Carl Pei says Nothing wants people to use their phones less after launching Rs 79,999 Phone 3

India Today

14-07-2025

Carl Pei, the co-founder of Nothing, says the company doesn't want people glued to their phones all the time — an interesting take, especially as the brand has just launched its most expensive device yet. Speaking to Bloomberg after the launch of the Nothing Phone 3, Pei explained that smartphones were originally made to boost creativity and productivity, not to encourage endless scrolling. 'It was a bicycle for the mind,' he said, referring to how smartphones were once meant to be useful tools, just like the personal computer. But over time, people have got used to picking up their phones and getting distracted. Pei admits he does this himself, saying, 'Sometimes when I have to respond to an important message, I just happen to go into my social media and scroll a bit afterwards.'advertisementThe new Phone 3, priced from Rs 79,999, is Nothing's biggest move yet into the premium space. It's being marketed as a flagship product — one that aims to compete directly with top-end offerings from Apple and Samsung. But while the phone comes with all the bells and whistles — including a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, a 6.67-inch OLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate, and triple 50-megapixel rear cameras — Pei insists the goal is not to make users more dependent on their phones, but to help them 'stay in focus.' He says the idea is to keep users connected to important things without having to constantly check their screens.Nothing's approach to design still plays a big role. The Phone 3 keeps the company's signature transparent back, now updated with a new 'Glyph Matrix' made up of hundreds of programmable micro LEDs. This is meant to help users manage notifications in a more subtle, less distracting way. There's also a glowing red light that comes on when the camera is recording, and a new round button to control Glyph functions.
Pei also touched on how AI fits into their plans. While Nothing isn't focused on building its own language models, it's exploring smart ways to apply AI on the phone. 'We want to be able to really understand the users to then automate the smartphone use as much as possible,' he said.The Phone 3 runs on Android 15 with Nothing OS 3.5, and includes AI tools like Essential Space and universal phone search. Pei says most Nothing phones are now made in India, and the Phone 3 is even being exported from India to the US.With a growing user base and revenue expected to hit $1 billion this year, Pei says the company is in talks for more funding — but has 'nothing to announce' at the moment.- Ends