Nothing Phone 3 The Nothing Phone 3 tries to be an Android flagship while skipping out on just a few key areas like the chipset and top-end materials. But, with new perks like faster wired charging, improved cameras, and official US carrier support, as well as that signature hardware and software design flair, this is the easiest Nothing Phone to recommend to date.
What even is a flagship Android phone these days? Sometimes, I think I know. Other times, I have to shrug and wonder. And yet, not being able to define a flagship phone isn’t always a bad thing. On the right occasion, it can be the highest possible praise for an excellent budget phone or even a rock-solid mid-ranger. I should know — I’ve called several great phones flagship-like over the years.
But what happens when the phone you’re describing as flagship-like is meant to be a true flagship? Does that mean it hit its goal? Or did it come up just a bit short? I’ve asked myself all these questions and more while exploring the Nothing Phone 3, and I’m not sure I have a good answer. It’s Nothing at its best, but is it what it aims to be? Let’s find out.
Business in the front, party in the back
Prakhar Khanna / Android Authority
When I found out that Nothing was on its way back into the flagship Android race (because yes, I consider the Phone 1 and Phone 2 to be, at the very least, flagship-ish), I thought it might signal a return to its original design language. After all, the Phone 1 and Phone 2 were practically twins, putting their dual cameras in an iPhone-like bump in the corner and using the Glyph Interface and wireless charging coil as the stars of the show. Of course, I couldn’t be sure, as the more recent Phone 2a and Phone 3a series swung differently, taking on Pixar-like designs that laid it on with the cute and the quirky.
Then, when the Phone 3 broke cover, it was anything but. Sure, all of the basic elements were there — the individually housed cameras, the semi-transparent back panel, and the LEDs that made the original Nothing launches so interesting — but it was as if they’d been sent through a teleporter and come back all sorts of jumbled up. At first, I thought the new design was jarring. It’s certainly like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but it’s taken several weeks with the Phone 3 to figure out whether I like the look… and whether anyone will ever make a case for this phone.
The Phone 3 is a classic Nothing design... but I've yet to find a half decent case for its untraditional cameras.
And, at long last, I think I do. I’m not sure I like the Glyph Matrix, because it makes it almost impossible to use the phone without a case, but the rest of Nothing’s updated design has grown on me. The unique camera placement isn’t that different from the layout on the OnePlus 13 — Nothing just shaved off the circular bump. Yes, I think the telephoto sensor might still be a little close to the edge for my liking, but I think it’s set just far enough that it’ll be okay. I thought I’d miss the look of the charging coil, too, but the broken up panels and semicircle on the side keep the refresh from coming out boring — besides, Nothing needed space for the physical Glyph Matrix trigger, I guess.
Since I’ve referenced Nothing’s updated LED setup twice, it’s time to dig deeper. Honestly, I miss the old Glyph Interface. The Glyph Matrix is neat, and it’s certainly more interactive with a series of toys like spin the bottle, a magic eight ball, and rock, paper, scissors, but it’s also more of a gimmick than it’s been in the past. On the Phone 1, 2, and the Phone A series, the simple LED bars felt like handy ways to make notifications more, well, noticeable, but by having a circular matrix full of games on the Phone 3, it feels like Nothing mostly wants me to use the back of my phone.
Given the fairly straightforward design of the rest of the Phone 3, I get that, but I won’t pretend the Glyph Matrix has become an integral part of my usage. Its Glyph Torch isn’t very bright, its Glyph Mirror isn’t a mirror, and its sunset tracker is no more accurate than if I were to step outside and look at the sky. But it’s more exciting than an otherwise very flat, simple frame, so I’ll give it that, but I’m not sure why the Matrix is this small if it’s intended to be a big part of the design language, or why the Interface had to be ditched at all — why not both?
The only other bit of exciting design to dot the aluminum frame — a frame that feels surprisingly plasticky, I might add — is the second iteration of the Essential Key. It’s still too close to the power button, but the rounded shape and glossy finish make it much easier to press the right button.
On the other side of that flat, satin frame sits a 6.67-inch, 120Hz AMOLED panel with a nearly blinding peak brightness of 4,500 nits. While the peak brightness only means so much (you’ll rarely use it maxed out), it’s a good indicator that Nothing hasn’t cut any corners with its first flagship panel in a few years. If anything, it’s probably a better indication of how good Nothing’s budget-friendly panels are, as the Phone 3’s primary advantages over the 3a and 3a Pro are its brightness and Gorilla Glass 7i durability over Panda Glass.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Don’t think that makes this a budget-friendly or even mid-range experience, though. The Nothing Phone 3’s display is nothing short of buttery smooth, hopping from a side hustle as my go-to GPS navigator to managing my Spotify playlist on the drive home from camping with my family. Between all that, I’ve been spending a little more time revisiting Pokémon Go, having just moved my day-one profile over from the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s handled life on the Phone 3 perfectly, save for an Essential Space entry or two while pulling the phone out of my pocket. One day I’ll learn not to squeeze buttons I can’t see, but today is not that day.
