Most phones look the same, but then there’s a Nothing phone, which looks nothing like the others. Nothing’s new Phone (3) and first pair of headphones certainly match the brief.
One glance at the world of consumer technology and it can be all too easy to think that most companies are offering similar gear.
Touchscreen slabs with minimalist backs, offering a few cameras and a material, either a shiny glass or a textured plastic. Throw in several cameras and you’re most of the way there, with most phone companies echoing each other one way or another.
And then there’s Nothing, which has been changing phone design with a transparent see-through look ever since it first started releasing handsets.
Now, the company is going beyond the mid-range where it normally operates, and even beyond the earphones we’ve seen from Nothing prior.
Rather, Nothing is getting bigger, and seemingly nothing will stop Nothing from standing out, with two announcements to kick off July.
A unique phone in the Phone (3)
First up is the larger of the two announcements, as Nothing builds a flagship, or as close to one as the company has managed. Nothing is calling the Phone (3) “its first true flagship smartphone”, and has really taken the idea of making a different phone to a new level.
“Tech has become boring,” said Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing. “Every phone looks the same, feels the same, does the same.”
“That’s why we took our time,” he said. “After two years of focused development, (3) is our answer: a flagship built to make tech feel personal again. To spark creativity, reflect identity, and give people more control over how they connect and create.”
To do that, Nothing has taken an Android phone and applied more than the transparent look the company is known for, bringing some added creativity.
You’ll see it when you glance at the back, which throws the cameras into an unusual almost unbalanced shape, throwing one of the three cameras off to the side.
And on the top right at the back, there’s also a black circle for an LED screen, allowing you to surface the news, volume levels, a battery metre, and even compact apps and games. There’s even a hidden button to control that screen, the Glyph Matrix, found under the back waiting for you to hold it down even though it can’t be pushed.
From the back alone, the Phone (3) is a unique phone for sure, and the Nothing overlay to Android 15, Nothing OS 3.5, adds to that. Glassy looks have been a part of Nothing design prior (and before Apple announced its upcoming Liquid Glass interface), and they’re here, too, as is the Essential Space diary app and its special key found on the side of the phone.
Essential Space will use AI for storing moments of your life, while the phone can record meetings using AI for transcription simply by holding the Essential Key and flipping the phone on its back. Almost like you’re saying “I don’t need to look at the phone, but I need to take notes”.
Inside, you can expect a relatively snappy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, not quite the flagship Snapdragon 8 or Elite models we typically see in flagships, but still not bad, either. It’ll also come with either 12GB RAM and 256GB storage or 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, plus a sizeable 5150mAh battery, all underneath a 6.67 inch AMOLED screen.
The specs aren’t bad, but the design is what grabs us, with this phone really looking like nothing else out there.
A unique approach to headphone design, too
It’s a similar vibe to the headphones, which are also like nothing else around.
The name is clear — the Headphones (1) — and so is the design, which echoes Nothing’s other gadgets. See through the plastic exterior for each can and glance at the innards, flat as they are.
The headphones use aluminium alongside polycarbonate on the outside (plastic), with a 40mm driver and nickel-plated diaphragm inside and chips to handle Bluetooth and processing of noise.
These are also the first pair to see the fruits of Nothing’s collaboration with KEF, something that saw the two work on the engineering of the headphones together and not just see the English audio specialist’s name slapped on the headphones for no reason. Instead, Nothing worked with KEF on engineering, acoustic simulation, and optimisation from feedback, working to use KEF’s cavity damping to limit potential harmonic distortion.
There’s a lot of technical jargon there, but the overall result aims to have solid sound with minimal fuzz, or even minimal fuss.
Helping out with that last part are physical controls, including a roller key almost like a tiny trackpad for volume control, a paddle you can flick left and right for music control, and even a physical on/off switch. In short, the interface has been considered, making it more than just a handful of buttons and a touch sensitive interface.
And like the Phone (3), it will also support a special button to trigger other features, such as a customisable control you can tweak in the app to jump between other apps.
Nothing estimates a good 35 hours of playback time with noise cancellation switch on, though it’s possible you could get more without ANC.
Pricing and availability for the Phone (3) and Headphones (1)
There’s a fair amount to unpack here, but the availability of each isn’t far away.
As such, the Headphone (1) will be found for $549 in black and white, with preorders kicking off now while the on-sale date is July 15.
Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone (3) will see release on the same day (July 15), but priced from $1509 locally.
