyph Toys’ such as a mirror-style tool for framing selfies using the main camera, a solar clock, a leveller tool and even a version of the popular Magic 8 Ball game, but none of these are available at launch. 

I have to review the ‘Glyph Matrix’ as it is today, which is undoubtedly underwhelming

Looking further ahead, the company has made the relevant files available to developers, paving the way for plenty more third-party options. But I have to review the ‘Glyph Matrix’ as it is today, which is undoubtedly underwhelming. 

The arrangement of the rear cameras is also unusual, to say the least. For some reason, Nothing has decided to put the telephoto lens diagonally above the main sensor, rather than in the available space next to the ultrawide. 

As a result, you lose all semblance of symmetry, and the phone just looks weird, in my opinion. When holding it up to my ear for a phone call, I felt slightly ridiculous. 

Nothing has stuck with the semi-transparent aesthetic, although it’s more apparent on the ‘White’ model I’ve tested than the ‘Black’ version. I’m generally a fan of this, though the glass does quickly show plenty of fingerprint smudges. 

The latter point is relevant because the Phone (3) is one of the few phones I could see myself using case-free. A clear silicone case is included in the box, but it detracts from the unique design, and I found there to be enough grip already. 

Durability is excellent, too. With Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus on the back and Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, plus a tough aluminium frame, the phone is rated to survive most bumps, drops and scratches. Aside from a couple of falls onto a desk, I haven’t properly tested this, but it certainly feels well-built. 

You don’t have to worry about water or dust, either. The Phone (3) has a flagship-level IP68 rating, meaning it’ll survive submersion in up to 1.5m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes and is fully protected from dust. 

However, if you were looking for a lightweight or easily pocketable phone, this isn’t it. The Phone 3 measures 160.6 x 75.6 x 9mm and weighs a relatively hefty 218g, though these figures aren’t out of the ordinary if you’re used to big phones. 

Screen & Speakers

• 6.67-inch, AMOLED display
• Full HD+ resolution, 120Hz
• Stereo speakers

So, yes, the Nothing Phone (3) is a large handset, but that’s because there’s a 6.67-inch display to fit in. 

And what a display it is. Aside from a QHD display (the 1260 x 2800 resolution here is more than enough), it’s got all the features you’d expect from a high-end smartphone screen. 

I’m talking AMOLED, meaning you get rich, vibrant colours and deep blacks. Nothing’s Android skin relies heavily on the latter, meaning you get to see it in its full glory. I’ve loved using it for YouTube videos, gaming, web browsing and everything in between.  

If you’re not a fan of this vivid look, simply head into Settings and swap the default ‘Alive’ mode for a truer-to-life ‘Standard’. Here, you can also fine-tune the colour temperature to your liking. 

A 120Hz refresh rate is expected these days, but it feels incredibly fast and smooth on the Phone (3). The default ‘Dynamic’ mode does a good job of adjusting this automatically, even if the Phone (2)’s LTPO tech (which allowed it to drop as low as 1Hz) is gone. 

Given that I have dark mode enabled and it’s a glossy display, I was concerned about outdoor visibility. But an incredible peak brightness of 4500 nits means you don’t have to worry about that. Even the 785 nits I recorded at home make it easy to view, even in direct sunlight. 

With HDR10+ support, 1.07 billion colours and a 1000Hz touch sampling, the Phone (3)’s display has everything I’m looking for in a flagship phone screen. The fact that the bezel is so slim (92.89% screen-to-body ratio) and consistent all the way around is the icing on the cake.

The Phone (3)’s display has everything I’m looking for in a flagship phone screen

Within the screen, you’ll find an optical fingerprint sensor. I found this generally fast and reliable, though it was sensitive to moisture and any unusual angles. Coming from the Pixel 9 Pro XL, I also really missed being able to authenticate payments and log into apps using my face – the version on the Phone (3) isn’t secure enough. 

The Phone (3) boasts the standard dual-speaker setup we’ve come to expect on flagship phones. The audio won’t blow you away, but there is a satisfying depth to the sound, making it fine for casual listening and impressive for calls. Two high-definition mics ensure voice recordings and videos remain clear and crisp, too. 

Specs & Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
• 12/256GB and 16/512GB models available
• One of the first Bluetooth 6.0 phones

The Phone (3) is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip. If you’re familiar with Qualcomm chipsets, that might sound concerning – why doesn’t a so-called flagship use a true flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite? 

That was a question I had, too, until I started testing it. While the 8s Gen 4 is a small step down in terms of pure output, the Phone (3)’s performance is still very impressive.  

Alongside 16GB of RAM on the model I tested (the cheaper version has 12GB), it breezed through all everyday tasks with ease. We’re talking web browsing, emails, messages, a few calls and plenty of photos. Even when quickly switching between them, there was no hesitation or slowdown whatsoever. 

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the Phone (3) is the fastest phone I’ve tested in a long time. It even feels faster than the Galaxy S25+ and Pixel 9 Pro XL, both of which are significantly more expensive. This thing is absolutely rapid. 

