Nothing Phone 3 was officially announced on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, marking the company’s latest flagship smartphone entry. This follows the unusual strategy of launching the cheaper Phone 3a series first in March 2025.

Pricing & Availability

Launch Pricing

  • Base Model: $799 (12GB RAM + 256GB storage)
  • Premium Model: $899 (16GB RAM + 512GB storage)

Key Dates

  • Pre-orders begin: July 4, 2025
  • Physical store drops: July 10, 2025 (select locations)
  • General sales start: July 15, 2025
  • Available colors: Black and White
  • Where to buy: nothing.tech and select physical locations

Revolutionary Design Feature: Glyph Matrix

The Big Change

Nothing has completely transformed its signature Glyph Interface, replacing the flashing lights with a revolutionary dot-matrix display called the Glyph Matrix.

Technical Specifications

  • LED count: 489 LEDs
  • Display type: Monochromatic dot-matrix screen
  • Control: Glyph button built under the rear glass cover

Capabilities & Features

The Glyph Matrix offers significantly more utility than previous light-based systems:

Notification System:

  • Display custom images for specific contacts (instead of light patterns)
  • Preset shapes available at launch
  • Future customization through upcoming SDK

Widget Functions:

  • Weather display
  • Battery level indicator
  • Stopwatch functionality
  • Low-resolution mirror
  • Camera timer with visual countdown

Entertainment:

  • Built-in games including rock-paper-scissors and spin the bottle
  • SDK coming for custom Glyph development

Design & Build Quality

Physical Characteristics

  • Thickness: 18% thinner than Phone 2 (Nothing’s thinnest phone yet)
  • Design inspiration: New York City subway map lines and shapes
  • Back panel: Three-column transparent design
  • Water/dust protection: IP68 rating

Camera Design Philosophy

The Phone 3 abandons the chunky camera unit found on the Phone 3a Pro. According to Nothing’s head of design Adam Bates, removing the Glyph lights ‘freed up more space within the phone’ allowing for smaller, custom-made components and a $350 price premium over the 3a series.

Camera Layout: Three-camera system reminiscent of Galaxy S24 Ultra with slightly protruding lenses (not completely flush).

Complete Technical Specifications

Processing Power

  • Chipset: Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor
  • Performance improvement: 5x faster than Phone 3a
  • AI performance: 60% improvement over Phone 2

Display Excellence

  • Size: 6.67-inch AMOLED
  • Resolution: 1.5K (higher than Phone 2)
  • Refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Brightness: Up to 1,600 nits standard, 4,500 nits peak with HDR content
  • Notable: Nothing’s brightest display yet

Camera System (All 50MP)

Rear Cameras:

  • Main camera: 50MP, f/1.68 aperture
    • 70% faster capture than Phone 2
    • Lossless 1.5x zoom capability
  • Periscope zoom: 50MP sensor
    • 3x optical zoom, 6x digital zoom
    • 60x AI Super Resolution Zoom
    • Doubles as macro camera
  • Ultra-wide: 50MP sensor, 114-degree field of view

Front Camera: 50MP

Recording Features:

  • LED indicator flashes red during video recording
  • Auto Tone, Portrait Optimizer, Night Mode
  • Macro Mode, Action Mode
  • Multiple shooting presets

Battery & Charging

  • Capacity: 5,150mAh silicon-carbon battery
  • Fast charging: 65W wired (50% in 20 minutes, 100% in under 1 hour)
  • Wireless charging: 15W (exclusive to premium Nothing phones)
  • Battery type: One of the first Western phones with silicon-carbon cell technology

Memory & Storage

  • RAM options: 12GB or 16GB
  • Storage options: 256GB or 512GB

Software Features

Operating System

  • Base: Android 15 out of the box
  • Custom skin: NothingOS with custom icons and native apps
  • Essential Space: Hardware button launcher (free for foreseeable future)

AI-Powered Features

  • Essential Search: Natural language search across entire phone system
  • Smart Collections: File and screenshot organization (coming post-launch)

Delayed Features

Smart Collections was meant to collate screenshots and other files is still being worked on and currently won’t be available at launch.

Market Positioning & Competition

Target Competition

The Phone 3 directly competes with:

  • Google Pixel 9
  • Samsung Galaxy S25 ($800 with more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite)

Performance Expectations

Based on the OnePlus 13 Pro using the same Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, battery life performance should be strong, though the Phone 3 represents Nothing’s biggest specification compromise this generation.

Early Hands-On Impressions

Camera Performance

According to Mat Smith the camera app seemed faster than previous Nothing devices and low light processing seemed pretty near to the likes of Google’s Pixel.

Design Philosophy Success

The Phone 3 maintains Nothing’s commitment to distinctive design while balancing flagship components, ensuring “there’s nothing in the market that quite resembles a Nothing.”

In Conclusion

The Nothing Phone 3 represents a significant evolution in the company’s smartphone strategy, introducing the innovative Glyph Matrix while maintaining competitive specifications at a $799 starting price point. With its unique design language, comprehensive camera system and silicon carbon battery technology, it has set itself as a distinctive alternative in the crowded flagship smartphone market.

The device’s success will likely depend on whether consumers value Nothing’s unique design philosophy and the practical utility of the Glyph Matrix over absolute cutting edge specifications found in similarly priced competitors.