“The Glyph interface is just not a gimmick,” Nothing founder and CEO Carl Pei instructed the press as he revealed the Nothing Cellphone 3 for the primary time, shortly earlier than saying that its new iteration helps you to play Spin the Bottle on the again of the telephone.
It’s blended messaging, however in Nothing’s protection, you couldn’t accuse them of creating that mistake elsewhere. The Cellphone 3, we’re instructed, is Nothing’s “first true flagship telephone,” some extent the corporate is eager to hammer residence: flagship chip, flagship digital camera, flagship value. In truth, it’s so flagship that the corporate is even springing for a real US launch, its first since 2023’s Cellphone 2, which Pei tells me solely is smart for his or her “premium” telephones.
At $799, the Cellphone 3 is priced to match the iPhone 16, Galaxy S25, and Pixel 9, as Nothing positions itself firmly outdoors its mid-range origins, and Pei says the corporate feels prepared “to compete with merchandise in that value degree.” Preorders open Friday, July 4th, with normal sale ranging from the fifteenth from Nothing’s personal webstore and Amazon within the US. Nothing says the telephone is absolutely suitable with T-Cell and AT&T, with “extra restricted 5G assist” on Verizon.
That is Nothing’s costliest telephone but, however on paper the specs ought to maintain tempo with the worth. The Snapdragon 8S Gen 4 chip isn’t probably the most highly effective round proper now, however its efficiency ought to deal with all however probably the most demanding cell video games, particularly paired with as much as 16GB of RAM. Storage begins at 256GB, and for an extra $100, you may get 512GB.
The Nothing Cellphone 3 makes use of a silicon-carbon battery, a comparatively new expertise that makes it simpler to suit large batteries into small telephones. Right here, meaning a beneficiant 5,150mAh capability, mixed with a 65W wired charging velocity and 15W wi-fi charging velocity. The 6.67-inch OLED display is greater than twice as brilliant because the Cellphone 2’s, and the IP68 water- and dust-resistance ranking is a primary for Nothing too. All 4 of the cameras — three on the again, one on the entrance — are 50-megapixel, although it’ll be inconceivable to say whether or not they’re any good till we get to check the telephone out correctly. Nothing’s digital camera processing has lagged a little bit behind the competitors previously, so this’ll be the world to look at.
All that’s in step with different flagship telephones, so what makes the Cellphone 3 really feel like Nothing? That’s the place that new, gimmick-free Glyph design is available in. Whereas earlier Nothing telephones have featured an array of sunshine strips that may glow and flash in customized patterns for notifications and ringtones, right here, these have been swapped out for a small, round dot matrix LED show in a single nook of the again of the telephone.
The Glyph Matrix is instantly much less putting than the older telephones’ designs, and fewer distinctive too — Asus has included dot matrix shows on the again of its ROG gaming telephones for years. Pei instructed me that the benefit is that customized notifications could be “far more speedy,” with simply recognizable pictures or emoji tied to particular apps and contacts moderately than summary animations that is perhaps onerous to grok at a look.
Then there are the Glyph-focused video games, formally dubbed Glyph Toys, designed so as to add a contact of enjoyable that’s “severely missing within the area proper now.” The Cellphone 3 launches with Spin the Bottle, Rock Paper Scissors, and extra practical fare like a stopwatch and battery indicator, which you’ll be able to cycle between utilizing a haptic button hidden among the many many shapes on the semi-transparent rear. Pei suggests you might use Spin the Bottle to assist resolve tips on how to cut up the invoice at dinner, a type of jokes that performs properly throughout a keynote speech however doesn’t make a lot sense while you actually give it some thought.
Pei insists that Nothing isn’t finished iterating on the Glyph Matrix. He calls the “expandability” probably the most thrilling a part of the brand new design, citing Glyph Toys already developed based mostly on concepts from the corporate’s “neighborhood” of followers, like a magic eight ball. “I feel they could invent some novel use instances we haven’t even considered but,” Pei says.
The Cellphone 3 additionally sees the return of the Important Key, a facet button that debuted on the Cellphone 3A and 3A Professional earlier this yr. It’s customizable, however by default launches Important Area, an AI-powered app that shops and analyzes screenshots to provide you reminders about occasions or journey plans. New to this telephone is the choice to transcribe and summarize assembly audio, together with a common search bar that may observe down every little thing from contacts to photographs and reply primary factual queries.
The Cellphone 3 is a giant swing for Nothing. It’s the corporate’s first transfer into the flagship market, and its first effort to crack the US in two years, so maybe it’s no shock that the telephone’s new Glyph design is a bit more conservative than we’re used to. Nonetheless, Nothing enjoying it protected has produced a bolder and extra divisive telephone than any Samsung or Apple has put out in years — simply don’t name it a gimmick.
Images by Dominic Preston / The Verge.