Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I love Nothing’s semi-transparent design language. Its debut Phone 1 was the first Android phone in a long time that I can remember being just as happy to look at as I was to use (if only because it didn’t work in the US). Then, I watched Nothing refine its style over a few generations of mid-range and budget phones, reworking its Glyph interface and camera placement until it found a combination so cute that Wall-E might fall in love with it.
Now, though, I think it’s jumped the shark. Its Phone 3 design looks like nothing (no pun intended) I’ve ever seen before, let alone tried to protect. It has camera sensors, buttons, and a revamped Glyph Matrix scattered across the back panel, and I’ve never been so scared to go without a phone case. Here’s why that’s such a big problem.
There’s unique, and then there’s impractical
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Like I said, the Nothing Phone 3 is one-of-a-kind. It doesn’t make a single traditional design choice other than having a USB-C port on the bottom and buttons on the sides. Other than that, though, chaos. The cameras sit as far apart as boys and girls at a middle school dance, and the circular Glyph Matrix feels like I should be able to raise a Tamagotchi on it.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a neat look. I wasn’t sure I’d like it at first based on Nothing’s trickle of teasers and leaks, but the finished product tickles my design-loving brain just right. However, just because I like the look of something doesn’t make it a great idea. I loved the idea of Nike’s Adapt Auto Max — a shoe that you could only tighten if charged via a proprietary pad — but I would never buy one because it was in no way practical.
Nothing's design is clever as can be, but did it have to put a camera sensor so close to the edge?
Unfortunately, that’s how I’m starting to think about the Phone 3. At times, it feels like Nothing’s engineers realized they could, but didn’t stop to think if they should. They didn’t consider that spreading out the camera sensors and relocating the Glyph Matrix would open the Phone 3 to easier damage, just as long as the finished product looked cool. Like a shoe with moving electronic parts is more susceptible to wear and tear, a phone with too many cluttered corners feels like it’s living dangerously in an adventure-filled world.
And yes, I know that the now-iconic camera bar that graces the back of every Google Pixel is a less-than-practical choice too. It’s a huge bump that nearly splits any would-be phone case in half. However, it also steps in where a case would have trouble, putting a thick metal frame around the cameras and using tough glass to protect all the sensors simultaneously. The Phone 3 doesn’t.
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