Nothing Phone 3: Estimated price, rumored specs & more

The Nothing Phone 3 might not be announced yet, but we’ve summarized all of the speculation behind the unannounced phone from the brand, headed by Carl Pei.

Nothing is a young smartphone brand that has done exceedingly well in a very short time. The company has only announced three phones to date with the Nothing Phone 2a being the latest. The next device they’ll release might be called the Nothing Phone 3.

The Phone 3 might have many similarities with the previous phones – Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 – including the Glyph interface and the semi-transparent design.

However, Nothing may give the Phone 3 a hardware upgrade to make it go against the best Android phones out there. It may come with an updated SoC, improved camera system, and more. Nothing Phone 3 could be an out-and-out flagship competing with Galaxy S24 Ultra or the Pixel 9 series.

Here’s everything we know about the Nothing Phone 3, including its rumored price, release date, and more.

Nothing Phone 3: Price speculation

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Nothing Phone 3’s price is still anyone’s guess at the moment. Phone 2 starts at $600 in the US while the Phone 1, which never launched in the States, costs £400 (around $500). This suggests that the upcoming phone might see a price bump. But it’s still too early to know for sure.

A 91Mobiles report claims the Nothing Phone 3’s expected price range will fall between ₹40,000 to ₹45,000 in India (roughly $480 to $540). For reference, the base variant Nothing Phone (2) is price at ₹36,999 ($444) in India. This suggests the Phone 3 may see a price bump in US and other markets as well.

Nothing Phone 3: Release window rumors

Both Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 were released in July, hinting that Phone 3 might make its debut in July 2024. However, there’s no official information yet.

Android Headlines claims to have spotted the Nothing Phone 3 in an unspecified database with the model number “A015”. The exclusive report states that the “Nothing Phone 3 is coming out this summer.” However, Android Headlines does not offer any evidence to back the claims about the launch date.

Design & display

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Nothing phones have debuted with a consistent design so far, and we don’t expect the company to make any significant aesthetic changes on the Phone 3. After all, Nothing has made an identity out of the semi-transparent LED-infused design.

The existing Nothing smartphones stand out from other Android devices with its glass back that reveals the internal design. The LED interface, which Nothing calls a Glyph Interface, is wired to light up during calls and notifications. It can be customized to serve various other functions, such as functioning as a flashlight or displaying the volume level.

The Glyph Interface also acts as a visual progress bar for apps that suit the need. For instance, Uber has an integration that can light the LED lights up to indicate how far your ride is. Nothing might collaborate with developers to expand this functionality to more apps.

Nothing made serious improvements in the display with the Phone 2, and it might do the same with the Phone 3. The current model packs a 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of 1600 nits, and support for HDR10+.

Phone 3 might bring a brighter display, however, we expect the refresh rate and underlying display tech to remain the same.

Camera

Cameras appear to be the focus of most smartphones nowadays, but Nothing doesn’t seem to be bothered by the industry trends. Both Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 stick to a two-camera setup, but there are some differences. Phone 2 packs a newer Sony IMX890 for its main sensor, with 50MP output, phase-detect autofocus, and optical image stabilization.

The upcoming Phone 3 might also retain a dual camera setup on the rear. However, we hope Nothing uses a better sensor to improve the low-light camera performance. The existing two phones have struggled to click decent pictures at nighttime.

Rumored specifications

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Nothing phones don’t exactly pack the latest and greatest hardware specs. The company uses mid-range processors in its phones to keep the price in check. This year’s Nothing Phone 2 featured Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, which was announced in mid-2022.

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 was an unexpected release from Qualcomm. The SoC was meant to remedy the heating and performance issues of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It powered most flagships in 2022 but was soon abandoned as Qualcomm launched Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Nothing Phone 3 isn’t likely to be powered by this year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, meaning you might see the older 8 Gen 2 on the smartphone. 91Mobiles reports that Nothing could instead use the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor in the Phone 3.

The 8S Gen 3 is one of the newer Qualcomm SoCs announced earlier this month. It includes a CPU similar to the standard 8 Gen 3 but with one less performance core. It runs at a lower frequency— the prime core clocks at up to 3.0GHz versus 3.4GHz on the 8 Gen 3. The new 8S Gen 3 also uses a previous-gen X70 5G modem with Wi-Fi 7 support.

Nothing Phone 2 also brought more RAM and onboard storage than its predecessor, suggesting the Phone 3 might do the same.

The upcoming phone is likely to run Android 14 out of the box with Nothing OS skin on top. The existing models both receive 3 years of major Android updates but we hope Nothing will up the ante with the Phone 3.

Nothing Phone 3 could be worth waiting for

Following the footsteps of the Phone 2, Nothing Phone 3 could become a solid option in the mid-range segment. The smartphone is expected to compete with the upcoming Pixel 8a and Galaxy A55. However, we have yet to learn more concrete details about it.