Nothing has unveiled its eagerly awaited Nothing Phone 3, and it is looking like the brand’s most aggressive play yet. Announced alongside its inaugural over-ear Headphones (1) at an event in London, the Nothing Phone 3 is a heady fusion of the company’s core transparency philosophy and a fresh take on design and performance.
Priced at Rs 79,999 to begin with, the Nothing Phone 3 is the most expensive device from the brand till date. From the first look, the phone is captivating. Then the tradition started and then the transparent back again, and this time around it’s a sexy three-column layout with a delicious Glyph Matrix on the back.
A Smarter Glyph Experience
The rear’s Glyph Matrix display also clocks in at an eye-catching 489 LEDs, which sit in the top-left here. This secondary dynamic screen shows everything from caller ID to app alerts and contact avatars. What began as a set of decorative LEDs in Phone (1) has matured into an actual interface.
The new pressure-sensitive haptic input, the Glyph Button, on the side allows you to toggle between mini-apps or widgets. Whether it’s the Glyph Mirror for selfie previews, or fun features like Rock Paper Scissors, Magic 8 Ball or even a Solar Clock, the Nothing Phone 3 is designed to keep things lighthearted while cutting down on unnecessary screen time.
Premium Build and Display
The Nothing Phone 3 comes with a 6.67-inch flexible AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The bezels are just slimmed down to 1.87mm, it looks real modern. Its build is polished and durable thanks to metal and glass layers.
High Performance with long term support
Inside is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset powering the Nothing Phone 3. It isn’t as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite or Apple’s A18 chip, in terms of raw power, but the 8s Gen 4 does provide some significant improvements. Area When compared to the Phone (2) users will find up to 36% faster CPU, 88% quicker GPU and 60% faster AI tasks.
Pre-installed is Nothing OS 3.5 which is based on Android 15. The company is committing to five years of OS updates and seven years of security patches, bringing the Nothing Phone 3 into line with most premium flagships in terms of longevity. A Q3 2025 upgrade to Android 16 with Nothing OS 4.0 is additionally assured.
A Versatile Camera Setup
Camera junkies will no doubt celebrate the all-rounder camera system on the Nothing Phone 3:
- 50MP main 1/1.3″ sensor, OIS, 2x in-sensor zoom
- 50MP periscope lens with 3x optical zoom and 60x AI Super Zoom
- 50MP 114° SuperZoom Camera ultra-wide lens
- 50MP selfie camera
All four cameras have the ability to film in 4K 60fps. Better contrast and dynamic range thanks to Dual-Exposure imaging with the Ultra XDR video mode.
Charging and Battery Life Upgrades
The Nothing Phone 3 gets a 5,500mAh silicon-carbon battery, which is an incremental 800mAh improvement over its predecessor’s battery. Charging is also a lot faster, with 65W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and reverse wireless capabilities.
The company claims that the battery can last up to two full days, although that we will have to see in real-world use, especially as I will go into full blown review mode soon.
Pricing and Value
The Nothing Phone 3 comes at a cost of Rs 79,999 (12GB+256GB) and Rs 89,999 (16GB+512GB). Discounted prices lower them to Rs 62,999 and Rs 72,999 respectively. That puts the phone head to head with some of the top-end offerings like the iPhone 16, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
Although phones such as POCO F7 and iQOO Neo 10 too are based on 8s Gen 4 SoC with lower price tabs, the Nothing Phone 3 makes up for them with design innovation, long-term software support, and a unique set of features.
Final Thoughts
From a design that defies convention to a user interface that pivots around the Glyph Matrix, it looks like the Nothing Phone 3 is shaping up to be the most ambitious product from the company so far. Whether it will and the Nothing Phone 3 will be the best is to be determined by long-term testing, but first impressions suggest the Nothing Phone 3 is poised to disrupt the premium smartphone market.
It’s a winner-take-all showdown — and this time, Nothing Phone 3 is in it to win it.
