The Nothing Phone (3) surprised me – a week in, it’s the best phone I’ve used for creating content

Clean design, clever features, and creator-focused tools – Nothing’s latest won me over.

Nothing Phone 3 review; a silver-white smartphone
(Image: © Future / Nothing)

Our Verdict

Playful, original, and packed with innovative features and touches, the Nothing Phone (3) is a design-first phone that stands out in a crowded market.

For

  • Glyphs are now more playful
  • Superb cameras and app
  • Head-turning design

Against

  • Not the most powerful CPU

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Nothing Phone (3) feels like a statement. While it can't compete directly with the more powerful – and far more expensive – iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, with Phone (3), the UK brand has revamped its 'mindfulness' approach, developed a playful OS, and pushed the specs as far as it can for a sub-$800 / £800 device. And it pays off.

I’ve been quietly rooting for Nothing since it burst onto the scene with Phone (1), and I loved the Phone (2) upgrade. The brand's unique transparent design, dot-matrix aesthetic, and promise to do things differently felt like a much-needed shift in a smartphone world that had become bloated and beige.

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Nothing Phone (3) specs

Capacity:

12 GB + 256 GB / 16 GB + 512 GB

Dimensions:

Height: 160.60 mm, Width: 75.59 mm, Depth: 8.99 mm, Weight: 218g

Durability:

IP68, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i (front), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (back)

Battery:

5150 mAh rated capacity, 65W Fast charging, Charge time from 1-100% power: 54 minutes,Wireless charging

Processor:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 4, 4 nm TSMC process, Qualcomm KryoTM, 8-core, up to 3.21 GHz

Sensors:

In-display fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Electronic compass, Front ambient light sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor

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Dimensions:

6.67” flexible AMOLED, 92.89% screen-to-body ratio, 1260 x 2800 (460 PPI)

Colours:

HDR10+, 10-bit (1.07 billion colours) colour depth, Contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1

Refresh:

120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 1000Hz touch sampling rate,

Brightness:

960Hz PWM frequency, 4500 nits peak brightness, 1600 nits outdoor brightness, 800 nits typical brightness

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The Verdict
9

out of 10

The Nothing Phone (3) surprised me – a week in, it’s the best phone I’ve used for creating content

Playful, original, and packed with innovative features and touches, the Nothing Phone (3) is a design-first phone that stands out in a crowded market.

Ian Dean
Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

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