Not quite Elite…
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
These days, it’s easy enough to build a flagship-grade exterior. Nothing nailed it on the Phone 3, and its much more affordable Phone 3a and 3a Pro weren’t that far off, either. The real place where flagship phones are made, though, is under the hood. This is, unfortunately, where I think that Nothing settled for flagship-ish. It checked the boxes for RAM and storage, pairing 12GB with 256GB on the base configuration, with 16GB and 512GB as an upgrade. However, the powerhouse behind them is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, which is a good chipset, but one that figures to fall just behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
I’ve been proven wrong in the past, though, so I had to see whether my worries about a lower-tier chipset had any factual basis. To do so, I fired up our gauntlet of benchmarks, covering everything from the CPU to the GPU and putting the Phone 3 under a fair amount of stress. Then, I stacked it against its closest rivals (just about every phone you can get for close to $800) to see if it could keep up.
In both legs of our CPU testing, my fears proved pretty much spot-on. The Phone 3 topped exactly the phones I expected — the Tensor G4-toting Pixel 9 and the budget-minded Phone 3a Pro, but came up short of everything else in its price range. Both the OnePlus 13 and Samsung Galaxy S25 have solid leads across the single and multi-core sections of the Geekbench 6 test, and they stay nearly as far ahead in the run of the more comprehensive PCMark Work test. You may or may not notice an actual difference in everyday life, but on paper, it seems like a slight miss from the Nothing team.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
The Phone 3 fares just a bit better on the GPU side of our testing, adding Apple’s iPhone 16 to its list of wins. Our stress test still shows a bit of a mixed bag, with the Phone 3 starting below the Galaxy S25 but trading places back and forth in the later runs of the test before ultimately settling just below Samsung’s smallest flagship. As expected, though, Nothing’s first flagship in a few years stays comfortably ahead of its more affordable sibling and Google’s base-level Pixel 9. The zig-zag of results to finish out runs 15 to 18 is an interesting pattern, suggesting that Nothing would rather fluctuate its performance than finish with a lower, more consistent score.
The Phone 3's performance is good enough for a flagship, but it's not Elite.
In everyday life, the just-okay benchmark results are nothing to worry about. Had the Phone 3 fallen further behind its foes, I might have been concerned, but it feels smooth whether I’m gaming, browsing, or finding my way back home from the campground I’ve visited every year since I was born. It didn’t struggle with several apps in the background, though I noticed the Phone 3 warming just a bit while multitasking on a bright sunny day, as many phones do.
Honestly, everything I’ve said about the Phone 3 so far could probably be applied to any number of flagship (or flagship-like) phones. What makes this one different, though, is Nothing OS. In just a few short years, it’s become one of my favorite Android skins, pairing a stock Android-like base with mostly color treatments and dot-based widgets and fonts. The result is a flavor of Android that feels a lot like Pixel UI, but with a slick black and white color scheme that warms my minimalist heart just right.
Within that minimalism is a handful of clever customization features, like Nothing’s easily organizable quick settings, which take on a drag-and-drop grid with just enough buttons to stay manageable. The Essential Space has a new wrinkle, too, in the form of an Essential Recorder. It’s a lot like Nothing’s take on the Pixel Recorder, allowing you to flip your phone to start a recording and use the Essential Key to mark important passages within a conversation. When you finish a recording, the Phone 3 will treat it like any other Essential entry, crafting a summary and pulling action points for later usage.
Also new to the family is Nothing News, an Audio Overview-like feature that gives you the day’s stories in a personalized podcast. Thankfully, you can check which topics you’re interested in, so I went for technology, sports, and entertainment while skipping the more serious bits of news. I like the structure of Nothing News so far, though I’ve already had a few repeat stories within the same podcast, and I haven’t noticed much variety over the few days I’ve put it to the test. Maybe it’s a slow news day, but there’s no way I need the same update twice within a tight set of eight stories.