Gaming is where the Phone (3) starts to show limitations. On high-end titles such as Call of Duty: Mobile, EA Sports FC and Real Racing 3, there were a few dropped frames, and the back of the phone got very warm to the touch. However, they’re still very playable, and you’ll have no problem with more casual titles. 

The Phone (3) is the fastest phone I’ve tested in a long time…this thing is absolutely rapid

Overall, the performance of Phone (3) surprised me in the best way. Alongside the 120Hz refresh rate, it makes for a potent combination. 

The amount of RAM you choose determines how much storage you’ll get. 12GB gets you 256GB, while 16GB will double that to 512GB. Either should be plenty for most people, but just make sure you get enough, as there’s no support for expandable storage. You do get a dual physical SIM card tray, though. 

It’s also worth noting that the Phone (3) is one of the first smartphones to support the latest Bluetooth 6.0 standard. Compared to older versions, this is expected to improve reliability, reduce latency and deliver a higher standard of security. 

Nothing Phone (3) benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp, f/1.7 main
• 50Mp, f/2.7 3x periscope telephoto 
• 50Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide   
• 50Mp, f/2.2 selfie 

On paper, the Nothing Phone (3) has some impressive cameras. All four sensors (f/1.7 main, f/2.2 ultrawide, f/2.7 periscope telephoto and f/2.2 selfie) are 50Mp, avoiding the common tendency to reduce the megapixel count on supporting lenses. 

However, as we know, a lot more goes into a great photo or video. So, how do they actually perform? 

On the whole, pretty well. The main lens is undoubtedly the highlight, producing clear, crisp photos that are brimming with detail. It offers strong dynamic range and generally handles exposure well, including some fairly complex skies. However, it can struggle to accurately capture shadows at times. 

In general, photos are impressively true to life, yet have just enough post-processing to make them easily shareable on social media or elsewhere. 

I’m also impressed with the way it handles low-light environments. The automatically enabled night mode manages to keep things just bright enough without looking unrealistic or introducing too much noise. 

The Phone (3)’s cameras aren’t bad by any means..but there are enough drawbacks to make it a clear step down from the best camera phones around

However, there’s one thing that still sets the phone back when compared to the competition: consistency. The Phone (3)’s main lens can take excellent photos – just not every time you hit the shutter button.  

For every five photos, there’s one dud, which means you can’t always rely on it when you need to quickly snap a shot. When it comes to point-and-shoot photography, the identically priced Pixel 9 is a clear step up. 

For photos from further away, you’ll want to switch to the periscope telephoto lens, which offers 3x optical zoom. I’m really impressed with the detail on offer at 2x and 3x, though quality quickly declines once digital zoom kicks in after that. You can go all the way to 60x, but I wouldn’t recommend it. 

While you can use the main lens for portrait photography, most modes rely on the telephoto. Some of the dog photos I captured looked impressively professional, though look more closely and you’ll see the obvious issues with edge detection. It’s very easy to fine-tune to your liking, though. 

Given it has the same megapixel count as the main camera, I had high hopes for the 50Mp ultrawide. But, while still very usable, it’s a much bigger step down than I was hoping. Exposure, dynamic range, detail and colour accuracy are all sacrificed slightly, cancelling out most of the benefits of the 114˚ field of view. 

See the full range of samples from the rear camera in the gallery below:

However, the front-facing camera might be my favourite of the lot. It delivers consistently clear, crisp selfies, handling my skin tone well and avoiding overexposing backgrounds. A portrait mode is also available here, and seems to be more successful at learning where my shirt ends and the background begins. 

Overall, the Phone (3)’s cameras aren’t bad by any means, and genuinely impressive in some areas. But there are enough drawbacks to make it a clear step down from the best camera phones around. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 5150mAh battery
• 65W wired charging
• 15W wireless, but not Qi2

The Nothing Phone (3) boasts a sizeable 5150mAh battery in most countries, though that is significantly smaller than the 5500mAh cell found on the Indian version. 

Nonetheless, I was optimistic about the phone’s battery life, and it hasn’t disappointed me. In many scenarios, the Phone (3) is comfortably a two-day phone. With lighter usage, while working from home, I could stretch that to almost three. 

Of course, going 72 hours between plugging in isn’t important when a power source is within easy reach.  

The crucial detail here is that a full charge will almost always get you to the end of the day, even with lots of GPS navigation, mobile data and high brightness. Unless you plan on multiple hours of gaming, the Phone (3) will make it to bedtime. 

This excellent battery life is reflected in our usual PCMark battery test, which simulates real-world tasks at a fairly typical 200 nits of brightness. A time of 17 hours and 23 minutes is one of the best we’ve ever seen. Make no mistake, battery life is one of the Phone (3)’s biggest assets.

Make no mistake, battery life is one of the Phone (3)’s biggest assets

In terms of charging, the Phone (3) can hit 65W speeds using its official charger, with a full charge taking only 54 minutes. However, it’s not included in the box, so you’ll have to pay for it separately. 

