Nothing's latest flagship, the Phone 3, aims to shake up the smartphone market with its distinctive design and playful software. Priced at £799, it goes head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy S25, Google Pixel 9 and iPhone 16, offering a semi-transparent back and a new LED matrix display for notifications and gimmicks like a magic eight ball or stopwatch.
The 6.7in OLED screen is crisp and bright, though prone to glare in sunny conditions. Under the hood, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip delivers smooth performance for daily tasks and gaming, though it can get hot under heavy load. Battery life lasts around 40 hours between charges, with full 65W wired charging taking 55 minutes.
Nothing's software, based on Android 15, features a dot-matrix aesthetic and is free of bloatware. The company promises five years of Android updates and seven years of security patches, falling short of Google and Samsung's commitments. Notably, HDR video playback is currently unsupported on services like Netflix.
The triple 50MP camera setup performs well in good light, with the main sensor capturing detailed images and the 3x telephoto zoom maintaining sharpness. However, the ultrawide lens shows distortion and lacks detail when zoomed in. Low-light performance is adequate but not industry-leading.
