Nothing Telephone 3 assessment: Not fairly a flagship

Nothing did issues otherwise with its third technology of telephones. First got here the midrange Nothing Phone 3a (and 3a Pro), which mixed fashionable {hardware} with a aggressive worth. Now, the corporate has launched the Nothing Phone 3, which it is calling its first “true flagship.” At $799, it is Nothing’s most costly telephone but, that includes an even bigger display screen, 4 50-megapixel cameras and a significant redesign of the corporate’s signature Glyph interface, which has developed into the extra compact Glyph Matrix.

Nothing’s {hardware} design is what really units its telephones aside from the established gamers, and the 2025 mannequin is extra elaborate and complicated than ever. At this worth, nevertheless, it faces stiff competitors from entry-level flagships just like the Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16. Past the improvements and occasional gimmicks, has Nothing nailed the basics sufficient to compete?

{Hardware} and design

As soon as once more, Nothing has made a telephone that instructions consideration like no different. In every single place I’m going, individuals are curious after they see me utilizing the Telephone 3, and the Glyph Matrix appears to each confuse and delight them.

In contrast to the protruding digital camera unit on the Nothing Telephone 3a Professional, the Telephone 3’s three cameras are individually lodged within the again and jut out a fraction of a millimeter. The see-through exterior returns, displaying screws and {hardware} modules organized into three vertical rows. This time, it’s extra obvious that this can be a design flourish fairly than a real glimpse into the telephone’s elements. For instance, a curious semi-circle of frosted glass beneath the flash would not appear to have a goal (past an aesthetic one).

Elsewhere, a crimson sq. subsequent to the ultrawide digital camera now acts as a recording mild. It is one other charming contact that may be disabled within the settings when you discover it distracting. The off-center telephoto digital camera lens may additionally irk symmetry followers, however it’s a alternative that I do not notably thoughts. The Telephone 3 is eighteen p.c thinner than the Telephone 2 and, with out the digital camera bump of the 3a Professional, it appears and feels a step above its predecessors.

The primary attraction is the Glyph Matrix: a round dot-matrix show manufactured from 489 LEDs that exhibits easy notifications, the time and battery stage. Whereas some loyal followers may miss the daring mild present of earlier fashions, this iteration is much extra helpful. As a substitute of a barrage of flashing lights, the Matrix can let you know who is asking by way of distinctive patterns and, with future updates, customized artwork assigned to your contacts.

Nothing continues to lean into its retro tech design inspiration, and I am going to admit I am a sucker for it. The dot-matrix textual content and numbers align completely with Nothing’s Android pores and skin, making your complete machine really feel cohesive. A capacitive haptic Glyph button beneath the Matrix enables you to cycle by way of notifications and instruments. Interactions are easy: a brief press to change modes or a protracted press to begin instruments just like the stopwatch.

Luckily, you should utilize the Telephone 3’s settings menu to assign Glyph Matrix instruments and “toys.” Most of them are playful and frivolous, like Spin The Bottle and Magic 8 Ball, and Nothing is tapping into its group to create new Matrix widgets. Hopefully, performance will develop as extra customers become involved. Some instruments are much less helpful although, like a stage that makes use of the telephone’s accelerometer for a pixelated readout. It simply appears a little bit imprecise; how a lot accuracy are you able to derive from lower than 500 pixels? Others are fairly slick, like a pixelated digital camera readout for framing selfies.

With Important Notifications, you possibly can assign particular app notifications or contacts to a novel sample or a pixelated photograph. Nevertheless, it is difficult to create something that does not appear like a blurry mess. The identical settings menu means that you can alter the Matrix’s brightness and the way lengthy the notifications persist.

The entrance of the Telephone 3 is all show, with a 6.67-inch display screen and a decision of two,800 x 1,260. In the event you desire a big display screen, that is in all probability its greatest benefit over the iPhone 16 and Galaxy S25. It’s additionally Nothing’s brightest telephone but, reaching as much as 4,500 nits for HDR content material — noticeably brighter than the Nothing Telephone 3a. It helps HDR 10+ and a 120Hz refresh fee, all protected by Gorilla Glass 7.

Cameras

Nothing has the basics coated with the Telephone 3’s cameras. The triple-camera system features a 50-megapixel f/1.7 fundamental sensor with optical picture stabilization, a 50MP ultrawide and a brand new 50MP telephoto digital camera with 3x optical zoom.

