Nothing Says the Phone 3 Isn't One Big Gimmick, but I'm Not So Sure

Gizmodo

a day ago

Nothing CEO Carl Pei wants you to know one thing: the startup's smartphones aren't just relying on a schtick. The Phone 3, which was finally unveiled this week after seemingly never-ending leaks and teasers, is being billed as the company's 'true flagship,' which means… to be honest, I don't know what the hell it means. But it's clear that Nothing sees it as its most premium phone yet, which is evident not just through its own messaging but also its starting price. The Phone 3 costs $800—more than any other Nothing phone before it, and as much as an iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S25.
And to sell users on that flagship status, Nothing is turning to a few features, the most notable of which is a re-envisioned Glyph Interface that evolves from LED light strips on the back of the phone to the 'Glyph Matrix.' This little circular screen on the top-right of the Phone 3's backside is made of 489 'individually firing LEDs.' The result is a more condensed dot matrix-style interface that can display quite a few things, including caller ID information, timers, a volume indicator, and even weird little games like rock, paper, scissors, or spin the bottle. You might be reading this and thinking 'Aw, cute,' but just know that Pei's ears are likely ringing as a result.
In Pei's own words, he's absolutely sick of everyone calling its phones' Glyph Interface, or Glyph Matrix in this case, a 'gimmick.' In a pre-recorded launch video, Pei said: 'Some people have been calling it a gimmick, and I just have to set the record straight; it's not a gimmick.' To back up his claims, Nothing even rolled out some stats about how many users have the Glyph Interface enabled on their devices. According to them? It's 8/10 users. That's good… I guess? Seems to me that a stat proving that users of your phone haven't rage quit a feature isn't exactly the best metric for judging whether or not it's actually useful or materially changing the smartphone experience. But hey, they didn't throw their phones in the trash!
The thing is, Nothing has some big ambitions. The company wants to 'make tech fun again' on one hand, but with NothingOS (its custom skin over Android) and the Glyph Matrix, it's also made overtures to the idea of weaning you off your phone addiction and easing the scourge of attention-seeking apps. Those big ambitions are supposed to also be big, bold reasons to buy a Nothing phone over the many, many Android counterparts. And because of those ambitions, it's worth asking: is the Glyph Matrix changing your experience, or is it just a literally flashy way to make its phones look the part? I can't say for sure if the Glyph Matrix does that since I haven't used the Phone 3 yet, but what I can say is that Nothing has some work to do in proving its not-a-gimmick is actually a game changer—especially when you look at the rest of the Phone 3's specs.
As much as Nothing has gone pretty hard on the 'true flagship' idea, the Phone 3 may only border on achieving that in some key areas. The chip, for example, is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8S Gen 4, which is new, to be sure, but powers devices that most would consider to be kind of flagships, like Poco's F7 5G and Xiaomi's Redmi Turbo 4 Pro. It's certainly not the 3nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite used in the Samsung Galaxy S25. But, whatever—having the newest chipset isn't the most important thing in the smartphone experience, anyway.
OnePlus 13 vs Nothing Phone (3)
Which TRUE Flagship would you pick? pic.twitter.com/kccgkZma3u
— OnePlus Club (@OnePlusClub) July 3, 2025So, what about cameras? There is a triple-camera system this time around with the addition of a periscope sensor, but as some have noted, that sensor is actually smaller than the one on the much cheaper Phone 3a Pro, which could mean a lesser image quality on zoomed shots. Again, I haven't used the Phone 3 yet, so I can't say for sure, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. There is some evidence that the cameras might actually end up being a point for Nothing in the flagship department, though. According to a hands-on from Mrwhosetheboss, the Phone 3 performs favorably against comparable Samsung camera systems.
Finally, there's the screen, which uses an LTPS instead of LTPO. That means that the Phone 3's display can only dynamically adjust down to 30Hz as opposed to a lower 1Hz used in Samsung flagship phones. Phones with LTPO screens tend to have longer battery life as a result of using a barely on refresh rate when idling. It bears repeating: I can't say for sure how the Phone 3 performs in this department, but it is a noticeable downgrade from other flagship phones that use LTPO displays.
The Phone 3's status as a bona fide flagship is still debatable on paper, especially when comparing meat-and-potatoes phone specs like the display, cameras, and chips. And with all of those areas firmly in contention, it makes the unique parts of the Phone 3 even more important. That's a lot of pressure to put on the Glyph Matrix, which is a fun, retro way to play silly games in some use cases, but as Pei said himself, the Glyphs aren't a gimmick, okay? And if they're not, Nothing better hope that all of those little pixels are worth their weight in real legal tender, because damn—$800 in this economy for a startup still figuring things out? That's almost two whole Nintendo Switch 2 consoles.