I’ve tried it and it is critical enjoyable

When the very first Nothing telephone landed — the Nothing Cellphone 1 in 2022 — it was a breath of contemporary air in an more and more stale smartphone market. Not solely did the Nothing Cellphone 1 look totally different from each different telephone accessible on the time, nevertheless it provided some fairly stellar specs at a comparatively low value. Certain, its cameras have been fairly weak and Nothing OS was nonetheless discovering its footing, nevertheless it was a stable opening transfer for a model new firm.

Since then, we’ve had many different Nothing Telephones — 5, truly, which means Nothing has launched six telephones in about three years. Right this moment, now we have the most recent entry: the Nothing Cellphone 3. That is the corporate’s first premium telephone since 2023 and the corporate’s first “true flagship” — a phrase CEO Carl Pei has stated about one million occasions over the previous few weeks.

I had the prospect to get some hands-on time with the Nothing Cellphone 3 on the launch occasion in London. Whereas the telephone appears and feels a complete lot like earlier Nothing telephones, the corporate’s knack for locating methods to make smartphones enjoyable once more shines via fairly brightly with the Cellphone 3.

The Nothing Cellphone 3’s design leaked properly earlier than right this moment, and the response has been fairly damaging. An Android Authority ballot nonetheless operating as I write this reveals properly over 50% of responders claiming to “hate” the design, which is clearly fairly regarding. Now that I’ve seen it within the flesh, I can say that the brand new design is…fantastic?

Look, let me be trustworthy, right here: I don’t perceive what Nothing was pondering with the asymmetrical and chaotic placement of the digital camera lenses on the again of this telephone. My good friend and colleague Paul Jones says it appears like Nothing requested ChatGPT to design a telephone, and now that he’s stated that, I can’t unsee it. It simply doesn’t look cohesive.

Nonetheless, it was very simple to maneuver previous that after I held the telephone in my fingers. The Nothing Cellphone 3 is quintessentially Nothing. Identical to each different telephone this firm makes, it feels superb to carry, higher than 90% of all different telephones I contact (even ones that price twice as a lot). The flat aluminum sides really feel terrific, the flat show panel with ultra-thin symmetrical bezels appears superb, and the general weight of the telephone sits very properly in your palm. So far as utilitarian design goes, this could be Nothing’s most interesting achievement.

The telephone is available in two colorways: Black or White. I believe the white mannequin appears loads higher than black this yr; it actually is much less of a fingerprint magnet. Whichever colour you select, the rails match (silver for White and black for Black). As with different current Nothing telephones, additionally they each have an Important Key on the aspect beneath the ability button. Actually, it’s not all that totally different from the Nothing 3a Professional we noticed earlier this yr.

One other enjoyable factor to notice is the purple sq. on the again of the telephone. Not solely does this deliver a much-needed splash of colour to this gadget, nevertheless it additionally lights up once you’re recording video. It’s a retro contact that I am keen on.

However yeah, these digital camera lenses do confuse me. The dearth of a digital camera module can also be a bit unusual as the 2 decrease lenses protrude out the again fairly far, and I can already think about them getting caught on issues as I pull the telephone out of my pocket.

Regardless, the Nothing Cellphone 3 was a delight to make use of for the quick time I had it. I can solely hope that I’d get extra used to its idiosyncrasies over time.

Essentially the most iconic facet of all Nothing telephones launched previous to right this moment was the Glyph: numerous strips of sunshine that seem on the again of the telephones. These lights may be purely ornamental however may grow to be utilitarian once you use them as a flashlight, a strategy to monitor timers and different countdowns, or as a fill gentle throughout video recording. The Glyph has grow to be synonymous with Nothing itself, which is why it’s astonishing to say that the Nothing Cellphone 3 doesn’t have Glyph lights.

As an alternative, the Nothing Cellphone 3 has, properly…Glyph lights. Nothing swapped out the sunshine strips for a small dot-matrix show that lives within the higher proper nook of the telephone’s again. Nonetheless, regardless of this dot-matrix show being essentially totally different from the sunshine strips of yore, Nothing determined to only carry on utilizing the Glyph identify for each techniques. It’s complicated, however no matter.

Anyway, the brand new Glyph loses out on just a few of the use circumstances I described earlier. It’s not vibrant sufficient to be a flashlight or fill gentle, however it might nonetheless show various kinds of info. Out of the field, it is going to inform you how a lot battery you may have left, whether or not or not the telephone is degree, and easy information such because the time. There are additionally mini video games (playfully known as Glyph Toys), reminiscent of Rock-Paper-Scissors. There’s even a selfie digital camera that reveals what your face would appear to be should you become an SNES-era online game character.

You’ll be able to swap between these numerous modes utilizing a button on the again of the telephone. It’s not a touch-sensitive button, so it requires just a little little bit of pressure to push it down, nevertheless it’s a simple and tactile strategy to swap to a brand new utility or recreation. You’ll be able to tweak every mode (or obtain new ones) inside Nothing OS.

