Nothing Phone 3 Review: Enters the Big League With a Big Price

Nothing has lastly joined the flagship smartphone membership with the launch of its all-new Phone 3 in London. This high-end smartphone membership primarily contains gadgets from Apple and Samsung, priced above Rs. 70,000, whereas others, comparable to Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Xiaomi, are additionally represented with choose gadgets.

According to Counterpoint’s April report, Nothing was the fastest-growing model in India throughout the quarter. It recorded a whopping 156% year-over-year progress, primarily pushed by the launch of the 3a collection. The market analysis agency famous that this was the fifth consecutive quarter during which Nothing was the fastest-growing model in the nation. The launch in the premium finish might have been a results of the model’s constructive outlook in the market. Now that Nothing has began a new chapter in its smartphone journey, it’s almost certainly to be in comparison with the best-of-the-best smartphones in the premium vary.

At a beginning price ticket of Rs. 79,999, the Phone 3 is priced very carefully to a few of the hottest premium smartphones. For instance, Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy S25 is retailing at Rs. 74,999, and Apple’s iPhone 16, which launched at Rs. 79,900, is now obtainable at a cheaper price level by each offline and on-line channels. Not to overlook, Apple’s just lately unveiled iPhone 16e is offered at Rs. 59,900. To add to the record, Oppo’s Find X8 is offered for beneath Rs. 70,000, whereas the X200 Pro is offered for beneath Rs. 95,000. Xiaomi’s compact flagship, 15, is offered for Rs. 65,000, whereas the OnePlus 13 is priced beneath Rs. 70,000. So, lengthy factor brief, Nothing’s race to the high membership implies that it has to beat all of those gadgets to be value that worth.

So, what does the Nothing Phone 3 convey to the desk? Here’s my assessment, the place I break down each small element.

The Phone 3 design may be polarising for some customers
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Nothing Phone 3 Design and Display: Mr. Dependable

The Phone 3 carefully follows Nothing’s signature clear design language, and you will not mistake it for some other gadget obtainable on the market. The boxy design, with a flat show, seems to be refined, and the curved edges be sure that lengthy hours with the telephone aren’t uncomfortable. The 92.89% screen-to-body ratio means you get extra display actual property, and the bezels are sleeker than these of the Phone 2. At 218 grams, the Phone 3 is barely heavier than the OnePlus 13 (210 grams), whereas it may be categorised as very heavy when in comparison with the iPhone 16 (170 grams).

The waterdrop notch at the entrance now feels dated, and I want Nothing might have finished one thing with it. The firm has made a concerted effort to design the new gadget sustainably. The mid-frame is constructed from 100% recycled aluminium alongside the buttons and SIM tray. The smartphone packaging is now additionally plastic-free.

The show on the Phone 3 is vivid and sports activities a refresh charge of 120Hz
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Returning to the aluminium body, it presents a strong hand really feel – one thing that offers you confidence in sturdiness throughout every day use. The buttons – energy and Essential key on the proper and quantity rockers on the left really feel good and provide a good tactile really feel.

The again panel is the place issues get fascinating. The design crew should have had subject days whereas engaged on this one. The asymmetry with geometric aptitude is on full present at the rear of the Phone 3. The three-column grid with totally different design components seems to be elegant, whereas the periscope lens at the high proper nook does look rebellious.

The rear digicam alignment on the Nothing Phone 3 is so off that it is virtually a design characteristic now—a very unintentional one.

 

Another fascinating addition is the pink recording gentle at the again that prompts when capturing video or utilizing the voice recorder. For content material creators, this blinks once you’re importing a video. The addition of the IP68 score is reassuring for normal customers.

The Phone 3’s weight is 218 grams, and it’s handy to make use of it with only one hand
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

The lens setup at the again does not sit flush with the rear, and in reality, the vast and ultra-wide lenses have a raised stance. However, the telephone does not wobble utterly when positioned on a flat floor whereas typing.

