Nothing’s Phone 3 Really Goes Full-On Anti-iPhone, Huh?

After a seemingly never-ending drip of leaks and teases, Nothing’s Phone 3 is finally here, along with what’s shaping up to be a divisive new aesthetic. The eye-catching Android phone, which was unveiled during a London launch event on Tuesday, will cost $799 and is being billed as the company’s “first true flagship.” To sell its premium package, Nothing is leaning into a new triple camera system, a refreshed design, and a circular Glyph “Matrix” display that, honestly, looks pretty damn fun.

Let’s start with the thing that sells almost every flagship phone out there: the camera system. The Phone 3, as you may have noticed, includes three different sensors this time around. All three of the rear cameras—main, ultrawide, and periscope zoom—are 50 megapixels. The most notable addition here is the periscope zoom camera, which was also included in the Phone 3a Pro. Luckily, unlike the Phone 3a Pro—which weirdly released before the Phone 3—the inclusion of a periscope camera doesn’t necessitate a huge, annoying camera bump. Don’t get me wrong, the lens still protrudes a bit, but nowhere near the amount of its predecessor. If you’re unfamiliar with periscope cameras, all you need to know is that these puppies can zoom. Specifically, you can get up to 6x lossless zoom or 60x zoom with the help of AI.

I haven’t used the Phone 3 yet, but probably the biggest hangup I have on the surface is that the periscope camera is misaligned, which makes it look a little, uh, odd on the back of the phone. I suspect this will piss some people off, but others won’t really care that much. I guess if Nothing’s camera system works well for the price, then it’ll be easy to forgive any design weirdness.

Beyond the camera, I think the most notable feature is the Glyph Interface—er, sorry, the Glyph Matrix aka that big ol’ circle at the top-right of the phone that can display all sorts of fun stuff. It’s like the Glyph Interface but in dot matrix form, and it looks like a fun gimmick. According to Nothing, the Glyph Matrix does a lot of the same stuff as the Glyph Interface (the LED light strips on the back of the Phone 1 and 2) and some additional stuff, too.

Nothing says that the Glyph Matrix is made up of 489 “individually firing LEDs” and can display all sorts of information, including caller ID, volume levels, and camera countdown. It also still does regular timers, a solar clock, and (my favorite) a couple of fun games that include rock, paper, scissors, and spin the bottle. To cycle through all those functions, Nothing also included a dedicated button on the back of the phone that it aptly calls the “Glyph Button.” I love buttons, but I hope it works more smoothly than the buttons on its also brand-new Headphone 1. Nothing also said in its announcement video of the Phone 3 that it’s opening up SDKs to developers, so the use of the Glyph Matrix may also expand in the future (if anyone actually cares enough to build stuff for it, that is).

Inside the Phone 3 is also an almost flagship-level processor—Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 4. That’s the same chip found inside phones like Poco’s F7 5G and Xiaomi’s Redmi Turbo 4 Pro. It’s a step up from the chips used in the Phone 3a and 3a Pro, which both come with Snapdragon 7S Gen 3. I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it 1,000 times, but phone chips are at a point where—unless you’re a hardcore mobile gamer or something—the newest generation isn’t always super critical. If you’re browsing the web, taking photos, and streaming video, like most of us, then you’re probably not going to notice a huge difference with gen-over-gen chips. I use an iPhone 13 on a daily basis, and it still works… fine. I’m going to assume that the Phone 3 is the same story, but I won’t know until I try it for myself.

Phone (3) is here. Come to Play.

Pre-order yours. 4 July. pic.twitter.com/k92AZBO7lf

— Nothing (@nothing) July 1, 2025

The design may be the most controversial part of the Phone 3. Instead of the kind of smooth, easy-going look of the Phone 1 and Phone 2, the Phone 3 opts for a rigid, block-like vibe on its backplate. I’m still on the fence and am suspending judgment until I see this thing in person, but it definitely looks very similar to the Phone 3a. For the first time, I think I actually prefer the black version of this phone, but again, I want to see it IRL before I jump to conclusions.

On paper, the Phone 3 looks like a solid upgrade over the Phone 2 and, to no one’s surprise, pushes new AI features like Essential Space, which is now out of early access. Whether the phone rises to the “true flagship” positioning remains to be seen. Just like with the Headphone 1, the Phone 3 takes a shot at something different. Nothing has so far succeeded in shaking things up just enough to justify its mission of “making tech fun again.”

If you’re all-in, you can preorder the Phone 3 starting July 4, and open availability starts on July 15. Orders will be available through nothing.tech and “select partpartners,cording to Nothing.