Nothing Phone 3 Review: They Lied!

MKBHD reviews the Nothing Phone 3, arguing its $799 flagship claim is marketing spin masking a deliberate mid-range cost-cutting strategy.

• Nothing Phone 3 uses Snapdragon 8S Gen 4, not the flagship 8 Elite; same chip as sub-$500 phones like Poco F7 and iQ Neo 10.
• $799 price puts it directly against Samsung Galaxy S25, Pixel 9, and iPhone 16 — phones with genuinely flagship chips.
• Main camera (1/1.3” sensor) frequently produces soft focus shots; camera system rated one notch below mainstream flagships.
• Telephoto lens is physically smaller than the cheaper Nothing Phone 3a Pro’s, a design tradeoff to eliminate camera bump via PCB cutout.
• Display uses Gorilla Glass 7i (mid-range tier) and LTPS instead of LTPO, limiting refresh range to 30–120Hz vs. 1–120Hz.
• Glyph Matrix (489 LED pixels) replaces glyph lights; useful for custom notification icons, but API-dependent utility is unproven.
• Battery is silicon carbon, 5,500mAh actual capacity, 65W wired charging — genuinely flagship-tier performance.
• Nothing OS promises 5 years of major updates; software polish rated above what specs suggest.

2025-07-08 · Watch on YouTube