Nothing Phone 3 Review: A Quirky and Fun Phone for Photographers

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As a brand hailing from Britain, Nothing has been around since 2020, and the Phone 3 is its first true flagship aimed at taking on the best in the industry.

The company’s name is a wide-open door for puns, but nevertheless, Nothing could be a serious contender in the Android space going forward. Its current rise reminds me a lot of the earlier years of OnePlus, which isn’t all that surprising since both were founded by the same man, Carl Pei. He left OnePlus and started up Nothing as a grassroots alternative in a similar vein.

This is a first for me, as I hadn’t tested a Nothing phone prior to this, and one with a daring camera setup makes for an ideal start. The Phone 3 is readily available in North America starting at $800, yet also has the pedigree of Chinese brands to some extent. How it all comes together yields intriguing and vexing results.

Nothing Phone 3 Review: Design and Build

The Phone 3’s physical design is open to interpretation. Does it look like a science experiment or a crafty take on otherwise common builds from others? For my eyes, it’s a unique look that’s easy enough to cover up with a case if a little too eccentric, though I personally don’t mind it at all. I also appreciate that Nothing includes a basic silicone case in the box to add some protection from the start, retaining the transparent back’s visibility with Gorilla Glass Victus offering its own layer of durability. Another unique element is the small red square that is actually an LED that lights up when recording video.

One of the standout design elements is what Nothing calls its Glyph Interface, a circular LED display on the top corner that functions almost as an independent system. By default, it tells the time, stopwatch, and timer, battery level, and an odd spin-the-bottle game. It can do much more when making adjustments in the settings to include volume indicators, charging progress, and tying certain glyph animations to specific apps. For instance, you have one for WhatsApp, another for Uber, and yet another for email. I wasn’t able to create one for the Camera app that actually worked, so it’s more of a boon to the rest of the phone.

Certainly a gimmicky feature, to a degree, but I’ve grown to like it because it makes it easier to leave the phone face down. The fact I can also set a “rule” for an animation to pop up when a specific contact messages me is convenient, though my smartwatch can effectively do the same thing in real time.

On the flip side, the 6.77-inch AMOLED display (2800 x 1260) is gorgeous, with an adaptive refresh rate that will ramp up to 120Hz or down to 10Hz depending on what you’re doing onscreen. Peak brightness (for HDR content) hits 4,500 nits. While pretty visible in bright sunlight, it’s also fairly reflective, so a mixed bag in that regard. A responsive fingerprint sensor makes it relatively easy to bypass the lock screen.

With IP68 dust and water resistance, this is Nothing’s first phone you can submerge in clear water, making it far less risky to capture some stills or clips at a pool or lake.

Nothing also makes a curious choice to go with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor over the 8 Elite other Android flagships adopted this year. Indeed, Qualcomm refers to the 8s Gen 4 chip as an “affordable flagship”, which is marketing speak for a step down in performance, but it’s also more in line with other devices in this price range.

A 5,150mAh battery is adequate for a device this size, and it holds up quite well in daily real-world conditions, consistently lasting a full day. Configurations start at 12GB of RAM and 256GB and go up to 16GB and 512GB, respectively.

Nothing Phone 3 Review: Camera Features

The 50-megapixel main camera (24mm equivalent) uses the same OmniVision OV50H Type 1/1.3-inch sensor as the Vivo X Fold 3 and Honor Magic 7 Pro. The f/1.7 aperture is also in line with both devices, so we have an idea of what to expect from it. Unless you shoot at full resolution, all photos are downsampled to 12.5 megapixels through pixel binning.

The 50-megapixel telephoto (70mm equivalent) goes with the Samsung Isocell JN5 Type 1/2.76-inch sensor with f/2.7 aperture — one we’ve seen in a myriad of phones over the last three years. In certain modes, Nothing offers a 6x hybrid zoom 140mm equivalent that’s basically a crop of the telephoto’s focal range. While you can shoot at full resolution at 3x (70mm), you can’t do it zooming in further than that. Otherwise, you have to settle for pixel-binned 12.5-megapixel shots.

Finally, the 50-megapixel ultra-wide uses the Samsung Isocell JN1 Type 1/2.76-inch sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, a sensor that is fairly common among other brands. Unlike the other two rear lenses, this one isn’t stabilized and is fixed focus, limiting its versatility. This also applies to the 50-megapixel front camera, which uses the exact same sensor and specs.

Instead of a separate mode for shooting full-resolution images, you select the resolution from the drop-down menu. The problem is that it inevitably resets to the lower resolution after a while with no warning, so if you’re walking around snapping photos along the way, you’re forced to double-check that 50MP capture is still active. This happened to me a few times, and I was lucky enough to catch it without losing the high-res capture I wanted.

