Preface
Please ignore any typos as I am very time-deprived and have just had a moment to compile this on my first night on holiday and the family asleep. if you have any questions, or want any tests done, feel free to ask as I have this NP3 forever and would not mind testing it (still have a functional CMF1).****
Background
I was contacted by someone at NOTHING to test their NP3 pre-release and I received it on 11 JUL 2025. I originally thought it was a scam (this happens to me quite often in the UK due to my/our income/profile) and communicated with the company and did indeed receive the NP3 without an expectation to return it. I personally believe this was because I purchased a CMF1 phone and tested it extensively and reported a lot of what I found here (short: I find it an excellent purchase in the UK for £169 when I bought it in OCT 2024 and it has improved since. The camera quality was trash at the beginning and has markedly improved and it’s still an excellent value at £149 now.) What is my background: I’m a middle-aged STEM prof (nearly 50) with a family that interacts with a lot of technology (sometimes very expensive equipment like the SLS or Diamond Light Source) and have an personal ecosystem that consists of a Garmin watches for sport, Android for mobile devices, macOS for personal computers/desktops and Ubuntu for workstations. My phone history is 2014: One Plus One (broken), 2018: Vernee X (broken/failed to charge), 2020: Xiaomi Mi 10 Youth Edition (broken mainboard with no SIM/speaker), 2024: CMF1 (functional when I received this phone in JUL 2025). I am very detail oriented (specs, tests, etc…) and like my stuff to work (1) and to last (2). (1) is much more important than (2) but I’ll pay more if (2) lasts longer as changing out part of your ecosystem is time-consuming and I am time-deprived.
What I thought before I received it?
I diligently watched all the reviews. There were a lot of people concerned that it was (a) ugly (b) that it runs hot © that it’s terrible value for money (d) specs are bad. After watching everything and looking back at my month+ of using it (this is my first summer holiday where I have to summarise) this is the closest review (it is not me … I was born in and speak American English) to how it is to use long-term before any updates. I have NO idea who “ORBIT” is but (s)he nailed it:
Design
Personally, I love it. It’s not everyone’s cup-of-tea, but I find it quite standout. Every time, I lay it out face down on a table and the GM flashes, it draws instant attention, which I like, and it sparks a lot of conversation. In Europe, most people are afraid of AI and we have a conversation about the dedicated button/AI itself and people assume it’s an iPhone (around Europe) due to the elevated bezels. The GM and rear button are a showstopper and everyone asks about them and kids love ’em.
Markets I operate within
There’s a lot of hate for the 80k INR price point. I have no overview. I operate in the EUR/GBP/USD markets mostly, so I will only on them (plus the other associated European markets DKK/SEK/ISK/HUF/etc… where I have lived and understand their functioning.)
Spec-racing
There’s a lot of specification comparisons between anything. I see this in houses, cars and technology. There were a lot of complaints about value-for-money and 8Elite vs 8sg4, USB 2.0 versus USB 3+ and Victus glass. In the end, I found this the most useful video to regarding the SoC here: with this screenshot being particularly useful:
In the end, I have found no difference in USB protocols, I have found the 8s4g to get warmer (more below) and the Victus glass to not be meaningful. I find max charging to be 40W (which I am fine with as I don’t use a CMF-branded charger).
Heating-up and SoC temps/performance
I tested the SoC performance and potential throttling of the processor due to heat as this was a huge complaint. I DON’T GAME; so in essence I don’t really care, but this spec-issue was quite vocal, so I rigorously tested it.
When my ambient was 24C or less. Everything ran fine for the Wild Life Extreme Stress Test (20 min 100% max test). When my ambient temp was 2*C or more, the test would not complete. I have tested all of the updates so far and you can find them in these threads here:
26 JUN 2025 update: https://nothing.community/d/37475-why-the-np3-gets-so-hot-evidence/18
11 JUL 2025 update: https://nothing.community/d/38121-np3-recent-update-11-jul-and-nothing-fixes-google-pay-and-no-throttling
19 JUL 2025: update: https://nothing.community/d/38137-nothing-phone-3-nothing-os-v35-250719-1646-changelog/64
In essence, I have not seen any throttling of the SoC. I WILL ALSO STATE THAT THE UK USERS RECEIVE UPDATES ABOUT 20 DAYS LATER THAN THE REST OF EUROPE (and there are 1 AUG 2025 and 8 AUG 2025 updates that I have not received.)
Photography
This is what I really spend my on. I’m quite an accomplished photog and have been shooting digital since the mid-90s and have over 100k snaps on a NIKON D50 and D7200 that I don’t use a lot any longer and will likely give to my children to learn to make photographs. There’s a lot of spec racing on cameras and extra hardware.
