{"id":30694,"date":"2025-07-01T19:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T19:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/30694\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T19:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T19:56:12","slug":"nothings-first-true-flagship-phone-plays-it-a-little-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/30694\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing\u2019s \u2018first true flagship\u2019 phone plays it a little safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Glyph interface is not a gimmick,\u201d Nothing founder and CEO Carl Pei told the press as he revealed the Nothing Phone 3 for the first time, shortly before announcing that its new iteration lets you play Spin the Bottle on the back of the phone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mixed messaging, but in Nothing\u2019s defense, you couldn\u2019t accuse them of making that mistake elsewhere. The Phone 3, we\u2019re told, is Nothing\u2019s \u201cfirst true flagship phone,\u201d a point the company is keen to hammer home: flagship chip, flagship camera, flagship price. In fact, it\u2019s so flagship that the company is even springing for a true US launch, its first since 2023\u2019s Phone 2<\/a>, which Pei tells me only makes sense for their \u201cpremium\u201d phones.<\/p>\n

At $799, the Phone 3 is priced to match the iPhone 16, Galaxy S25, and Pixel 9, as Nothing positions itself firmly outside its mid-range origins, and Pei says the company feels ready \u201cto compete with products in that price level.\u201d Preorders open Friday, July 4th, with general sale starting from the 15th from Nothing\u2019s own webstore and Amazon in the US. Nothing says the phone is fully compatible with T-Mobile and AT&T, with \u201cmore limited 5G support\u201d on Verizon.<\/p>\n

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The Phone 3 will include five years of Android OS updates. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

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Nothing\u2019s signature design language still runs through the OS. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

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There are small hardware touches too, like this red square that illuminates when you\u2019re recording video. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

This is Nothing\u2019s most expensive phone yet, but on paper the specs should keep pace with the price. The Snapdragon 8S Gen 4 chip isn\u2019t the most powerful around right now, but its performance should cope with all but the most demanding mobile games, especially paired with up to 16GB of RAM. Storage starts at 256GB, and for an additional $100, you can get 512GB.<\/p>\n

The Nothing Phone 3 uses a silicon-carbon battery, a relatively new technology that makes it easier to fit big batteries into small phones. Here, that means a generous 5,150mAh capacity, combined with a 65W wired charging speed and 15W wireless charging speed. The 6.67-inch OLED screen is more than twice as bright as the Phone 2\u2019s, and the IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating is a first for Nothing too. All four of the cameras \u2014 three on the back, one on the front \u2014 are 50-megapixel, though it\u2019ll be impossible to say whether they\u2019re any good until we get to test the phone out properly. Nothing\u2019s camera processing has lagged a little behind the competition in the past, so this\u2019ll be the area to watch.<\/p>\n

All that\u2019s in line with other flagship phones, so what makes the Phone 3 feel like Nothing? That\u2019s where that new, gimmick-free Glyph design comes in. While previous Nothing phones have featured an array of light strips that can glow and flash in custom patterns for notifications and ringtones<\/a>, here, those have been swapped out for a small, circular dot matrix LED display in one corner of the back of the phone.<\/p>\n

The Glyph Matrix is immediately less striking than the older phones\u2019 designs, and less unique too \u2014 Asus has included dot matrix displays on the back of its ROG gaming phones<\/a> for years. Pei told me that the advantage is that custom notifications can be \u201cmuch more immediate,\u201d with easily recognizable images or emoji tied to specific apps and contacts rather than abstract animations that might be hard to grok at a glance.<\/p>\n

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The Glyph Matrix can be used for functional stuff like a stopwatch. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

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Or less functional games including Spin the Bottle. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s much smaller and subtler than the glaring Glyph lights of previous models. Image: Dominic Preston \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

Then there are the Glyph-focused games, officially dubbed Glyph Toys, designed to add a touch of fun that\u2019s \u201cseverely lacking in the space right now.\u201d The Phone 3 launches with Spin the Bottle, Rock Paper Scissors, and more functional fare like a stopwatch and battery indicator, which you can cycle between using a haptic button hidden among the many shapes on the semi-transparent rear. Pei suggests you could use Spin the Bottle to help decide how to split the bill at dinner, one of those jokes that plays well during a keynote speech but doesn\u2019t make much sense when you really think about it. <\/p>\n

Pei insists that Nothing isn\u2019t done iterating on the Glyph Matrix. He calls the \u201cexpandability\u201d the most exciting part of the new design, citing Glyph Toys already developed based on ideas from the company\u2019s \u201ccommunity\u201d of fans, like a magic eight ball. \u201cI think they might invent some novel use cases we haven\u2019t even thought of yet,\u201d Pei says.<\/p>\n

The Phone 3 also sees the return of the Essential Key, a side button that debuted on the Phone 3A and 3A Pro<\/a> earlier this year. It\u2019s customizable, but by default launches Essential Space, an AI-powered app that stores and analyzes screenshots to give you reminders about events or travel plans. New to this phone is the option to transcribe and summarize meeting audio, along with a universal search bar that can track down everything from contacts to photos and answer basic factual queries.<\/p>\n

The Phone 3 is a big swing for Nothing. It\u2019s the company\u2019s first move into the flagship market, and its first effort to crack the US in two years, so perhaps it\u2019s no surprise that the phone\u2019s new Glyph design is a little more conservative than we\u2019re used to. Still, Nothing playing it safe has produced a bolder and more divisive phone than any Samsung or Apple has put out in years \u2014 just don\u2019t call it a gimmick.<\/p>\n

Photography by Dominic Preston \/ The Verge.<\/p>\n

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