I come from a long ownership of smartphones, from Blackberry to Windows Phone, to iPhone to almost every major Android brand. Now, my response
• Phone I’m using: Nothing Phone 3
• Ownership period: About a month.
• Performance now compared to day one: Still the same, pretty average.
• Any issues: I’m coming from Samsung S23 (owned it for 3 years). In comparison, NP3 is a downgrade.
1. The camera is below average, photos are overprocessed/poorly processed. The physical optics are great, but the ISP is bad, it’s like Nothing has put zero effort into camera processing.
2. The software in general is fine but does ‘nothing’ special. It is a generation behind OneUI in terms of stability, useful features and customisations, heck the gallery app is useless. Even Link to Windows misses important features. Whatsapp call frame drop issue I’ve heard has been there for over a year. It is just stock android with a fancy dot matrix icon pack. Lazy software.
3. The phone warms up with normal extended usage, it is end of Delhi winters…even fans aren’t running yet. I’m worried about the summers.
4. My S23 had a 3900 mah battery which lasted a working day (3.5-4 hrs SOT) in the first year, NP 3 with 5500 mah battery lasts slightly more, 4.5-6 hrs SOT. They need better battery management.
5. The glyph matrix is interesting, I’m using it more than I expected, it has a lot of scope, but too little is being done.
Would you buy Nothing again?
I’m giving this phone 6 months. As Carl Pei mentioned, NP3 is their 2026 flagship as well, so I hope they improve the software and try to come close to what One UI offers. If it happens then I will continue to use it and may be switch to NP 6 in future, otherwise there are better options out there right now.
It is a beautiful device, a major conversation starter but sadly right now it is just that only.