One of my worries when a company goes all-in on new AI settings is how it’ll impact battery life. Well, in the case of the Nothing Phone 3, there’s some good news: This phone busts the 5,000mAh barrier, picking up a 5,150mAh cell to keep the lights on. Its slightly lower-tier chipset is nicely matched to the plus-sized cell, turning it into something of a not-so-little engine that could when pushed through our battery drain testing.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Don’t get me wrong — the Phone 3 doesn’t win across the board. I thought its beefy battery would fare better in a few places. Its 4K playback performance is surprisingly bad, only beating Google’s Pixel 9, while its camera longevity only tops the Galaxy S25 and Nothing Phone 3a Pro. The web browsing and 4K recording scores are better, putting the Phone 3 in second place across both legs. But, for a phone with the second-largest battery in the lineup, I would have expected a bit more out of Nothing.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
On the bright side, when that battery does run out, Nothing’s wired charging is some of the best in the business. The Phone 3 comes equipped for 65W wired speeds, which I’ve had no problem achieving with my UGREEN Nexode Pro and the cable bundled with my Motorola Razr Ultra. The flagship also supports 15W wireless charging, but I’ve mostly relied on the wired setup instead since it’s faster than anything that Google, Samsung, or Apple has brought to the table.
Interestingly, the Phone 3 finished charging just a bit slower than its Phone 3a Pro sibling, despite the latter topping out at 50W speeds. If I had to guess, the difference comes down to the slightly larger capacity of the Phone 3, along with the usual slowdown that comes at the end of a charging cycle. As you could imagine, there’s no 65W charger in the box, but we’ve picked out a few favorites in case you need to upgrade.
It’s a funky camera setup, but it gets the job done
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
One of the bigger updates to arrive on the entire Nothing Phone 3 series is none other than a telephoto camera. After a few years of doubling down on the dual-camera setup, the more affordable Phone 3a and 3a Pro were the first to the punch, adding 50MP 2x optical and 3x optical sensors, respectively. Now, it’s the Phone 3’s turn to seek a place among the best camera phones.
Like its siblings, Nothing’s first flagship in years adds yet another 50MP sensor to its scattered rear setup, but it’s a good reminder that not all telephoto sensors are created equal. Yes, it’s a 70mm periscope telephoto sensor similar to the one on the Phone 3a Pro, but Nothing’s budget model has a slightly larger sensor at 1/1.95 inches than the Phone 3’s 1/2.75 inches, with a marginally wider maximum aperture to boot.
I'm glad Nothing is all-in on a triple camera setup, but I'm surprised the Phone 3a Pro has a larger telephoto sensor.
Outside of that odd advantage to the budget model, the rest of the Phone 3’s camera setup is as classic Nothing as can be. It pairs a 50MP primary camera with a 50MP ultrawide backup, and this time, both sensors are larger than their affordable counterparts. Nothing’s primary camera tackles 1x and 2x zoom in the form of a sensor crop, while its telephoto setup takes over for everything from 3x zoom up to 60x ultra zoom with a bit of help from AI to process the finer points.
So far, I think Nothing has one of the most natural approaches to image processing and color science, so let’s get to some camera samples and see if you agree.
3x Macro 2x zoom 2x Portrait Mode
The Nothing Phone 3 landed on my desk at the best time of the year: Late summer. Well, I’d have preferred early fall so I’m not sweating from the minute I step out my front door, but I’m still pleased with the way it captured everything from the Black-Eyed Susans that dot the parks around Baltimore (especially when set to 3x macro mode) to the rounded concrete architecture within the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The shot of heirloom tomatoes at the Saturday farmer’s market came out perfectly in line with how I saw it, too, with soft shadows and plenty of shine across the red and green fruits. I’ve had no issues with Nothing’s portrait mode detection, either, with the Phone 3 perfectly tracing the cup and straw of the mocktail off to the right side and applying just enough bokeh to the couple in the background.
2x Portrait Mode 3x Macro Mode
Moving on, this set of images shows a little more range out of the Phone 3. Yes, I love the 3x macro mode — which uses the telephoto sensor rather than the ultrawide camera — but I’m more impressed with what the primary sensor can capture in late-day lighting. It perfectly captured the dog on the left side of the gallery, adding just enough glow to the top of his head where the sunlight hit it towards the end of his afternoon nap.
Over on the ultrawide side, the Phone 3 has a little more wiggle room in how it processes images. It made most of my shots pretty bright, like the art museum and the bust of Frederick Douglass in the middle of the gallery, but also darkened parts of the classroom building off to the right side. Of the set, I think the portrait hanging in the art museum is the most accurately exposed, with the Phone 3 recreating the brown of the desk and the gold of the frame just about perfectly.
1x Zoom 2x Zoom 3x Zoom 6x Zoom
10x Zoom 30x Zoom 60x Zoom
There’s not much to dig into regarding the Phone 3’s zoom capabilities — at least not until you hit 10x zoom. Everything from the primary sensor (and its 2x crop) to the telephoto (and its 6x crop) looks sharp, and the colors are accurate, if maybe not the most vibrant.
