Phone (3) - Disappointment

SeanUlly

Let’s be honest… a lot of us are heavily disappointment over the nothing phone 3 and I have several of my own reasons that I’m pretty sure others can relate to.

First off, as some of us have seen the leaks, we already had the first take of how unsure we were about the were the back looks, lights at the back are gone, a very small dot matrix, cameras mis-aligned and looking like they having an identity crisis which everything is just giving mixed opinions. All of it really brought out a deep sigh of (this is not it)

The most heartbreaking thing is when I could tell the lights were going to be removed because of the nothing phone 3a. That feeling made me feel like I already saw the future of the next flagship and trust me. Y’all made it worse by filling in my expectations to be true.

Secondly, the introduction of the phone was just boring, yes they described to us how they all got to make this decision forward but honestly, it all felt like they were the only ones pleased with the design and the conclusion to how the phone looks. The previous phones presented so much identity and I get it, this is something new as well and unique.. it’s just not what we asked for, coming from a company that really brought out the spotlight phones that made us reach into our pockets and give our money with no hesitation. I don’t feel the same way about this.

please understand how underwhelming the design is and I’m sure that with due time, other phones are going to be on top with the design compared to this phone. It’s £800 we expected something to make us have very minimal reasons to rethink why we should spend our money but now, they are several reasons for those who are so much into tech and see this as a downgrade with very much pointless new instruments towards the phone that really portray very very little benefits.

Thirdly, some people have had concerns over the chip set on Reddit, where it should’ve been the Snapdragon elite instead and I see the reasons why due to performance.

In all around, I potentially due see people pushing back on the nothing phone 3. The outcome has deflated my interest in this phone company and surely in the future they will decide on improving and capturing our eyes and interests as much as they decide with the phones in the past. This is just not it.

This are my reasons without looking into detail and I feel as if I will have more reasons once I do.

Django_Unhinged

SeanUlly love the phone, dont understand the fuss about it being ‘bad’. Ppl need to get a life fr; it’s a fun looking phone with cool features and great performance (remember Nothing’s optimisation is superb), pretty much everything Nothing have always done. Quit clogging up these forums and get a Samsung if you dont like it.

NoJawline_Mogger

SeanUlly agreed. The back of the phone and the decision to remove the glyph lights are the reasons im going to stick with my phone 2

YEAH_DidThat

SeanUlly

Agree!!!

But your post will be taken off, they’ll probably re name it so people don’t see it! They don’t like criticism here, funny for a company who says the listen to there community??? But don’t what to face the music, and give us a better reason or a will do better. There going to try to sale this product to newbies, just que quiet till they can break even! But by staying quiet, there in risk of loosing thet original fan base!!! All for make money! They should pander to there fan base, because we helped them grow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RamuP_SotwpDNKBb

Very high price.., I am also feel very bad

VincentGallagher-Bugge

RamuP_SotwpDNKBb High Price??

Don’t make me laugh..

A S25 ultra 512 is almost a $1000 dollars extra to buy..

$1600 for a handset is cheap..

Maybe get a better paying job..

akash_17

RamuP_SotwpDNKBb Downgrading the chipset was the drawback, TBH. It had to be 8 elite fs when the phone is priced at $799.It’s kind of in the middle as of now.We have to wait for the reviews

VarunBhingarde

Carl really messed this one up, was definately not worth the wait, the camera asymmetry is acceptable but that circular dotted screen is totally useless in my opinion. Its upto nothing now the only thing they can do is PULL THE PRICE DOWN TO MIDRANGE SMARTPHONES to keep the sales going, otherwise no one will buy this phone

SayanNaskar_LNvL2Y7YX9

Okay I get it design is a perspective I can’t comment on that but how do you justify

8sGen4
USB 2.0 port
LTPS display
1.5k display (considering price)

How in the world did you come to that price, software optimisation can take you so far. Too much hardware limitation to be even called a flagship. We can all admit it’s an Upper midrange device, so behave like that. How do you plan to compete against Oneplus 13 , Samsung S24 ultra. Those are clearly better alternatives with almost every single aspect. Bad bad release Nothing, you lost your identity.

Anonymous717

overall phone to be a qiuete good mid-ranger.

amancashyap

You Say Disappointed, Thats A Very Small Word For Nothing Phone 3. Literally POOP if I Say. What is This I’m A Fan Of Nothing And Carl Pai Both But This Time This Time literally What They Learn From Nothing Phone 2 Launch I Will Say Nothing.

DozensOMangos

My personal take is just this:

Lack of symmetry
Confused/bad design language
Glyph Matrix is not a suitable replacement for the glyph display
No LTPO

My unhinged take is they purposefully sacrificed this phone in order to gain brand recognition. Carl himself has said, “I think our biggest problem is that no one knows who we are.” Ever heard the phrase, “Any publicity is good publicity.”? I think Carl is trying to get as many eyes on this release as possible, so when the next phone releases as a smash hit, it will transform their company overnight.

SayanNaskar_LNvL2Y7YX9

DozensOMangos I also thought of that, I think you are spot on that comment. Anyway their ‘a’ series is giving them the necessary sales to stay afloat.

I think this device is made so that consumers start to associate Nothing with premiumness. I think they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes as Xiaomi. That is a win for the brand and big L fro the consumers.