Unfortunately, that’s the only way to go full-res, since Expert mode only lets you shoot in RAW with pixel binning. This can pay dividends in low-light conditions, but otherwise feels pointless in brighter settings or when capturing a dramatic landscape. For a flagship, it feels far too limiting.

Nothing Phone 3 Review: Software and Additional Features

Nothing presents a few interesting software elements that can affect how you take photos with the Phone 3. Tap the bottom arrow in the camera app, and various presets appear in a menu, including Black and White Film, Retro, Soft Focus, and Lenticular. What’s really neat is it lets you import or create your own. To import, simply scan the QR code to add it to the list.

Another way is to create a .cube file to bring in a LUT or preset from apps like Lightroom and DaVinci Resolve (among others) by uploading it directly from the phone’s camera app. Simply select the filter menu from the drop-down menu, tap the + icon and you have the ability to bring it in, either from local storage or pulled in from Google Drive.

Yet another option is to create a preset from any photo, even if you’ve transferred or downloaded it from elsewhere. Why make all this available? The phone’s Gallery app has a decent editing toolset, except it lacks any sort of curve tool or deeper color grading. I tried this out in different ways, one of which was to use the Gallery app first, upload to Lightroom to work on the finer details more accurately, and then download the result back to the phone. That way, I could create a preset using the color grading that the phone and its imaging pipeline would then work to emulate.

While not a perfect solution, it is one of the more interesting methodologies I’ve seen that caters to mobile photographers of all stripes. It’s also the most creative outlet in a device that otherwise ignores AI-driven editing features or special modes.

The Phone 3 isn’t devoid of AI, however, and one feature tied to the Essential Key — the button under the power button on the phone — is applicable to photography. Press the button with anything onscreen and you can write down a note or ask a question for context. This is great for two reasons. First, it makes it a lot easier to snap a quick photo as a reminder or to look something up. Second, it opens up access to contextual information with the assistance of ChatGPT. To test out a good example, I used a photo I took of the lunar eclipse and asked it when the next eclipse would be. It then listed the upcoming dates for both partial and full lunar eclipses based on my location.

It’s true that Google’s Circle to Search essentially does the same thing, only the key difference here is that all of these Essential Key screenshots save to the Essential Spaces app. It essentially (pun intended) acts as an offline resource that’s always there to reference anytime. Granted, it’s far from perfect, as evidenced by the fact that it doesn’t always offer much insight, but it can be great at helping find information. On the other hand, ask it to suggest how to make a photo look better, and it won’t offer much insight at all.

Nothing Phone 3 Review: Image Quality

Main Camera

I will address the two main sticking points for the camera before discussing the positives. There’s a noticeable shutter lag that afflicts every mode except Action and Video. In some cases, it’s so bad that it can take up to two full seconds before it snaps the image. It’s also inconsistent in ways that are hard to discern or explain. I could never figure out why it would be slow to capture a photo in outdoor settings, only to feel much more instantaneous when taking other shots in the same general area.

I will update this review once Nothing responds to queries, but if I were to take a stab at it, I would guess that the HDR processing engine immediately sets how many images it needs to quickly snap and merge.

The other issue is lens flare and ghosting. Nothing needs to look at whatever coating it’s using for the Phone 3’s lenses because it happens in varying scenarios where it doesn’t impact other phones in the same spots. The photo of the rabbit is a good example of how it can create glare that not only hazes the composition but also plants ugly ghosting in the frame. All I was trying to do was lower the perspective to get a more interesting shot, but the flaring never let up. Meanwhile, two competitors’ phones didn’t seem to suffer from the same problem. Nothing has just released a firmware update to improve its Ultra XDR processing and address this issue. I’ll update this review if that leads to better results.

Those two significant drawbacks aside, the Phone 3 surprised me in good ways, with the Action mode turning out to be one of the biggest gems. Nothing wisely offers it in both the main and telephoto cameras, and much like other competing phones with a similar feature, the idea here is to increase shutter speed and utilize HDR processing to manipulate both ISO and virtual aperture to freeze everything.

Tougher lighting conditions get in the way, yet broad daylight can lead to fabulous results. The skateboarder is a good example — not only did I take the shot with the telephoto lens, I also cropped in further and retained good detail. Action doesn’t support burst shooting (only Photo mode does), but quickly tapping the shutter can deliver multiple good shots.