The Phone 3 options a 6.67-inch AMOLED show with a decision of 1260×2800 pixels and presents a 460PPI pixel density. The largest spotlight of the show is that it will probably hit a peak brightness of 4500nits when enjoying HDR content material, 1600nits open air, and as much as 800nits guide brightness. It will get all the different normal bells and whistles of a premium smartphone. There’s HDR10+ help together with a 120Hz refresh charge and help for 2160Hz PWM dimming. In real-world utilization, the show is vivid and produces crisp colors. The textual content is sharp, and daylight legibility isn’t a drawback on the Phone 3. The Nothing Phone 3 comes with Widevine L1 help, which implies you may stream HD content material on the gadget out of your favorite OTT apps. It emerges as a respectable multimedia gadget appropriate for each binge-watching and gaming. However, taking a look at this competitors, the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13 sport a higher show.

The show on the Phone 3 is vivid, however we’ve seen higher shows in the worth bracket
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Nothing Phone 3 Glyph Interface

What began as a gentle strip at the again (Phone 1) that might be used for various capabilities has developed into a full-blown characteristic. You can now use Glyph Interface for a variety of issues, together with interactions from an app or seeing a battery standing at a look. The Glyph Matrix, positioned in the high proper nook, is an LED disc with 489 individually firing LEDs, providing a monochrome dot-based show. The Matrix is so helpful that you simply now not want to take a look at the display each couple of minutes. Be it a notification for a caller ID or any system app. Nothing says that it’ll roll out extra options to the Glyph Matrix quickly.

The Glyph Interface on the Phone 3 is a enjoyable aspect, however it must evolve, as proper now, it has fairly restricted performance
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

It is a enjoyable solution to work together together with your telephone, as you may assign customized icons to contacts with pixelated avatars that seem each time they name. There’s additionally a Glyph Button, which you need to use to examine all components of the Glyph Matrix. Nothing has additionally launched what it calls Glyph Toys, which embody options comparable to a Spin the Bottle, Digital Clock, Battery Indicator, Stopwatch, Solar Clock, Magic 8 Ball, a community-developed recreation, and even enjoying rock, paper, and scissors.

(*3*)

The Phone 3 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i at the entrance and Gorilla Glass Victus at the again
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Nothing Phone 3 Performance: Every day ninja

• SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
• RAM + Storage – 12GB + 256 GB and 16GB + 512 GB
• Biometric – In-display fingerprint sensor
• Glyph Interface and Nothing OS 3.5 based mostly on Android 15

The Phone 3 can deal with multitasking with ease, and the app launch pace was fast. It feels fluid even when enjoying titles like COD: Mobile, BGMI, and different closely graphics-intensive video games. By default, video games like COD: Mobile and Genshin Impact launch at the highest supported settings. Even after 45 minutes of steady gaming, the Phone 3 does not get too heat, and it means the VC cooling system does its job properly. The Phone 3 helps as much as 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, however there is not any 1TB storage mannequin.

It is available in 12GB + 256GB and 16GB + 512GB RAM and storage fashions
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, a chipset we’ve seen powering the smartphones beneath Rs. 50,000 recently. And, by taking a look at the price ticket of the Phone 3, one would have anticipated to get the strongest processor at present obtainable on Android, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Nevertheless, Nothing’s plan might need been to regulate the price of the gadget. When it involves benchmarks, the Nothing Phone 3 performs properly, as proven in the comparability desk beneath.

 

Nothing’s first wager in the flagship vary, the Phone 3, does not really feel like a slouch in on a regular basis duties and may deal with some intense duties, comparable to modifying photographs on the go together with the Canva app and transferring giant recordsdata. The dual-stereo audio system are loud and may be capable to fill a medium-sized room. On the connectivity entrance, the smartphone will get all the bells and whistles like NFC, Bluetooth 6.0, 5G help and extra.

It runs Android 15-based Nothing OS 3.5 out of the field
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Out-of-the-box, the Phone 3 runs on Nothing OS 3.5 based mostly on Android 15. The UI is generally the similar as what we noticed on the 3a Pro and telephones earlier than that. The animations are easy, and the Dot Engine nonetheless retains Nothing gadgets distinct from the crowd.

The good factor is that Nothing guarantees 5 years of OS updates and 7 years of safety patches. The firm has even confirmed that the Phone 3 will obtain Android 16-based Nothing OS 4.0 by Q3 2025.

