This phone could've been the bold new flagship we needed

Phone Arena

18-07-2025

Nothing's third-generation phone doubles down on its visual identity with even more customizable LEDs, a distinct UI design, and a refined aesthetic that's unlike anything else in the Android space.
It's easy to admire the ambition, and as someone who's craving something different, a break from the mold, I respect it. The Nothing Phone (3) wants to feel special, expressive, and fun in a sea of polished rectangles. But once you get past the unique presentation, it becomes clear that being different doesn't always mean being better, even more so when you're charging $800. We've tested the Phone (3) in-depth, comparing it to the best alternatives at its price, and the results aren't flattering. Whether it's the performance, camera quality, video capabilities, or even display brightness, Nothing's latest effort consistently lands behind the competition, sometimes by a significant margin. That makes it hard to recommend, no matter how much I'd like to root for the underdog.
The two color options of the Phone (3). | Image credit — Nothing
Let's start with the good. The design of the Nothing Phone (3) is undeniably striking, particularly for tech enthusiasts like us. The transparent back, enhanced Glyph lighting, and symmetrical borders still turn heads, and build quality remains top-notch. I dig it, as it reminds me of something from Star Wars. This phone was made to be seen and felt, not just used.It's also commendable that Nothing doesn't overload the phone with bloatware or visual clutter — the clean software skin and thoughtful haptics help it feel more premium than most mid-rangers.
However, this attention to design doesn't change the fact that it's entering a segment ($800 and above) full of excellent phones that don't compromise on essentials, such as the Pixel 9, Galaxy S25, OnePlus 13, and the iPhone 16. And that's where the Nothing Phone (3) stumbles, hard.
The Phone (3)'s screen looks good indoors, but outdoor brightness is well behind the competition. | Image credit — PhoneArena
Despite its sleek look, the Phone (3)'s display doesn't impress when it comes to real-world performance. It's a 6.7-inch OLED panel with good resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate — all specs that sound great on paper. But in our lab tests, it had the lowest brightness levels at 20% APL (just 1501 nits) among its peers, meaning visibility outdoors suffers compared to rivals like the Pixel 9 or Galaxy S25 , both of which push brightness well over 2000 nits. At the other end of the scale, its minimum brightness was the highest (2 nits), making it less comfortable to use in bed or dim lighting.
A surprising saving grace was the color accuracy, which turned out to be the best compared to the competition. That said, this is something that can vary drastically between units, so it is definitely not a guarantee that all other Nothing Phone (3) devices will show such results. The chip performance presents a similar mixed-bag type of situation. With a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip inside, the Phone (3) is finally using a flagship silicon — the first phone to use this chip. It easily beats the Pixel 9 's Tensor G4 and even Apple's A18 in some cases, but it is still nowhere close to the Snapdragon 8 Elite powering phones like the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13 .
Our performance score confirmed the gap. The Phone (3) scored 7.6 in light tasks and 7.2 in heavy tasks. For comparison, the OnePlus 13 hits 9.0 in heavy workloads — a massive difference in responsiveness when gaming, multitasking, or using demanding apps.
Despite stacked specs, the Phone (3) struggles with oversharpening, noise, and uneven image quality. | Image credit — PhoneArena
On paper, the Nothing Phone (3) is stacked: it boasts a 50 MP main camera with a large 1/1.3" sensor and OIS, a 50 MP periscope telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom, and a 50 MP ultrawide shooter with a 114˚ field of view. Even the selfie camera is a high-res 50 MP sensor. It's one of the most spec-heavy camera arrays you'll find at this price — but unfortunately, the real-world results don't match the promise.Across all cameras, we noticed aggressive oversharpening that made images look unnaturally crisp, especially in skin tones and textures. While the main camera is capable of sharp images thanks to its large sensor, the processing often strips them of depth and realism. The ultrawide shots showed decent consistency in color but lacked fine detail. The periscope zoom lens is a nice surprise in this segment, but results were hit-or-miss — with good sharpness at 3X, but poor dynamic range and visible noise in lower light.It's clear the hardware is there, but Nothing's tuning holds it back. In a side-by-side comparison, the Pixel 9a consistently produced more balanced, natural-looking photos with better dynamic range and color handling. The OnePlus 13R, despite fewer lenses, delivered more reliable results in both photo and video. And let's not even start comparing it to the Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16 .
Big battery, underwhelming results. | Image credit — PhoneArena
Battery life should have been one of the few areas where the Nothing Phone (3) holds its own, given it's massive 5150 mAh battery and tuned software. But in our Nothing Phone (3) review, it scored only 6.7. Our tests showed an estimated battery life of just 6h 45 min. That's only a tad better than the iPhone 16 's 6h 21 min and close to the Pixel 9 's 6h 48 min. This doesn't sound bad until you remember that the iPhone and the Pixel have much smaller batteries.
Charging, on the other hand, is actually one of the Phone (3)'s bright spots. It supports 65W wired charging and 15W wireless, and in our test it delivered one of the fastest top-ups in its class (around 1 hour), beating out the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 , and even outpacing the Galaxy S25 . That said, the OnePlus 13 still reigns supreme here with even faster speeds and better thermal control.
It's clear that Nothing has a strong identity and a vision for what phones should be — playful, expressive, and thoughtful in their design. The Nothing phone (3) is the closest Nothing has ever come to a true flagship phone. But for most users, especially those spending $800 and more, the core experience is what truly matters, and it is not quite polished at the 'flagship level' in this case.
The Nothing Phone (3) is — as I've put it several times now — a mixed bag. If you go and purchase it, there will undoubtedly be some things you love about it, but also an equal amount that you get annoyed by. I would have a much easier time recommending it if it cost $700, as that price difference would have made sense considering the lack of polish. As it stands right now, though, I feel this is a product that is not well-rounded enough to be in this category. One last thing worth noting — while I personally enjoy gadgets with a bold, industrial aesthetic, the Nothing Phone (3) 's design definitely won't appeal to everyone. This kind of look is a double-edged sword: distinctive and refreshing to some, off-putting to others. And as the price climbs, that edge only gets sharper — just like the pool of potential buyers, which inevitably gets smaller.