Nothing Phone 3 preview: everything we know so far
Phone 3, Phone 3a and Phone 3a Plus are reportedly on the way
A new Nothing phone has been near the top of my personal upcoming smartphones wish list for a while now. The design-minded disruptor brand already has one of the slickest takes on Android, and stands out from the crowd with unique features like glyph lighting. Well, the next release may not be far away: the Nothing Phone 3 looks set to be revealed in March.
The British firm has teased an announcement at the Mobile World Congress show, and the rumour mill has rapidly spun into action, suggesting there may actually be three models on the way. Should we expect an affordable champion, step-up sibling and a true flagship? Here’s everything we know about the Nothing Phone 3, Phone 3a and Phone 3a Plus so far, plus a healthy dose of speculation and list of the features I’d like to see make the cut.
Nothing Phone 3 expected price and release date
Nothing first teased a new model in late January, posting a short video to X showing what appears to be a new three lens rear camera module surrounded by the firm’s trademark glyph lighting LEDs. The tagline, “Power in Perspective”, suggests it’ll be the first Nothing phone to get a telephoto lens, and the date – March 4th at 10:00 GMT – lines up perfectly with Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress show.
A look back at previous Nothing launches shows the firm tends to favour July for its reveals, although the affordable Phone 2a landed a lot earlier, in March. That could indicate it’ll be Phone 3a that arrives first, and not the rumoured Phone 3 flagship. Or might they arrive together?
Nothing Phone 2a Plus – revealed July 2024
Nothing Phone 2a – revealed March 2024
Nothing Phone 2 – revealed July 2023
Nothing Phone – revealed July 2022
Pricing is an unknown until we know whether the first phone out of the gate will be a mid-ranger or a flagship. For reference, the Nothing Phone 2 went on sale at $599/£579/€679, while the more affordable Nothing Phone 2a landed at £319/€329. The tweaked Phone 2a Plus variant then followed from $399/£399/€429.
Hardware and design rumours
A leaked internal email from Nothing founder Carl Pei indicated Phone 3 would be the firm’s first flagship phone, and that it would arrive in Q1. He also said there would be a big focus on AI for the new handsets, and come with “breakthrough innovations in user interface”.
Nothing has largely stuck to its familiar teaser campaign for Phone 3, drip-feeding information across social media and leaning on content creators to spread the message ahead of an official reveal. The firm shared work-in-progress sketches of a new phone in mid-January 2025, hinting at what could be a transparent rear panel.
There’s very little concrete info about Phone 3’s hardware, with most rumours suggesting an upgrade over Phone 2 that mainly focuses on styling. A newer Snapdragon chipset (though not the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite) and triple rear camera setup with periscope zoom have been mentioned, but screen size and battery capacity remain a mystery.
It’s seemingly Phone 3a we know more about, thanks to a leaked set of specs from X user gadget_bits. They suggest the more affordable model will land with a large 6.8in FHD+ AMOLED screen good for 120Hz refresh rates, a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, 5000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, glyph lighting, and Nothing OS 3.1 based on Android 15. It will also have three rear cameras: a 50MP main, 50MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide.
What we’d like to see from the Nothing Phone 3
I’m a big fan of Nothing’s phones, having given both the Phone 2 and Phone 2a full five star scores. But the former is now two years old, and the current crop of flagship phones have really moved the game on in terms of camera quality, battery capacity, charging speeds and performance. Here’s what I’d like Nothing to add to its latest offering in order to compete:
Killer camera hardware
Pixel count only has so much bearing on camera image quality; lens aperture, sensor size, and who supplies them, also make a big difference. If Phone 3 really is getting three rear snappers, I’d like to see them all come from the same source – preferably Sony or Samsung – and the bigger, the better. I’m not expecting a 1in sensor, as that would really bump prices into unfamiliar territory for the firm, but the Sony LYTIA LYT-818 seen on the Vivo X200 Pro would be a superb choice. Would a variable aperture lens be too much to ask, too?
Then Nothing should add a 50MP ultrawide that’s properly ultrawide, so there’s a clear distinction between it and the main lens, and includes autofocus for macro close-ups.
Finally, the telephoto should be a periscope zoom, with at least 50MP and 3x magnification. Cropping the main snapper should easily cover 2x zoom, so the dedicated telephoto should get usefully closer to your subject.
Style and substance
Nothing was arguably ahead of the game with Phone 1 and Phone 2, adopting flat frames and screens well ahead of rivals that were still all about curved-edge glass. That style was a lot more common when Phone 2a rolled around, and I can’t see the firm changing it for 2025. However, the transparent rear and glyph lighting really do make Nothing’s phones stand out from the crowd. I think Phone 3 needs an entirely new glyph layout, and possibly more distinctive circuitry underneath the glass, so you can instantly tell it’s a new model.
If Phone 3 is going to be a true flagship, I think it also needs to feel like one. That doesn’t mean titanium, but perhaps the central metal frame could have a different finish. Tougher glass and an IP68 rating should be a given. I’m pretty sure Samsung has tied Corning’s hands when it comes to supplying Gorilla Armor glass to other brands, so Victus 2 should be the aim.
Beefy batteries and Qi2
The biggest difference between the Western smartphone establishment (ie Apple, Samsung and Google) and the current crop of flagships from Chinese brands is battery capacity and charging speeds. Oppo, Honor and others have adopted silicon-carbon cells that can hold way more juice than traditional lithium-ion batts can, and I’d love to see Nothing follow suit. It would potentially mean 20% capacity hike over the previous generation, with no weight or size penalty.
The icing on the cake would be Qi2 support, which the Android world has so far failed to get on board with. Magnetic charging to rival Apple’s MagSafe would instantly elevate Phone 3 above rivals in my eyes, and opens the door for all kinds of kooky accessories and cases – something I’m sure Nothing fans will love.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