The Phone 3 additionally will get Nothing’s next-big wager in private house, Essential Space, the place it believes it should serve the consumer in a very totally different means in comparison with the present set of gadgets. The firm refers to it as a second reminiscence, the place customers can hold their concepts flowing by recording them or conserving notes in a single place. With Phone 3, Nothing launched new options like Flip to document, which works as meant. You may also immediately seize your display or ship a photograph from the digicam app straight into Essential Space by urgent as soon as. On long-press, it additionally data a voice observe, which might now be transformed from voice to textual content on-device. During my assessment, I used Essential Space a few occasions, and it felt like a distinctive method to conserving your concepts locked in a single place. It might be fascinating to see how this pans out for Nothing in the future.

It comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is snappy
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Additionally, it launched Essential Search, which is one thing you might have seen on different gadgets as properly. When looking out on the Nothing Phone 3, you will get outcomes for contacts, photographs, and paperwork and even do an on the spot seek for climate or some other data with no need to open a browser or summon an AI assistant. The firm has confirmed that it’ll roll out extra personalisation updates later this 12 months.

Calls on the Nothing Phone 3 are clear, and I did not face any points with name high quality both. The smartphone labored fantastic with 5G networks on Airtel and Reliance Jio, and it might latch onto networks at comparatively darkish spots, comparable to basement parking, the place I’ve seen sub-Rs. 25,000 smartphones are struggling.

The Phone 3 will get an IP68 score, however in contrast to a lot of Android flagships this 12 months, it misses out on an IP69 score

In a nutshell, the Phone 3 is a superb on a regular basis smartphone and may deal with gentle picture and video modifying with out a sweat. It may also deal with gaming, however it’s not a gaming-centric gadget, so do not count on a lot.

Nothing Phone 3 Camera: Mixed bag

• Camera – Triple 50-megapixel setup (Wide, Periscope, and Ultra-wide)
• Selfie – 50-megapixel sensor
• Videos – 4K Ultra XDR at 30 or 60fps

Nothing has gone all out in the digicam division, and the Phone 3 packs 4 50-megapixel sensors total. Camera alignment apart, the main digicam on the Phone 3 is a succesful one, capturing photographs with good publicity and a vast dynamic vary. The white stability in digicam samples was impartial, and most of the samples clicked throughout the day had good colors.

The main sensor on the Phone 3 is an OmniVision OV50H, whereas the telephoto is a Samsung ISOCELL JN5 sensor
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

Under vivid gentle and indoor lighting, there was a excessive stage of fantastic particulars, together with in macro mode. The autofocusing was fast and easy. I additionally seen that the samples had comparatively low noise ranges—some daylight photographs are included beneath in your reference.

Nothing Phone 3 daylight digicam samples (faucet photographs to broaden)

The Phone 3 may also take some beautiful portraits with good face publicity, respectable colors, and pure pores and skin tones. The smartphone additionally handles the background blur properly.

Nothing Phone 3 portrait digicam pattern (faucet picture to broaden)

Moving on to low-light samples, the Phone 3 carried out properly in most difficult gentle situations however seen some inconsistencies when switching lenses whereas clicking – one thing I additionally seen whereas clicking throughout the day.

Nothing Phone 3 close-up pattern (faucet picture to broaden)

Once you turn between 24mm (1x), 50mm (2x), and 70mm (3x) lenses, the colors hold altering. For instance, a pink bus is captured completely by the main sensor, however I wish to attempt totally different angles and lenses. Then, it seems barely much less pink on 2x, and on 3x, the similar bus is nearly gentle pink. So, the color inconsistency is there. Hopefully, a new software program replace might repair this. Nothing is one model that is identified for fixing points fairly rapidly, and reviewers acquired an OTA replace proper out of the field with loads of adjustments to the digicam, which was fairly common earlier than the replace.

Nothing Phone 3 low-light digicam samples (faucet photographs to broaden)

The 50-megapixel selfie shooter can seize some respectable photographs throughout the day, providing a good quantity of element and a vast dynamic vary. The noise ranges are additionally managed, and hues are vivid. However, the high quality suffers at evening and is not as detailed as photographs taken throughout the day.

