Every phone looks the same now. The Nothing Phone (3) is the rare device you can identify across a room, and this time, the substance finally matches the style.
A real flagship chip
The biggest change is under the glass: Nothing stepped up to a true flagship-tier processor, so the (3) is finally as fast as it is pretty. Everything is snappy, and gaming holds up.
The Glyph, evolved
The rear light system is more useful this generation, surfacing timers, volume, and notification info at a glance. It's still gimmicky, but it's a charming gimmick that occasionally saves you from unlocking your phone.
Clean software
Nothing OS stays refreshingly close to stock Android, with a distinctive dot-matrix aesthetic and very little bloat. Promised update support is now competitive with the big players.
Where it lands
The cameras are good, not class-leading, and battery is solid rather than spectacular. But for the price, you get a fast, clean, genuinely distinctive phone.
The verdict
If you're tired of boring, the Nothing Phone (3) is the most interesting phone at its price, and now it's got the guts to back up the looks.
