Nothing Phone 3 review: Nothing ventured, nothing gained

That modest drop in CPU performance benchmarks does not equate to a poor user experience. The Nothing Phone 3 is very snappy, opening apps quickly and handling rapid multitasking without hesitation. The animations also have a Google level of polish.

Nothing managed to fit a 5,150 mAh battery in this phone, which is a bit larger than even the Galaxy S25 Ultra at 5,000 mAh. The battery life is strong, with the phone easily making it all day—no range anxiety. It won’t last through a second day on a single charge, though. Just like a Pixel or Galaxy phone, you’ll want to plug the Nothing Phone 3 in every night.

But you don’t necessarily have to save your charging for nighttime. The Nothing Phone 3 offers 65 W wired charging, which is much faster than what you get from Google, Samsung, or Apple phones. If the battery gets low, just a few minutes connected to almost any USB-PD charger will get you enough juice to head out the door. You also get 15 W wireless charging, but it doesn’t support the magnetic Qi 2 standard.

We’ve had no problems using the Phone 3 on T-Mobile, and Nothing says AT&T is also fully supported. However, there’s no official support for Verizon. The phone has all the necessary sub-6GHz 5G bands, but you may have trouble activating it as a new device on Verizon’s network.

Upgraded cameras

A camera upgrade was a necessary part of making this device a “flagship” phone, so Nothing equipped the Phone 3 with a solid array of sensors, ensuring you’ll get some good shots. They won’t all be good, though.

The clear glass shows off subtly differing blocks and a button to control the Glyph Matrix display.

Credit:
Ryan Whitwam

The Nothing Phone 3 has a quartet of 50 MP sensors, including a wide-angle, a 3x telephoto, and an ultrawide on the back. The front-facing selfie camera is also 50 MP. While you can shoot in 50 MP mode, smartphone camera sensors are designed with pixel binning in mind. The phone outputs 12.5 MP images, leaning on merged pixel elements to brighten photos and speed up captures. We’ve found Nothing’s color balance and exposure to be very close to reality, and the dynamic range is good enough that you don’t have to worry about overly bright or dim backgrounds ruining a shot.