Carl Pei led electronics producer OnePlus from being a scrappy model for tech fans providing reasonably priced telephones to at least one that produces a number of strains of gadgets, together with flagship telephones that problem Samsung and Apple. He is operating an identical playbook with Nothing, a 5-year-old, venture-backed {hardware} startup that simply launched its most bold gadget, the Phone (3), earlier this month. The telephone, priced at $799, is meant to compete with gadgets from Samsung and Apple.
While OnePlus centered on offering value-for-money specs and expertise in its early days, Nothing centered on design and software program as a differentiator to face out from different telephones. The startup produces eye-catching gadgets with a clear design that attracts consideration.
As my former Ztoog colleague Brian Heater mentioned, Nothing Phone (1) was cool, and the Phone (2) was a strong midrange gadget whereas sustaining the novelty. The Phone (3), whereas sustaining the clear design ethos, invokes blended emotions about its design.
The telephone has lots of uneven components on the again, together with the surprisingly organized digital camera module. If you take a look at the reactions on the web, some folks appreciated it as a result of it isn’t like different telephones, whereas some hated it. If you may get over the asymmetrical association, you would possibly just like the gadget.
Nothing additionally took away the glyph LED association that was distinguished in earlier Nothing telephones. This association made gadgets stand out much more after they illuminated to point an incoming name or a message. Over the years, the corporate made it extra customizable, permitting you to assign totally different patterns for various contacts. It even created an SDK for builders, which didn’t take off.
With Phone (3), the LED association is substituted with Glyph Matrix, a circle-shaped second display within the high right-hand nook to show extra data. It can show fundamental stats comparable to time and battery degree while you press the button on the again.
The firm has additionally included mini apps comparable to spin the bottle, a stopwatch, and rock, paper, and scissors. This is extra of a enjoyable gimmick that you just would possibly use to indicate off your telephone.
A second display on a tool shouldn’t be a brand new idea, and it doesn’t resolve the issue of getting to show the telephone to learn the message. You can assign an emoji to a contact, nevertheless it simply tells you that you just acquired a message from that contact, however doesn’t inform you what it’s. So it’s important to flip your telephone on anyway. Is the matrix cool? Kind of. Is it helpful? Not by a lot but.
The firm is inviting builders to construct instruments for it, which may enhance issues if there’s adoption.
Hardware and digital camera
The firm is utilizing a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, constructed on a 4-nanometer structure, which is a step under the Snapdragon 8 Elite used within the Galaxy S25, OnePlus 13, and Xiaomi 15 Ultra. However, in your day-to-day utilization, that wouldn’t matter lots.
The gadget additionally features a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K decision, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 7i as an alternative of a stronger Gorilla Glass Victus. The display is vivid and has punchy colours. While it helps HDR for YouTube, Nothing mentioned that Netflix hasn’t whitelisted its gadgets to run HDR content material.
The Phone (3) options three 50-megapixel cameras for various functions. The foremost digital camera has a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which is 20% greater than Phone (2), at a f/1.68 aperture; the periscope telephoto lens presents 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor, and 60x digital zoom with AI Super Res Zoom; and the ultra-wide lens offers a 114-degree discipline of view. There’s additionally a 50-megapixel selfie digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture.
While Nothing claims that this telephone is its “true flagship,” top-tier gadgets comparable to iPhones and Samsung Galaxy telephones have achieved distinct digital camera high quality with years of labor. Nothing Phone (3) takes good photographs, however colour accuracy wants work to match different flagship telephones. Plus, if the lighting was not splendid, the telephone produced crushed shadows and overblown highlights in darkish or vivid areas of photographs.
The telephone has a 5150 mAh battery for worldwide variations, which is nice sufficient to final you a day of average to heavy utilization. You can cost the gadget by way of 65W wired charging and 15W wi-fi charging.
AI options
Nothing debuted a customizable {hardware} key known as the Essential Key with the Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro. This key ports over to the brand new flagship and opens up the Essential Space app, which helps you to save screenshots with notes. But surprisingly, you possibly can’t save simply notes.
The firm can also be debuting Essential search, which doubles up as an web and internet search utilizing AI.
You can seek for information and occasions by typing in key phrases, or you may as well ask a question like “Who won Wimbledon in 2024?” after which faucet on the AI button to floor internet outcomes utilizing Google’s Gemini fashions. This is akin to Apple integrating ChatGPT with Siri to go looking the net for sure queries.
The telephone additionally will get a gathering notice transcriber, which data your assembly and summarizes key factors. You can set off this by holding the Essential key and flipping the telephone. You can double-press the Essential key to document a voice snippet with transcription. However, customers don’t have a option to entry these recordings and transcripts outdoors the Nothing telephone, except they explicitly export them.
In a chat with Ztoog, CEO Pei mentioned the smartphone is one of the best medium to distribute AI and the corporate desires to make AI options helpful for customers.
“We have to be really focused on building things [AI features] that are useful [for end users] and not just call our phones ‘Nothing AI phones’ with some having some image generation and call it a day,” he mentioned. “[We are thinking about] how we can really leverage this new technology to help people. The idea is not to compete with people or to take their jobs away. How do we help people become better and also more creative?”
While this ambition is an efficient one to have, Nothing’s function set, which additionally consists of an AI-powered wallpaper-generation instrument, is in line with different telephone makers.
Nothing’s positioning
Nothing is making the telephone accessible by way of its web site and Amazon within the U.S. In Canada, it’s partnering with Best Buy.
At $799, the gadget instantly competes with the Samsung Galaxy S25, Google Pixel 9, and the iPhone 16. Since it isn’t being provided by way of wi-fi provider bundles, the telephone remains to be aimed toward folks shopping for unlocked telephones and in search of options to Samsung, Apple, and Google.
In India, the corporate’s greatest market, it’s a totally different story because the telephone begins at ₹79,999. Although the corporate presents reductions and exchanges, the costs are on par with or above the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy 25, relying on the vendor. Initial reactions on social media steered that the purchasers discovered the value excessive, which may impression the corporate’s gross sales.
Nothing has taken it upon itself to problem Samsung and Apple, however for the time being, fairly than direct competitors, the telephone is an efficient, cheaper various to these gadgets.