I tested it using a 65W charger I already owned, but speeds were a little underwhelming, with around 90 minutes required to go from 0-100%. For a quicker boost, 30 minutes took the phone to 38%, which is enough for a few hours in most cases. 

15W wireless and 5W reverse wireless charging are also included, but this is using the older Qi standard as opposed to the current Qi2. 

Software & Apps

• Nothing OS 3.5 over Android 15
• Android 16 confirmed for Q3 2025
• Five years of OS updates, seven years of security patches

Out of the box, the Phone (3) runs on the Nothing OS 3.5 software, a customised version of Android 15 that’s specifically designed for Nothing devices.  

Nothing has confirmed that the Android 16-based Nothing OS 4 will be available in Q3 of 2025 – in other words, any time before the end of September. Many Android phone makers are vague when it comes to a timeline for Android 16, so this is refreshing to see. 

Looking further ahead, Nothing says it will support the Phone (3) with five years of major OS updates, plus a further two years of security patches. That’s its best commitment to date, though slightly short of Pixel phones and Samsung flagships, which offer seven years of both. It might not seem like a big difference, but if you like to hang onto your phones for a long time or pass them on to friends or family, it’s significant. 

Still, what you’re really buying the Phone (3) for is the software experience today. I must confess, I never really got what Nothing OS was all about in the past. But after getting things set up just the way I wanted, I’ve really enjoyed using it. 

Nothing’s signature black and red aesthetic, futuristic icon design and extensive widget collection combine for a truly unique Android experience. The setup I settled on below includes four meaningful (and attractive widgets), key quick settings and my most-used apps, but the possibilities are endless.

I also really like the new app drawer, which can automatically group your apps into categories, which I found to be generally accurate. The apps you use most often are larger than the others, making it easy to navigate. 

I never really got what Nothing OS was all about in the past. But after getting things set up just the way I wanted, I’ve really enjoyed using it

Nothing has also upgraded the search functionality within the app drawer, allowing you to easily access contacts, photos and files, plus search using its own generative AI. I found the latter fairly limited, offering ChatGPT-style responses to simple prompts but struggling with more complex queries. 

Elsewhere, Nothing continues to use AI relatively sparingly, with some ChatGPT integrations elsewhere, a generative AI wallpaper tool and a curated news widget. 

‘Essential Space’, introduced on the (3a) series, continues to be the main draw, allowing you to easily capture your screen or the world around you via a photo, video or audio recording, all of which can be analysed and summarised to search for later.

It can be quickly accessed via the dedicated ‘Essential Key’ on the side of the phone:

A new feature comes in the form of ‘Flip to Record’, which triggers a voice recording (and subsequent summarisation) when you long-press the ‘Essential Key’ and flip your phone screen side down. It works as described, but doesn’t feel any more convenient than just launching the Recorder app. 

For me, ‘Essential Space’ still often feels cluttered and overwhelming. While the search function helps, I still prefer capturing something manually and finding it in Google Photos. However, this feature should continue to get better over time. 

Price & Availability

At launch, the Nothing Phone (3) starts at £799/$799. That’ll get you a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while doubling the latter to 512GB (the version I tested) costs £899/$899. 

You can buy one directly from Nothing, alongside third-party retailers including Amazon UK and Amazon US.

On contract, it’s available from EE in the UK.

That outright price means it’s technically a flagship phone, though far cheaper than the likes of the Galaxy S25 Ultra (from £1,249/$1,299.99). However, there’s no shortage of rivals, with the regular Galaxy S25, Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 all priced identically. 

Should you buy the Nothing Phone (3)?

Unless you love the design, probably not. The Phone (3) gets a lot right, including a gorgeous display, top-class build quality and some of the best battery life of any 2025 phone. 

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 still delivers rapid performance, while seven years of security updates are up there with the best around.  

However, five years of OS updates are behind Samsung and Google’s commitment, while the cameras still need work to be up there with the very best. 

Ultimately, it’s the design that will make or break this phone. I’m personally not a big fan, and I imagine most people will feel a similar way, so I can’t recommend it over key rivals at this price. But if you love the way the Phone (3) looks, there are no dealbreakers elsewhere. 

Specs

• Nothing OS 3.5, based on Android 15   
• 6.67-inch, 1260 x 2800, AMOLED, 120Hz   
• Optical in-display fingerprint scanner   
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy   
• 12/16GB RAM   
• 256/512GB storage  
• 50Mp, f/1.7 main camera 
• 50Mp, f/2.7 3x periscope telephoto 
• 50Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide   
• 50Mp, f/2.2 selfie  
• Up to 4K @ 60fps rear video   
• Stereo speakers   
• Dual-SIM + eSIM   
• Wi-Fi 7  
• Bluetooth 6.0 
• 5150mAh battery   
• 65W wired charging   
• 15W wireless charging 
• 5W reverse wireless charging 
• 160.6 x 75.6 x 9 mm  
• IP68 water and dust resistance 
• 218g  
• Colours: Black, White 

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