As we famous in our Nothing Telephone 3a assessment, telephoto cameras are uncommon on extra reasonably priced smartphones. On the Telephone 3, there’s a periscope zoom, maintaining the digital camera unit svelte and barely protruding from the machine. It’s additionally spectacular to see a 3x zoom paired with a high-resolution 50-megapixel sensor, which lets you crop into photographs whereas retaining constancy. Nothing even added a 6x zoom button within the digital camera app that crops the picture additional. The app additionally makes use of pixel-binning for extra correct shade and higher low-light footage by default, which leads to them being saved as 12-megapixel photographs.

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Nothing Telephone 3 assessment pattern photographs

Photographs shot on the Nothing Telephone 3.

Total, the digital camera system generally is a little inconsistent. Throughout a trip in Amsterdam, the Telephone 3 captured crisp photographs of wildlife and structure. Its Motion mode was notably spectacular, effortlessly including movement blur to photographs whereas maintaining the topic sharp. Nevertheless, at different instances, what ought to have been vibrant cityscape photographs and road artwork got here out muted and grainy. For instance, psychedelic cat paintings that was extremely vibrant in particular person seemed flat within the photographs. The metadata revealed the telephone had cranked up the ISO, a setting I have not needed to manually alter on a smartphone in years.Whereas some shade variation between the three lenses is predicted, photographs typically seemed as in the event that they have been taken on completely different telephones, one thing that was particularly evident in scenes with blue skies.

The telephoto digital camera is the standout function on the Telephone 3. I really like the power to play with zoom, and the 3x optical zoom (plus the extra crop) makes this a extra helpful digital camera than these on the iPhone 16 or Pixel 9, which high out at 2x zoom. It’s additionally a wonderful macro digital camera, utilizing the zoom to stop the telephone from casting a shadow on the topic.

Software program

Nothing as soon as once more outfits its telephone with its personal distinctive Android pores and skin. The aesthetic is all monochrome, serif fonts and dot-matrix touches. I instantly selected this pores and skin when organising the telephone for the primary time, although discovering some app icons might be more difficult with out their authentic colours.

Important Area, with its devoted {hardware} button, stays Nothing’s most attention-grabbing software program addition. Since launching on the Nothing Telephone 3a, it may well now add occasions to your Google Calendar, remind you of duties and summarize audio recordings. My greatest problem, nevertheless, is by accident hitting the ability button as a substitute of the Important Key, or vice versa. The keys must be a special measurement or no less than have a extra distinct really feel.

Efficiency and battery life

With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, the Telephone 3 performs solidly, however it’s not as snappy as a tool with true flagship silicon, just like the Snapdragon 8 Elite or Apple A18. Some may argue that the Telephone 3 is not a “true flagship” as a result of its processor might be present in sub-$400 gadgets, however the chip remains to be highly effective sufficient for many duties and video games, and may even ship ray-traced graphics.

Nothing opted for a 5,150mAh silicon-carbon battery, making it one of many first telephones we’ve examined with this new expertise. It will possibly retailer extra lithium ions than conventional lithium-ion batteries, which Nothing claims provides a ten p.c enhance in power density in comparison with its predecessor. I didn’t really feel any notable distinction of the Telephone 3 working cooler, nevertheless. In our battery rundown check, the Telephone 3 was in a position to play a video file for simply over 23 hours. That falls barely shy of the Telephone 2, however that has a smaller display screen.

The Telephone 3 additionally will get flagship-level charging speeds, supporting 65W wired charging that will get the machine from empty to full in underneath an hour (with a suitable charger). It additionally helps 15W wi-fi charging and reverse wi-fi charging for earbuds. Nevertheless, the dearth of Qi2 assist looks like an oversight for a “true flagship.”

Wrap-up

How does Nothing’s flagship telephone stack up in opposition to equally priced smartphones? The Telephone 3 gives a giant 6.67-inch display screen, a big battery with quick charging and 256GB of storage — double the quantity discovered within the base Pixel 9 and Galaxy S25.

Nevertheless, a less-than-flagship chipset and inconsistent digital camera efficiency detract from the enchantment of an in any other case intriguing telephone with slick software program and a novel design. The Glyph Matrix is way more helpful than the flashing lights of the Telephone 3’s predecessors, even when the design isn’t fairly as daring. I simply hope the corporate continues to evolve the instruments obtainable on it.

The Telephone 3 is a significantly better telephone than the two-year-old Nothing Telephone 2, however it’s additionally $200 dearer, making any shortcomings extra obvious. Whereas I need Nothing to proceed experimenting with its telephones, it ought to in all probability prioritize shoring up the digital camera efficiency first.