This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
The Nothing Phone (3) has finally been revealed, and after months of rumors, speculation, and teasers from Carl Pei himself, we get to lay our eyes on this quirky phone.
Ever since the Nothing Phone (3) showed its official face on the smartphone scene, polarizing opinions have been flying left and right.
Some people love what Nothing has done with its first (sort of) flagship, while others almost hate it. And when such a thing happens, you know a company is onto something with its brainchild.
The Nothing Phone (3) isn't perfect, far from it, but it has one particular and also very important feature that no other modern flagship has. And boasting this one feature, the Nothing Phone (3) actually leaves behemoths such as the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S25 behind.
The quirky design makes it instantly recognizable
The Nothing Phone (3) looks like props from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey | Image by PhoneArena
Nothing made ripples in the smartphone ocean when the company launched its first phone, the original Nothing phone. And along with countless "nothing" puns that had been created, the phone brought a fresh new design with a transparent back and some graphic representations of the internals of the phone underneath that glass.
Now, transparent designs aren't that new or rare in the tech world; we've had several such models over the years, including transparent phones such as the Sony Xperia Pureness and the Lenovo S800.
What set the Nothing Phone apart was the clean industrial look, coupled with the Glyph interface. The design of the Nothing Phone (3) follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, and hence it can't be the deciding factor – it's been around for three generations now. But speaking of the Glyph interface…
The Glyph interface is now a retro sci-fi screen with huge potential
Nothing teased the removal of the LED lighting and the introduction of the new Glyph Matrix | Image by Nothing
I think this one's brilliant! Some might hate the transformation and the demise of the LED strips, but some other manufacturers were starting to get "influenced" by this Glyph design, and its originality was starting to wear off.
The new Glyph Matrix is a rather simple circular matrix dot display that brings some very cool features to the table.
There's a button on the back that controls the display, and it can show useful stuff such as the time, who's calling you, and your battery percentage level, and that's all fine, but there are other uses that are much cooler.
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Looks old school and science-fiction-y at the same time! | Image by PhoneArena
The Spin the Bottle game reminded me of my college years and shows how the Glyph Matrix can be connected creatively to the outside world and some real, physical activities as well. And while kissing random girls or guys isn't the best idea when you're in your 40s, the most important thing is that it's open to developers.
Expect a ton of interesting and useful applications on that small circular screen. Actually, they don't need to be useful per se; the "cool" factor is enough of a positive in a smartphone world where every phone looks like the next.
Imagine other simple games such as rock, paper, scissors, or a tamagochi-like little companion living inside. Or a Tinder-like matching feature where hearts show up whenever two matching persons get close to one another.
But is a quirky display with some dots enough to beat the Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 16? I don't think so…
The first (sort of) proper Nothing flagship phone
Four 50MP cameras reside in the Nothing Phone (3), one of which is a periscope zoom camera | Image by Nothing
If we take a look at the specs sheet of the Nothing Phone (3), there are some impressive hardware features onboard.
We label the phone “sort of flagship” mainly because of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, which is not at the same level as the 8 Elite silicon, but other than that, the phone is up there with the big guys.
The quad camera system with four 50MP sensors (including the selfie camera, of course) is pretty impressive.
The 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with 4,500 nits of peak brightness and 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate is also top-notch and flagship-grade.
The big 5,150 mAh battery and 65W fast charging are more than what the aforementioned iPhone 16 and Galaxy S25 have to offer.
But none of the above sets the Nothing Phone (3) apart from any other flagship phone on the market.
What's the elusive and mysterious feature that would make you grab the Nothing Phone (3) over the aforementioned flagships, then?
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
That guy saw the Nothing Phone (3) coming, thousands of years ago! | Image by Britannica
You should forgive the pretentious Aristotle quote, because it fits the situation like a glove, and we couldn't help but use it.
The complete package Nothing is offering this time around might be enough to sway people to spend their hard-earned $799 on the Nothing Phone (3) instead of getting the same boring Galaxy or iPhone.
Smartphones used to be very cool back in the day, with quirky and bizarre designs, swiveling cameras, sliding keyboards, hardware music controls, interchangeable panels and lots of fun accessories.
Then little by little smartphones became boring, the companies started to play it safe, and to be fair, it's hard to design something really original around a rectangular display.
I wouldn't mind being seen with one of these quirky things in my hand | Image by PhoneArena
But Nothing kind of did, and the Nothing Phone (3) is the pinnacle of that goal – a truly original, flagship-spec phone that's not only capable where it counts, but it's also instantly recognizable and fun. Not many modern phones can offer that particular package.
In a smartphone world where all flagships look and feel the same, the Nothing Phone (3) is different. And that's one feature that could tip the scales.
What do you think about it? Do you like the Nothing Phone (3) quirky and unconventional design? What about the new Glyph Matrix display? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comment section below.
What do you think about the Nothing Phone (3)
It's great and I love it!
46.75%
I'm not sure yet...
25.97%
Same old, same old.
2.6%
It's overpriced!
24.68%
Other (leave a comment)
0%
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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