Nothing Phone 3 preview: specs, release date and everything we know

Is design important to you when deciding if an upcoming phone deserves a spot in your pocket? Relative newcomer Nothing is still pumping out phones with designs that are a bit different, with transparent backs and LED lights. While the Nothing Phone 2a just hit the shelves, Nothing’s next handset looks set to bring a big performance improvement.

With Nothing’s latest device firmly in pockets now, the rumour mill is churning over what to expect from the next smartphone. Will the latest Snapdragon chipset make its way inside? When might the device see the light of day? Here’s everything that we know so far.

• Read more: Nothing Phone 2a review: back to basics

Nothing Phone 3 expected release date

If you’re trying to pin down the release date, good luck. Nothing has been around quite long enough to have a history of launches that they usually target. However, if we do take a look at Nothing’s past launches, July seems to be their favourite month to stir the pot. July 2024 is our best guess for when Phone 3 might make its grand entrance, continuing the tradition set by its predecessors in 2022 and 2023. We don’t expect Phone 2a to have affected Nothing’s new flagship coming out this year.

Price wise, things are set to look pretty familiar. According to 91Mobiles, word on the street is that the price in India could flutter between 40,000 to 45,000 rupees. Phone 2 arrived with a price of 45,000 rupees when it launched, so it looks like price isn’t increasing. Overseas, this would translate to $599/£579, which is the launch price of Phone 2.

Hardware and design rumours

Moving onto the juicier bits – the hardware and design rumours that have been floating around. The biggest whisper on the tech grapevine is about the processor. The Nothing Phone 3, codenamed “Tetris” internally, is rumoured to come packing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip. It’s not quite the one flexing its muscles in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, mind you. Rather, this is a mid-tier version that Qualcomm released to power higher-end mid-range smartphones.

This chip is no slouch; with a Cortex-X4 core clocking in at a zippy 3GHz, backed by three performance cores at 2.8GHz and four efficiency cores at 2GHz. We’re talking about a device that straddles the line between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Gen 3, which is a bit like saying it’s got one foot in the future and the other firmly planted in, well, slightly less future. It promises to be a significant step up from the Nothing Phone 2 and its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, not just in terms of speed but also potentially giving it a leg up in battery life. That is, of course, if the folks at Nothing decide to boost the battery beyond the 4,700mAh unit in the previous model.

So, what does this all mean for the eagerly waiting fans and the merely curious onlookers? Well, if the rumours hold water, the Nothing Phone 3 is shaping up to be quite the contender in the smartphone arena, promising top-notch performance, hopefully without needing to live permanently attached to a charging cable.

Feature wish list

While we’re big fans of the recent Nothing Phone 2a, there are still a few areas where things could be improved. Our review noted that it’s missing a few features from previous phones, and the simplified glyphs aren’t quite as good. So, we’ve got a few features on our wish list for the three-quel.

Smarter snappers

Nothing’s phones have used the same dual-camera set-up since the first smartphone hit the scenes. It consists of two 50MP snappers, one for normal photos, and one that’s ultrawide. The sensors inside might have changed, but image quality hasn’t seen the same improvement. A lot of this is down to the image processing that goes on behind the scenes, which we think is an area Nothing could improve big time on Phone 3. Perhaps even some AI features such as Best Take, Magic Editor, and Video Boost from the Pixel 8 would make a less-than-perfect camera more worthwhile.

Glyph flashback

The simplified glyphs on the Nothing Phone 2a aren’t as impressive as before. There are fewer lights than on the Phone 2 or even Phone 1, which makes the feature less effective. With the Phone 3, we’d like to see a return to form, with more LED glyphs on the rear that can dance and react to what’s going on up front.

• Related: Nothing Phone 2a vs Phone 2: what’s the difference?