In a phrase, this new Glyph is enjoyable. What’s much more enjoyable, although, is that Nothing is providing an SDK for anybody who needs to create instruments/toys for the dot-matrix show. The aforementioned leveling device in addition to a Magic 8 Ball toy are examples of community-made Glyph options. The sky’s the restrict, actually, on what folks will be capable to do with this tiny informational show.

As cool as this all is, I instantly missed the normal Glyph lights. I believe loads of different folks will too. Apparently, throughout the keynote presentation on the London launch, Carl Pei informed us that 80% of all present Nothing Cellphone customers have Glyph lights activated. One would suppose the corporate would wish to proceed to include a characteristic with such vast adoption, however Nothing apparently thinks folks will like this much more.

Regardless, the brand new Glyph is cool and will find yourself being as large of a success as the unique.

Sadly, throughout my transient hands-on time with the Nothing Cellphone 3, I couldn’t do any deep testing. Nothing shouldn’t be permitting digital camera exams or comparisons, benchmarking, or some other deep examinations. These might want to watch for the total evaluation coming very quickly.

Nonetheless, there are just a few notable upgrades with the Nothing Cellphone 3 that I wish to name out, even when I couldn’t check them. First, the processor powering this telephone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. This can be a pretty new chipset — newer than even the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Nonetheless, it’s not as highly effective because the 8 Elite. The one different commercially accessible telephone with the chipset is the Poco F7, and my buddy Hadlee Simons has a terrific examination of what you possibly can anticipate from that telephone’s efficiency. Clearly, Nothing’s model may carry out barely in a different way, nevertheless it’s secure to imagine that the Nothing Cellphone 3 will probably be equal to or barely much less highly effective than a Samsung Galaxy S24. That’s not unhealthy, however does make all of the discuss of this being Nothing’s first “true flagship” a little bit of a purple herring.

One other notable spec for this telephone is the battery, which is completely true flagship-tier. It’s a silicon-carbon cell, making this one of many only a few telephones you will get in the USA with this new expertise. It has a capability of 5,150mAh and might cost with a cable at as much as 65W or wirelessly at 15W. As soon as once more, I couldn’t check any of this out both, however these specs sound very good and put each smartphone from Apple, Samsung, and Google to utter disgrace.

Though the digital camera lens placement on this telephone is contentious, I doubt the specs of the cameras will likely be. Each single lens on this telephone has a 50MP sensor beneath and is able to recording video at 4K/60. There’s additionally a periscope telephoto lens with macro help, making this Nothing’s first smartphone to compete with one thing like a OnePlus 13 or Google Pixel 9 Professional. I’m excited to place these cameras via their paces, as they appear like they may very well be winners.

Different cool spec upgrades embrace a brand new 1.5K (2,800 x 1,260) AMOLED show with a 460ppi density and adaptive 120Hz refresh charge, Gorilla Glass Victus on the again and a brand new Gorilla Glass 7i on the entrance, an IP68 ranking (the primary Nothing telephone with that distinction), and the choice for 16GB of RAM (one other first for Nothing). The Nothing Cellphone 3 can also be getting 5 years of Android upgrades and 7 years of safety patches, placing it almost up there with the massive boys Samsung and Google.

It will likely be some time earlier than we are able to put the Nothing Cellphone 3 via its paces, however primarily based on earlier Nothing telephones and the on-paper spec pedigree of this gadget, I can’t think about it getting something however excessive marks. It looks as if one other stable win for the model.

Nonetheless, nice opinions have all the time been a feather in Nothing’s cap. The issue Nothing has had and can proceed to have with the Cellphone 3 is the truth that Samsung, Google, and Apple exist. Outdoors of the USA, this could be much less of a difficulty. However the Nothing Cellphone 3 ($799.99 at Amazon) is coming right here (not in a beta program or caveat-laden trial; for actual), which places it in direct competitors with these behemoths. Can it even hope to make a dent?

I’ll readily admit that the value of this telephone may be very attractive. For what it gives, the $799 entry value is outstanding. Spec for spec, it may handily topple the Galaxy S25 ($809.99 at Amazon), which prices the identical. The difficulty, although, is that any American can stroll into just about any service retailer and get a Galaxy S25 for a minimal down cost — and even $0. Nothing received’t have that benefit.

The query thus turns into what number of Android geeks will select to skip one thing from Samsung or Google to seize this as an alternative. This turns into all of the extra worrisome once you do not forget that Samsung has some new foldables launching in a couple of week and Google has the Pixel 10 collection launching in just a little greater than a month. How is Nothing going to compete with that?

I like that Nothing exists. I like that there’s a smartphone firm that doesn’t play it secure, places loads of thought into what it creates, and has an endless willingness to take big leaps of religion on its merchandise. In loads of methods, although, the Nothing Cellphone 3 looks like a make-or-break second for the model. Will it be capable to struggle towards the massive canine on their turf, or will or not it’s compelled to stay to being a small fish in a small pond perpetually? I sincerely hope it is ready to be the massive fish it has all the time dreamed of being. The Nothing Cellphone 3 is proof that it has the product to take action — it simply wants the patrons to align with its imaginative and prescient.