I find the good-lighting photos to be stellar and Zoom to be excellent. This thread has the most good light shots: https://nothing.community/d/37050-np3-first-half-day-review/7
I have recently started to look at low-light shots and find it less appealing (maybe outright bad), but that makes sense as there is very little light that can enter a tiny lens: https://nothing.community/d/40088-np3-19-jul-2025-update-low-light-camera-test
Personally, I haven’t tested a Vivo X200 or similar and it could be much better but I’m a daily user and I find high-light situations, especially with Zoom, excellent, and lower-light situations less good (but I haven’t used EXPERT mode in low light and I will do that on this holiday.)
NOTHING OS
I find NOS nearly perfect as is. There is a push from people here to add all of these features into NOS, but I don’t think it’s useful. NOS 3.5 is minimal and the B&W options are stellar. There is decent third-party support for NOS. I use a lot of those apps (N Cal, N Dial, Doting, N Keyboard, etc…) and I don’t want NOTHING wasting dev time (in term of FTEs) on options where their dev time is limited. People here disagree with me, including the Indian market, but I couldn’t care less and NOS is stellar as is.
BATTERY LIFE
I keep track of battery life with AccuBatteryPro (highly recommended). And seem to get 13-14h SoT (if I ran it straight) but in reality, I get 2 full days at a minimum with 3-5h SoT each day and three nights. This had not changed as new firmwares roll-out and you’ll be the first to know when it does. (I’ll format the phone and retest to confirm it’s real but right now, I see no issues at all.)
EXTRA BITS (GLYPH MATRIX, ESSENTIAL SPACE, ETC…)
This is where I want NOTHING to spend dev time. Every update, ES gets better. More features. The flip2record is great. The GM and toys are very interesting to use. Around Europe, it’s a show stopper as nothing like it exists. Having said that ES/GM are NOTHING-only hardware/software and the GM is still buggy (as of 18 AUG 2025) but ES is coming in leaps and bounds. NOTHING, if you read this, invest the time here as this is the USP and NOS is nearly perfect as is.
WOULD I BUY IT WITH MY OWN MONEY???????????
This is literally the “money” question. I’d like to think I’m in a high-income family (~£10k/mo after tax depending on month). This is a market dominated by iPhones and expensive cars. Every iPhone user I’ve shown it to (probably had discussions since receiving the phone with about 200 people) is impressed/intrigued. I still wouldn’t spend £899 of my own money on it. Hell, I bought a CMF1 for £169 on credit (for added consumer protection) as anything above a mid-tier phone seems like an unnecessary luxury that I could spend on my children or holiday (the cameras are making me rethink this). So, I might not be the best person to ask about this. We spend £4k/mo on mortgage and £2.5k/mo on childcare costs, so £1k on a phone is lot for us).
HOW IS NOTHING WITH UPDATES?
This is another pertinent question. If you read the internet, it’s all garbage. I find the CMF1 quite updated. The cameras became much better after the release (about 4-6 months in). I find the market somewhat unfair and demanding too much. I also find the rollout to the UK slower than the continent (Europe), but hey, what’s new, after Brexit.
NOTHING AS A COMPANY?
If I was dropping £900 on a phone, the first question I would ask would be will they go bust? NOTHING is pre-IPO and must release 5 years of Android updates and 7 years of patches. Will the company exist that long? I am NOT SURE. However, NOTHING has to be very dynamic and “bold” (see ORBIT above, and that’s not me) to remain in existence, so it’s a VERY exciting space to reside within your more personal and essential device. Also, there’s a dedicated AI button that a function will need to be found for. Perhaps, we’re at a LaserDisc moment, where technology needing a home is driving the agenda rather than the needs of consumers and THAT IS EXCITING!
OVERALL RATING
Assuming I paid for it, which I didn’t, I’d give the NP3 a 9/10. Why would I give such a score:
- Excellent asymmetric design, while retaining the iPhone quality-based aspects. We’re seeing shit that messes with people’s minds. Most people think it’s an iPhone due to the elevated camera bezels. Then, that red flashing light is BetaMax from the early 80s. Then the GM and the button. There’s nothing like it on the market (not even close)
- NOTHING OS is stellar (B&W and minimal is perfect)
- There is upward expansion possible (ES button, GM, rear button) … these hardware options are unheard of in Mobile phone space (at least in EU/US/UK)
- Can NOTHING deliver? NTL needs to make money and the £799 price point (more below) makes sense (profit needs to be returned before Series C funding is awarded). This device will be how they are measured … do you want it or not?
- Price points (I see the phone on the continent for around £500-520 now in the last 7 days … €620 for lower-spec model) and that is a stellar deal. I can’t comment on the INR-based market at the moment.
Edit: another update dropped (1 AUG 2025) and I need to test it, will update after
