The Nothing Phone 3 might be the most distinctive smartphone of 2025 – but is it enough to lure in Apple and Samsung fans?

If there’s one thing about Nothing’s entire philosophy as a company that rings completely true, it’s that modern tech looks boring. With focus applied to manufacturing efficiency and broad appeal, the most impressive aesthetics we can get from mainstream phones these days come down to a handful of colour options or an interesting camera bump, with clean-looking backsides to match equally sparse glass screens. The Nothing Phone 3 tries something quite different, mixing practical minimalism and an eye-catching design language into a solid flagship.

I’ve seen folks praise these phones for their focus on reserved user interfaces, while others applaud the unique aesthetics – looking more cassette-futurism than simply sci-fi – but both descriptions apply well across the company's family of products. With the Phone 3, Nothing wants to draw people in with a far-reaching design that is paradoxically both simple and ...