Equally impressive is the way the Phone 3 handles HDR, although time of day and light exposure play a significant role. It may struggle to pull out the blues in the sky on a bright sunny vista, only to then wonderfully subdue the sun’s intensity in a horizon sunset. When it works well, you love having that kind of power in your pocket, despite how it cuts both ways.

One thing I appreciate is that the Phone 3 handles exposed light sources well enough to avoid outright clipping or underexposing shadows — again, owing to the Ultra XDR’s efficacy. However, the angle is your only real defense against flare or glare creeping in, so tilting ever so slightly might be enough to ward it off in those instances because it can happen indoors or outdoors.

General results will look great on a phone screen, though you may notice more imperfections when pixel peeping. It’s one of those things where really good photos are obvious and forgettable clunkers equally so. That’s not to say the Phone 3 is inconsistent, more that it nudges you to use some of the available tools to close the gap.

Telephoto

The telephoto lens is a great example of what I’m referring to, mainly because it sometimes captures brilliance and then mediocrity all in one sitting. It impresses more often than not, but I would like to see more consistency. For one thing, you could take two shots from the same vantage point and come out with different color tones in each. Blue skies are the most obvious example of when this happens, though other rich examples, like foliage, vehicles, and graffiti, can lead to similar results.

Despite all that, I leaned heavily on the telephoto to get me the shots I wanted from a distance. Even the 10x hybrid zoom (240mm equivalent) can produce a decent result with the help of AI Zoom when it kicks in.

It also doubles as a macro shooter and accords itself well in that role. Rich and detailed, it’s one of the more surprising elements to the broader camera system.

Ultra-Wide

This ultra-wide sensor has been around for a while, and it shows. The lack of both OIS and broader focusing tend to affect performance but it’s more that the XDR processing just isn’t as effective here. While it is a 50-megapixel sensor, Nothing doesn’t let you shoot with it in full-res where you might salvage some detail in good lighting.

Action Mode

Apart from the LUTs and presets, this is one of the main anchors for the camera system. It can produce action shots that simply aren’t possible on an iPhone or Samsung phone without doing a lot more work. Action mode takes both multiple photos and a super short video clip in the backend to help render a still that freezes a subject in motion. We’ve seen this sort of thing from OnePlus, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Honor before, but it’s yet to truly catch on from the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Google.

As I noted earlier, it’s also the fastest shutter available on the camera app. Rapidly pressing the button enables you to capture the action in fairly short intervals — under a second long — to increase the chance of capturing something dynamic. The one caveat is the subject’s speed. People and (most) animals are easier, whereas objects can be tougher to precisely nail down at higher velocities. Mind you, distance also matters like it does with any action photography, so the same rules generally apply here, too. In low-light conditions, including indoors, you have to watch out for ramped-up ISO to offset the higher shutter speed, which could lead to a noisier result.

Video Features

I focused more on still photography, but also tried out video. For whatever reason, Nothing doesn’t enable using the same LUTs and presets to capture footage. Select a preset, and it reverts right back to Photo mode. Otherwise, you can record in 4K or Full HD resolution at 30p or 60p frame rates. The only other video modes are Slo-Mo and Time-lapse. Video quality is quite good in ideal settings, and with HDR mode, you have the option to record in H.265 for extra control in post-production, if desired.

Nothing Phone 3 Review: More Than Nothing to See Here

The Nothing Phone 3 is in an interesting spot. The brand doesn’t have the kind of imaging partnerships Chinese brands have, nor is it a household name in North America like the Big 3. NothingOS is one of the best Android overlays I’ve seen for the simple fact it strongly resembles stock Android. The build quality and hardware are solid, and battery life is excellent, so this phone ticks off a lot of the right boxes.

I can understand how some might view the cameras as a drag on the overall package, especially given the competition at similar prices. But for an upstart brand trying its hand at a flagship, this is a very good debut.

Are There Alternatives?

I tested the Nothing Phone 3 at the same time as the Vivo X200 FE, and the latter proved to be a more capable shooter in varying circumstances. On the flip side, NothingOS is a pleasure compared to Funtouch OS. The OnePlus 13R is closer in both price and performance in that it lacks Hasselblad’s input, and is a worthy option given how good OxygenOS is as an Android overlay.

The Xiaomi 15 may cost a bit more but it retains many of the imaging trappings of the Ultra model. The upcoming Xiaomi 15T Pro (or something similar) may also be in the same wheelhouse. The Honor 400 is compelling as a cheaper option — except if you want a telephoto lens, get the Pro version.

Should You Buy It?

Maybe. NothingOS is a draw for sure because software is so vitally important to our daily interactions with phones. It’s not clear how much Nothing will try to fix on the camera side through further updates but if you like something fun and quirky, the Phone 3 is it.