Nothing Cellphone (3) evaluate

Carl Pei led electronics producer OnePlus from being a scrappy model for tech lovers providing reasonably priced telephones to 1 that produces a number of traces of units, together with flagship telephones that problem Samsung and Apple. He’s working an analogous playbook with Nothing, a five-year-old, venture-backed {hardware} startup that simply launched its most bold system, the Cellphone (3), earlier this month. The cellphone, priced at $799, is meant to compete with units from Samsung and Apple.

Whereas OnePlus targeted on offering value-for-money specs and expertise in its early days, Nothing targeted on design and software program as a differentiator to face out from different telephones. The startup produces eye-catching units with a clear design that pulls consideration.

As my former TechCrunch colleague Brian Heater mentioned, Nothing Cellphone (1) was cool, and the Cellphone (2) was a sturdy mid-range system whereas sustaining the novelty. The Cellphone (3), whereas sustaining the clear design ethos, invokes combined feelings in direction of its design.

The cellphone has plenty of uneven parts on the again, together with the surprisingly organized digital camera module. When you take a look at the reactions on the web, some individuals appreciated it as a result of it’s not like different telephones, whereas some hated it. If you will get over the asymmetrical association, you would possibly just like the system.

Nothing additionally took away the glyph LED association that was distinguished in earlier Nothing telephones. This association made units stand out much more once they illuminated to point an incoming name or a message. Over time, the corporate made it extra customizable, permitting you to assign completely different patterns for various contacts. It even created an SDK for builders, which didn’t take off.

With Cellphone (3) the LED association is substituted with Glyph Matrix, a circle-shaped second display within the prime right-hand nook to show extra data. It will possibly show primary data akin to time and battery degree while you press the button on the again.

The corporate has additionally included mini apps akin to spin the bottle, a stopwatch, and rock, paper, and scissors. That is extra of a enjoyable gimmick that you just would possibly use to indicate off your cellphone.

A second display on a tool just isn’t a brand new idea, and it doesn’t resolve the issue of getting to show the cellphone to learn the message. You possibly can assign an emoji to a contact, but it surely simply tells you that you just acquired a message from that contact, however doesn’t inform you what it’s. So it’s a must to flip your cellphone on anyway. Is the matrix cool? Form of. Is it helpful? Not by a lot but.

The corporate is inviting builders to construct instruments for it, which may enhance issues if there’s adoption.

{Hardware} and Digicam

The corporate is utilizing a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, constructed on a 4-nanometer structure, which is a step under the Snapdragon 8 Elite used within the Galaxy S25, OnePlus 13, and Xiaomi 15 Extremely. Nevertheless, in your day-to-day utilization, that wouldn’t matter loads.

The system additionally features a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K decision, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 7i as a substitute of a stronger Gorilla Glass Victus. The display is vibrant and has punchy colours. Whereas it helps HDR for YouTube, Nothing mentioned that Netflix hasn’t whitelisted its units to run HDR content material.

The Cellphone (3) options three 50-megapixel cameras for various functions. The principle digital camera has a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which is 20% greater than Cellphone (2), at a f/1.68 aperture; the periscope telephoto lens affords 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor, and 60x digital zoom with AI Tremendous Res Zoom; and the ultra-wide lens offers a 114-degree subject of view. There’s additionally a 50-megapixel selfie digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture.

Whereas Nothing claims that this cellphone is its “true flagship,” top-tier units akin to iPhones and Samsung Galaxy telephones have achieved distinct digital camera high quality with years of labor. Nothing Cellphone (3) takes good pictures, however shade accuracy wants work to match different flagship telephones. Plus, if the lighting was not ideally suited, the cellphone produced crushed shadows and overblown highlights in darkish or vibrant areas of pictures.

The cellphone has a 5150mAh battery for worldwide variations, which is nice sufficient to final you a day of reasonable to heavy utilization. You possibly can cost the system via 65W wired charging and 15W wi-fi charging.

AI options

Nothing debuted a customizable {hardware} key referred to as the Important Key with the Nothing Cellphone 3a and 3a Professional. This key ports over to the brand new flagship and opens up the Important Area app, which helps you to save screenshots with notes. However surprisingly, you possibly can’t save simply notes.

The corporate can be debuting Important search, which doubles up as an web and internet search utilizing AI.

You possibly can seek for information and occasions by typing in key phrases, or it’s also possible to ask a question like “Who received Wimbledon in 2024?” after which faucet on the AI button to floor internet outcomes utilizing Google’s Gemini fashions. That is akin to Apple integrating ChatGPT with Siri to look the online for sure queries.

The cellphone additionally will get a gathering notice transcriber, which data your assembly and in addition summarizes key factors. You possibly can set off this by holding the Important key and flipping the cellphone. You possibly can double-press the Important key to report a voice snippet with transcription. Nevertheless, customers don’t have a technique to entry these recordings and transcripts outdoors the Nothing cellphone, until they explicitly export them.

In a chat with TechCrunch, CEO Pei mentioned that smartphone is the very best medium to distribute AI and the corporate needs to make AI options helpful for customers.

“We’ve got to be actually targeted on constructing issues [AI features] which might be helpful [for end users] and never simply name our telephones ‘Nothing AI telephones’ with some having some picture era and name it a day,” he mentioned. “[We are thinking about] how we will actually leverage this new know-how to assist individuals. The thought is to not compete with individuals or to take their jobs away. How will we assist individuals turn out to be higher and in addition extra artistic?”

Whereas this ambition is an effective one to have, Nothing’s characteristic set, which additionally contains an AI-powered wallpaper era device, is in line with different cellphone makers.

Nothing’s positioning

Nothing is making the cellphone obtainable via its web site and Amazon within the U.S. In Canada, it’s partnering with Finest Purchase.

At $799, the system immediately competes with the Samsung Galaxy S25, Google Pixel 9, and the iPhone 16. Since it’s not being supplied via wi-fi service bundles, the cellphone continues to be geared toward individuals shopping for unlocked telephones and on the lookout for options to Samsung, Apple, and Google.

In India, the corporate’s largest market, it’s a completely different story for the reason that cellphone begins at ₹79,999. Though the corporate affords reductions and exchanges, the costs are on par with or above the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy 25, relying on the vendor. Preliminary reactions on social media advised that the purchasers discovered the worth excessive, which may impression the corporate’s gross sales.

Nothing has taken it upon itself to problem Samsung and Apple of the world, however in the meanwhile, relatively than direct competitors, the cellphone is an effective, cheaper various to these units.