Nothing has finally joined the flagship smartphone club with the launch of its all-new Phone 3 in London. This high-end smartphone club primarily includes devices from Apple and Samsung, priced above Rs. 70,000, while others, such as Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Xiaomi, are also represented with select devices.
According to Counterpoint’s April report, 
Nothing Phone 3 daylight camera samples (tap images to expand)
The Phone 3 can also take some lovely portraits with good face exposure, decent colours, and natural skin tones. The smartphone also handles the background blur well.
Nothing Phone 3 portrait camera sample (tap image to expand)
Moving on to low-light samples, the Phone 3 performed well in most challenging light conditions but noticed some inconsistencies when switching lenses while clicking – something I also noticed while clicking during the day.
Nothing Phone 3 close-up sample (tap image to expand)
Once you switch between 24mm (1x), 50mm (2x), and 70mm (3x) lenses, the colours keep changing. For example, a red bus is captured perfectly by the primary sensor, but I want to try different angles and lenses. Then, it appears slightly less red on 2x, and on 3x, the same bus is almost light red. So, the colour inconsistency is there. Hopefully, a new software update could fix this. Nothing is one brand that’s known for fixing issues pretty quickly, and reviewers received an OTA update right out of the box with plenty of changes to the camera, which was pretty average before the update.
Nothing Phone 3 low-light camera samples (tap images to expand)
The 50-megapixel selfie shooter can capture some decent shots during the day, offering a good amount of detail and a wide dynamic range. The noise levels are also controlled, and colours are vivid. However, the quality suffers at night and isn’t as detailed as shots taken during the day.
Nothing Phone 3 telephoto daylight samples (tap images to expand)
The zoom performance of the Phone 3 is excellent. The target exposure is accurate, with lovely colours, especially in bright conditions, and it remains relatively consistent when shooting indoors. The good thing was that when zooming, the telephoto did well, though I noticed that there was a lack of detail. The dynamic range was acceptable.
Nothing Phone 3 ultra-wide samples (tap images to expand)
The ultra-wide camera is one of my lowest-ranked sensors on the Phone 3. The most inconsistent results I got were from the ultra-wide sensor, and this was constant across lighting conditions.
Nothing Phone 3 selfie camera sample (tap image to expand)
The video quality is decent on the Nothing Phone 3, and all four 50-megapixel cameras support 4K 60fps recording. Overall, the Phone 3’s cameras are a mixed bag, with the main camera excelling, while the telephoto and ultra-wide lenses aren’t among the best we have seen in this price bracket.
Nothing Phone 3 Battery: Well-rounded
- Battery capacity – 5500mAh
- Fast-charging – 65W support (no charging adapter in the box)
- Wireless charging support – 15W
In India, the Nothing Phone 3 comes with a 5500mAh battery, while global units feature a slightly smaller battery pack – 5150mAh. The smartphone also supports 65W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, 5W reverse wireless charging, and 7.5W reverse wired charging. In real-world use, the Nothing Phone 3 can easily last more than a day with heavy usage. My usage included approximately 7 hours of screen-on time, which consisted of streaming, browsing, gaming, messaging app usage, utility app usage open in the background at all times, and camera use. With medium or light use, the Phone 3 can even last up to 36 hours on a single charge.
Much like other Nothing phones, there’s no charging adapter in the box
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360
The Phone 3 performed well in our HD video loop test, which plays a locally stored video in a loop (until the battery dies); it managed a decent 21 hours approximately. The figure was impressive. I also tested it with PCMark’s Battery test, and the Phone 3 lasted for 13 hours and 20 minutes.
On the fast-charging front, the 65W wired charging is a bump from the 45W seen on the Phone 2. The smartphone can fully charge (from 0 to 100%) in under an hour, which is impressive. A mere 20 minutes of charge can bump the battery from 0 to 50%. Considering the handset’s pricing, the company should have planned to ship a charging adapter in the box or even bundle it as a special offer for a few sales.
Nothing Phone 3 Verdict
The Nothing Phone 3 is a great first-gen flagship from a company that has delivered many fantastic products. The design is a classic Nothing. The more you use it, the more it grows on you. Glyph Interface is an excellent way to play around with the product. There’s no unnecessary AI push across the device, and Essential Search is a step in the right direction (hopefully, it stays this way without becoming too intrusive). The performance is top-notch, and you will barely feel that you need a better chipset for everyday tasks. Nothing OS comes with a signature dot theme that is fresh and unlike what you see on other devices. The cameras are okay, and while I type this, I’m hoping that the Nothing team fixes the inconsistencies soon enough. The battery will also impress you.
Nothing promises 5 years of Android updates and 7 years of security patches
Photo Credit: Mohit Dawar/ Gadgets 360
The biggest question mark is on the pricing! At Rs. 79,999, the Nothing Phone 3 is a phone that’s difficult to recommend to premium users in India, as there are better alternatives available in the market. While Nothing has made the deal sweeter with bank offers and exchange offers as a launch offer, but that doesn’t stay forever. If the Nothing Phone 3 were priced under Rs. 60,000, it would have had a better market positioning.
As we always recommend in our reviews, you can consider the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus, which is a decent device for the price; the Oppo Find X8 came out as an excellent device in our review, and there’s, of course, the OnePlus 13 packs top-notch specs and delivers value at that price.