Geneva Numera

Disappointed ☹️. But will wait for 3s or 4 for fix or switch to Pixel next year. everyone makes mistakes, the main thing is to learn from them. Give a second chance 😜

amancashyap

Geneva Numera This Launch is There Second Chance But They Repeat The Mistake, They First Mistake Was Phone 2 Launch When Price is 45K (INR) After Decreasing The Price To 35K (INR) and in Offers Got 30K its Selling Out Crazy. Maybe This Happened Again.

Sergey_F

Definetely staying with Phone (2) for one more year. If Nothing 4 wll continue ideas of 3, I guess, I’ll choose Pixel

MarkG13

Django_Unhinged Absolutely agree with you 100%. What is wrong with these people? “Oh it’s not got this particular glass” 😱. Well use the FREE case it comes with and better still look what you are doing and don’t drop it anyway.

TheJSCstoner

Django_Unhinged I seem to also be in the minority lol, at first I was like NOOO not the Ghlps interface🙁, but I LOVE the Dot Matrix it’s SIMPLE but so much more useful!, you can make your own I get a notification and I don’t even need to check my phone to know what’s it’s from or about. As I set my dog matrix to an app like Amazon I have the Amazon logo etc, you just Google image it and find the one that works and done. And the symmetry I love now I have it, in pictures it looks shit haha 😂, but in your hand it is actually symmetrical it follows the lines of the back perfectly the cameras just dont line up ?, it’s a quirk I personally like. I got the ARC case for it and I love it. I think yes it was too expensive 🫰🏼 for the specs I agree 💯, but they did that to position themselves as premium and from launch the price of the 512gb was reduced to the 256gb, and then they offer all previous nothing owners of the 1 or 2 a €250 voucher off anything on their website so I really cannot complain

AbsoluteRainbow

amancashyap you sure?

shafi_22

People are reacting to this phone as if it was a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Breath, it can’t hurt you. Nobody has to buy it.

Adam

I was not happy with the phone (3) offering. As a creative (which they seem to keep implying is their target audience), it didn’t offer me anything that would pull me away from a pro IPhone, such as LIDAR, Face motion capture or a top-end chipset for handling high-powered mobile apps. As such, for the price, I decided to simply get a 3A instead, and I’ve saved the rest of that money for my camera upgrade in a couple of months.

I’m happy with that decision, the 3A is a neat device, even if it’s not the most powerful.

Solz1982

I don’t get the hate at all. People complain about phones being boring and all looking the same. Nothing creates something different that’s good value for money and people are flipping out about the weirdest things! Like “the cameras aren’t symmetrical”. So? Neither are they on the Google Pixel 9 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro. Or “it doesn’t compare to s25 ultra on performance!” Of course it doesn’t - that was a $1500 USD rrp phone.

I for one dig the design and I’m so glad there’s a company out there taking design chances. You see what happens when everyone demands the same thing - highways of boring black, silver/grey and white cars and boring black glass sandwiches for phones.

Marko

Overpriced mid-ranger. Glyph Matrix has no Glyph dimming options like others. Glyph interface is basically removed, which is a bad move. I’m so glad I ordered my 3a and not waited for this crap, otherwise I’d be pissed.
Considering everything it offers, this should be a 600€ max priced phone.

Nothing phone just went down the drain. I refuse to believe this is a product they’re happy about. 3a and 3a pro will sell more than this crap.

MayankKannojia

What a bad design. Could have added 8 elite in nothing phone 3a pro and sold it. And shit place fix to to left camera location so much irritating. I am proud owner of phone 2 but I don’t think will continue with nothing.

Please fix the camera location irritating to look at

jay_again

glyph matrix is too pointless ngl. plus design is kinda ok. its subjective but yea. its weird but its fine ig.

yuricrea

I just got the 3a for the Nothing OS experience — I got super hyped about it — for the design and for this desire to be different in a flattened jungle where everyone copies each other: Apple copies Google, Google copies Apple, Samsung copies Apple, Xiaomi shamelessly copies Apple. Apple will release the iPhone 17 Pro, which will be much uglier than the Nothing 3 — not because of a confusing design, but because they’ve reached a point of brutal, opulent banality. The back is unbearable to look at…

Anyway, I also had high hopes for this N3 and was really looking forward to it. When I saw the leak, I thought it was a joke, but yesterday it was confirmed. I think this misstep will bring Nothing’s designers back down to earth. In my opinion, they tried to act like bold alternative designers and got it all wrong, abandoning the philosophy of the earlier models and completely distorting the concept. This obsession with asymmetry at all costs really backfired, because they ended up creating an irrational, empty design that screams how forced it is. It’s not offering us a different design — just an ugly one at all costs.

The Glyph? A missed opportunity. They added a tiny display and didn’t look at how others were already using that technology — Red Magic has an LED matrix that’s way more extensive. Nothing could have gone big and used the panel to do great things, but instead, it gave birth to a mouse. They were bold in throwing the cameras around randomly, but not bold where it really mattered.

For $890, the Elite could afford more. The alternative — the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 — could’ve crushed it. On Oppo and Vivo, it’s a performance beast and really battery-efficient… works great and I don’t even know how much it costs, but it could’ve been the leap. Then LTPO at 1Hz would’ve added that extra battery boost, and a matte display like Samsung’s… little touches like that could’ve made me take out a loan to buy this baby. Instead… disappointment, and a boring presentation with no real creative peaks.

You played at being designers but didn’t have the guts to be bold where it matters. And above all, you didn’t care about your users — you followed your own idea, breaking a solid pattern and a strong pact you had built with your fans. Even I, who’ve only been following you for a short time, felt it. A bit childish and selfish — it’s a shame.