Unboxing:
Fortunately, I was in London at the time the review unit was shipped so I picked up the device on my last day that I was in London. Therefore, after unboxing, I managed to get a few stunning shots around London! Shame the shipping courier messed around otherwise I could’ve tested the video quality at Coldplay a day earlier haha!
Having previously unboxed both Nothing phone (1) and Nothing phone (2), I was super excited that I was selected for the Nothing phone (3) review program. Big thanks to Deepanshu, Rob and Natalie.
There has always been something very refreshing about unboxing Nothing products - that smooth rip of the seal on the box that slows you down just to enjoy it a little bit more than you would’ve done.
Compared to phone (1) and phone (2), the phone (3) packing experience felt much better than the previous generations due to the fact that on previous generation boxes, you had to rip the whole bod open. As someone that likes to collect boxes (and I know quite a lot of others like to keep their boxes too!) this was a great yet simple move that made the unboxing experience that little bit better.
After breaking the seal, I was greeted with plain white box. I opened the box like it was a book and boom! Phone (3) in all of its glory right there 😍
Peeling phone (3) out of the protective paper, I instantly felt the premium feel. When I first looked at it in person, both me & my friend thought just how striking and how Nothing the design actually is.
I admired the design for a short while then put the case (which was included in the box!) on the device so that I could protect in the future if any falls were to occur.
Initial impressions:
My initial impressions of this device was just how premium the device looked and felt! I’ve read quite a lot of online reviews and YouTube reviews that mention about the design however since seeing this design in person, I’ve definitely taken a loving for the design now. This is definitely one of those products that you have got to see and feel in person in your own hands before purchasing it.
Right after unboxing the device, you do not realise until you actually look close up just how many small intricate details that Nothing has included within the design. I chose the colour white phone (3) due to the fact that my phone (1) was white and I absolutely loved the details, I then got grey phone (2) and although I absolutely loved it and the Nothing experience, the grey just wasn’t for me so this is why I went for the white unit so that I could see all the small details more clearly. Everyone has very different tastes but I love white Nothing products that’s where I think the brand shines.
After admiring the device I then powered it on. Went through the initial setup phase and just like that I was in. There was an update or two go get through but that is of course expected.
I turned on the glyph matrix and wow! I really found the glyph matrix to be very unique and Nothing (no pun intended) like anyone has ever done before. There was just something striking about the glyph matrix, so cool yet so Nothing.
Battery life:
The battery life lasts a while as expected from a brans new unpackaged device. The battery easily got me through the day and into the next which is great for medium usage and streaming music via nothing ear.
Pro’s:
Excellent variety of presets on the camera with additional ones that you can find online that have been created by members of the Nothing community. An additional pro I’ve found would be how useful the glyph matrix really is and my love for the design. The matrix is useful for telling the time and other fun things like using a stopwatch on the back of the device and a little LED screen that gives you an idea of how a selfie or photograph will look when using the glyph mirror toy.
Con’s:
Every pro also comes with some cons but they’re very only minor things that I’ve found. One example is the glyph matrix, yes I love it and it’s very useful however, say I check the time but have a longer timeout for the matrix to turn off, I’d then have to either wait for it to turn off or scroll through every single matrix toy that I’ve added which can be a little annoying if you’re testing a fair few or just having fun with it. Another example would be the presets. The black & white preset seems to go weird when you capture photographs of a clear sky on a sunny day. But other than that I’ve not seen any major cons as this is a very refined Nothing product.
Camera quality:
After owning phone (1) then moving to phone (2) then to a Google Pixel 9 pro XL, I was VERY shocked at how good the was going to be.
Opened the camera app on the phone (3) and I am amazed to see the amount of features the app actually has. For example, the camera app has a wide range of presets such as black & white along with retro and now stretch just to name a few. They even give the option to create your own and import other people’s which is great! I EXTREMELY love this! Nothing has created such an amazing feature here.
My favourite preset is the black & white. It captures great tones whilst remaining very sharp. The shots below which I captured one at the beach and one during the visit at London. The photograph of the architecture in London is really stunning. The black & white preset really works for this photograph and the watermark layout is simplistic yet really adds to the photograph.
After I got the train back from London, I tested the phone (3) camera in dark and very harsh lighting and my jaw literally dropped. Literally. I really wasn’t expecting such good quality keeping ALL the details. Checking the photo back, I have only just realised that zooming right into the photo, stars are even visible which really shocked me. I hands down genuinely didn’t expect such a great quality photograph.
My original idea was to do a side by side comparison between the two devices however I’ve been so shocked by the quality of phone (3) that I forgot to even do it as I’ve been enjoying using the camera so much! 😆
Glyph matrix
After using the device for the past few weeks, I’ve really been enjoying using the glyph matrix. I’ve also seen quite a few people saying “gimmick” however whilst of course everything has to come with a gimmick to attract people, I personally find myself using the glyph matrix on a daily!
There has been countless times that I’ve used the matrix to quickly check the time without having to turn the phone around and feel the need to look at the screen and get distracted from what I was doing at the time.
I’ve used the rock, paper, scissors toy quite a few times too! it’s a quick fun game if you find yourself on a train with your phone faced down haha!
Community created toys:
I’ve tried quite a lot of glyph toys. Some of the main community created ones I’ve loved using throughout the review has been “Next track” which just displays a skip icon where you hold the PRESSURE BUTTON and it’ll skip to the next song. Something so simple yet so useful when phone is face down!
Another stand out community glyph toy which I’ve had fun using would be “Music Visualizer.” When I’ve been using Pixel (phone 1 and 2 no longer in my possession) I have definitely missed the music visualisation where the glyphs would dance to my music that were played however someone has made this new excellent community toy that brings back that early nothing product nostalgia. It has definitely been fun using this feature!
The last community glyph toy which I find great is Hamon. I love how you can just lightly touch the pressure sensor on the back of phone (3) to change through the rather relaxing animations that someone within the Nothing community has created.
All of these community created glyph toys have been really fun to use and I cannot wait to see many more community created glyph matrix toys within the near future. Keep up the great work people!
Nothing OS:
Phone (3) has the usual great Nothing OS we all know and love! Great yet simplistic experience with all the monochromatic apps and widgets so that you don’t get distracted by app colours and end up spending too much time delving into each app.
I’ve used Nothing OS since the very early days and it’s great to see how it has developed over the years of using it! Starting from the early one point software update days haha!
Nothing X app:
When using Nothing ear (2024), the Nothing X app on the phone (3) comes with spatial audio feature which isn’t available on my Pixel. It’s interesting to see that Nothing finally made a feature for the earbuds that is only available on the Nothing phone.
Feel of the device is it worth it
As my whole review has been about honesty, I can honestly say that for the value of £899 for the 16/512GB variant, it would be really worth it. Yes there may be no glyph lights unlike phone (1) and phone (2) however phone (3) forms function - you can actually use the LEDs to tell you the time, use leveller and many other community created glyph matrix functions. The camera, the in hand feeling and the glyph matrix, if you love Nothing then what is not to love!
Final thoughts:
I have loved being part of the review program, I’ve enjoyed every single minute of having phone (3) in my possession. I’ve loved writing this review and I hope that this helps people decide whether to get the device or not. If you’re thinking about it and are on the edge, do it! Thank you so much again to Deepanshu, Rob and Natalie for making this happen.