Nothing Phone 3 telephoto daylight samples (faucet photographs to broaden)

The zoom efficiency of the Phone 3 is superb. The goal publicity is correct, with beautiful colors, particularly in vivid situations, and it stays comparatively constant when taking pictures indoors. The good factor was that when zooming, the telephoto did properly, although I seen that there was a lack of element. The dynamic vary was acceptable.

Nothing Phone 3 ultra-wide samples (faucet photographs to broaden)

The ultra-wide digicam is one in every of my lowest-ranked sensors on the Phone 3. The most inconsistent outcomes I obtained had been from the ultra-wide sensor, and this was fixed throughout lighting situations.

Nothing Phone 3 selfie digicam pattern (faucet picture to broaden)

 

The video high quality is respectable on the Nothing Phone 3, and all 4 50-megapixel cameras help 4K 60fps recording. Overall, the Phone 3’s cameras are a blended bag, with the primary digicam excelling, whereas the telephoto and ultra-wide lenses aren’t amongst the greatest we’ve seen on this worth bracket.

Nothing Phone 3 Battery: Well-rounded

• Battery capability – 5500mAh
• Fast-charging – 65W help (no charging adapter in the field)
• Wireless charging help – 15W

In India, the Nothing Phone 3 comes with a 5500mAh battery, whereas international items characteristic a barely smaller battery pack – 5150mAh. The smartphone additionally helps 65W quick charging, 15W wi-fi charging, 5W reverse wi-fi charging, and seven.5W reverse wired charging. In real-world use, the Nothing Phone 3 can simply final greater than a day with heavy utilization. My utilization included roughly 7 hours of screen-on time, which consisted of streaming, searching, gaming, messaging app utilization, utility app utilization open in the background always, and digicam use. With medium or gentle use, the Phone 3 may even last as long as 36 hours on a single cost.

Much like different Nothing telephones, there is not any charging adapter in the field
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

The Phone 3 carried out properly in our HD video loop take a look at, which performs a domestically saved video in a loop (till the battery dies); it managed a respectable 21 hours roughly. The determine was spectacular. I additionally examined it with PCMark’s Battery take a look at, and the Phone 3 lasted for 13 hours and 20 minutes.

On the fast-charging entrance, the 65W wired charging is a bump from the 45W seen on the Phone 2. The smartphone can absolutely cost (from 0 to 100%) in beneath an hour, which is spectacular. A mere 20 minutes of cost can bump the battery from 0 to 50%. Considering the handset’s pricing, the firm ought to have deliberate to ship a charging adapter in the field and even bundle it as a particular provide for a few gross sales.

Nothing Phone 3 Verdict

The Nothing Phone 3 is a nice first-gen flagship from a firm that has delivered many incredible merchandise. The design is a traditional Nothing. The extra you utilize it, the extra it grows on you. Glyph Interface is a superb solution to mess around with the product. There’s no pointless AI push throughout the gadget, and Essential Search is a step in the proper path (hopefully, it stays this manner with out turning into too intrusive). The efficiency is top-notch, and you’ll barely really feel that you simply want a higher chipset for on a regular basis duties. Nothing OS comes with a signature dot theme that’s contemporary and in contrast to what you see on different gadgets. The cameras are okay, and whereas I kind this, I’m hoping that the Nothing crew fixes the inconsistencies quickly sufficient. The battery can even impress you.

Nothing guarantees 5 years of Android updates and seven years of safety patches
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360

The largest query mark is on the pricing! At Rs. 79,999, the Nothing Phone 3 is a telephone that is troublesome to advocate to premium customers in India, as there are higher options obtainable in the market. While Nothing has made the deal sweeter with financial institution presents and change presents as a launch provide, however that does not keep perpetually. If the Nothing Phone 3 had been priced beneath Rs. 60,000, it will have had a higher market positioning.

As we at all times advocate in our evaluations, you may contemplate the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus, which is a respectable gadget for the worth; the Oppo Find X8 got here out as a wonderful gadget in our assessment, and there is, after all, the OnePlus 13 packs top-notch specs and delivers worth at that worth.