Once you hit 10x zoom, you get a better taste of how Nothing uses AI to treat images. There’s a bit of sharpening at 10x, followed by more at 30x zoom, which I still think holds enough detail in the letters of the Domino Sugar sign. At 60x zoom, the Phone 3 moves in the other direction. It loses a little sharpness in the center lines of each letter, while the support scaffolding looks just a bit too artificial for my liking. Granted, it’s still a lot more flexible than flagships like the Galaxy S25 or Pixel 9 can match.
Portrait Mode
The last camera on the Nothing Phone 3 is, you guessed it, another 50MP sensor. This time, it occupies a small punch hole at the top of the AMOLED panel and is in charge of capturing me impatiently waiting to pick up my to-go order. Whether set to portrait mode or standard exposure, I have to say I’m impressed with Nothing’s results. The colors remain anything but punchy, but the details are spot-on, and the portrait detection didn’t miss a curl of hair anywhere on my head. I still don’t think a 50MP selfie camera is a must-have for any phone, but Nothing made good use of the one it chose.
On the video front, the Nothing Phone 3 gets a pretty decent boost over the rest of the Phone 3 family. It supports 4K recording at 60fps from either the front or rear camera, and the stabilization is much better than I experienced on the Phone 3a Pro a few months ago.
The Phone 3 produces natural photos, but it's a little light on editing tricks.
You can also check out full-resolution versions of these photos (and many more) at this Google Drive link.
Outside the camera basics, the Phone 3 is a little light on editing tricks — at least in the default Nothing Gallery. Yes, you can swap between a few preset camera filters as needed, but you’ll have to swap to Google Photos for extras like Magic Editor to resize elements of your shot. Don’t get me wrong, having some extra power at my fingertips is nice, but I’d love to see Nothing integrate it into its default gallery rather than make me bounce back and forth.
Nothing Phone 3 review verdict: It’s a flagship, or at least I think it is
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Well, there you go — Nothing has created a flagship that’s mostly a flagship, but not quite a flagship at all times. Every time it wins me over with something like its flexible camera setup, the Phone 3 leaves me scratching my head with something else, like its five-year update promise, which is good, but not Google- or Samsung-tier. It’ll get me on board with excellent wireless charging, but then lose me just as quickly with almost-there performance and battery life. And yet, there’s no way to get around the definitely-a-flagship asking price of $799.
If you’re a Nothing fan — a true Nothing fan, more dedicated than I am — you’ll probably love this phone. It’s a worthwhile upgrade from the Phone 2, offering a better design, faster charging, and improved performance across the board, and I’d be willing to bet that you like NothingOS just as much as I do. The problem, however, is that I’m not sure I see the Phone 3 winning over too many longtime Pixel or iPhone users.
The Phone 3 is Nothing's best launch yet, I'm just not sure if it's ready to take on the Pixel, Galaxy, and iPhone at $800.
For the first time, though, I don’t have to tell my fellow Americans to run the other way — at least not really. If you can live with a compromise or two, you’ll be happy to know that the Nothing Phone 3 works fully with some of the biggest carriers in the US. It’s certified to work with the 4G and 5G networks of both AT&T and T-Mobile, and it has many of the bands required to work with Verizon. You’ll have to contact the carrier to activate your phone, though, as there’s not enough band support for you to slip in a SIM and go just yet.
The Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9 are going to be options 1A and 1B for life outside the Phone 3 for most buyers. They both top Nothing’s update commitment by a few years and have several more years of flagship experience under their belts. Sure, the Phone 3 offers better maximum camera zoom, but both the Galaxy and the Pixel have better editing tools, more flexible shooting modes, and punchier color recreation. You’ll also get slightly better battery returns out of the smaller cells — though I can’t take anything away from Nothing’s wired charging speeds. Then again, you should wait for the Pixel 10 at this point, which is launching a few days from the time of this review going live.
One more Android-fueled option to strongly consider, though, is the OnePlus 13. It’s as unique as the Nothing Phone 3, sporting textured back panels and fun materials like vegan leather while pairing them with powerful internals like the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and a massive 6,000mAh battery. Mix in a triple camera setup that tops out at 120x zoom and Hasselblad-tuned image processing, and the OnePlus 13 feels like the phone that Nothing should aspire to beat with its next flagship. Considering the origin story of Nothing and its CEO, I’m sure they already know that, too.
Nothing Phone 3 MSRP: $799.99 Nothing's first 'true flagship.' The Phone 3 is a stylish reinvention of Nothing's Android phone series, now with flagship specs, including a large silicon-carbon battery, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, and a periscope zoom lens with macro photography support. See price at Amazon Positives Cons
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