It’s cool when a phone doesn’t take itself too seriously. With its playful, transparent design and unique tech, Nothing is disrupting the market dominated by Apple, Samsung and Google’s sleek yet predictable designs. Starting at $799 (or $899 for the 16GB RAM model), the Nothing Phone 3 is the company’s boldest move yet: a flagship phone that combines great performance with a fun attitude. I got to try it out in person and let me tell you, this phone is both powerful and fun.
A Design That’s Out of This World
The Nothing Phone 3 looks like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie and in the best way possible. The phone has a cool, almost cyberpunk vibe thanks to its transparent glass back that shows off parts of the inside, like the wireless charging coil. The new Glyph Matrix in the top right corner of the back is the real showstopper. It’s a collection of tiny LEDs that looks like an old school dot-matrix display from an arcade machine, a departure from the LED strips on previous Nothing phones.
The Glyph Matrix displays animations for alerts, charging and even music when I mess around with it. It’s like a little light show on your phone. It’s actually useful too since you can customize it to display different patterns for different apps or contacts. With its 8.1mm thin profile, flat metal edge and 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED screen that’s super smooth thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate, the phone feels great in the hand. It also has an IP68 rating for water and dust protection but be aware that fingerprints will stick to that shiny surface.
Powering Through
The Nothing Phone 3 is a beast behind its calm exterior. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip is more than capable of handling gaming, multitasking and everything else you throw at it. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is not the best model in the series. This thing flies with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Thanks to Nothing OS 3.5 built on Android 15, apps launch fast and animations are super smooth throughout my time with it.
Nothing OS is a breath of fresh air. It’s clean, no bloatware and has fun little features like widgets that look like old school analogue clocks or tech. And no other phone in this price range gets 5 years of OS updates and 7 years of security patches. That’s on par with Google and Samsung.
Mark Phury is a dynamic sports enthusiast with a knack for capturing the thrill of the game. With 3 years at Hindustan Times, he delivers sharp, engaging stories that resonate with fans. Reach him at markphury@gmail.com for insights that score every time.
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