The New ‘Nothing’ Phone and Headphones Double Down on Unique Design

Nothing's phones have always looked a little different than the rest, going all the way back to the 2022 original, with its futuristic stylings and light-up glyphs on the back casing. With its new Phone 3 and Headphone 1 products, Nothing is pushing even further into alternative aesthetics—at a time when most smartphones look roughly similar, you certainly won't mistake them for any other company's devices.

The Nothing Phone 3 has a "puzzling" design

First up the Nothing Phone 3, following on from the mid-range Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro launched earlier this year. The rear casing looks like a sliding block puzzle, with hints of the now defunct Project Ara modular phone project from Google. The three rear 50MP cameras and a flash are on four of these blocks, with what Nothing is calling a Glyph Matrix up in the top right corner.

That little monochrome display can show a number of different bits of information, including notifications, and even be used to play simple games (including Rock, Paper, Scissors). It can also work as a simple viewfinder, to make sure you've got everyone in the frame before you hit the shutter button.

You can pick up the phone in white or black. One the front, you've got a 6.67-inch OLED screen running at a 120 Hz refresh rate and with a 2800 x 1260 pixel resolution. The handset offers IP68 water and dust protection, and the cameras are rounded off by a 50MP selfie camera on the front.

And what about the insides? The Phone 3 is running a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor from Qualcomm, matched with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. There's a 5,150mAh capacity battery here (up from 4,700mAh on the Nothing Phone 2), with 65W wired and 15W wireless charging rates.

Software duties are handled by Nothing OS 3.5, which is based on Android 15. We are expecting a pretty major update with Nothing OS 4.0 (based on Android 16) in the near future, however: The upgrade is due before the end of September, and Nothing CEO Carl Pei has dropped several hints that big AI features are in the offing.

As we speculated last month, the price might be a tough sell: The Nothing Phone (3) starts at $799 for the 12GB/256GB model, so you're paying as much as you would for a Google Pixel 9, an iPhone 16, or a Samsung Galaxy S25, which is some tough competition. Opt for the 16GB/512GB version, and that price rises to $899.

That's flagship-level pricing for not-quite-flagship-level specs: The Phone 3 doesn't use the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, like the Galaxy S25 does, for example. However, the unusual looks and quirky features of the handset may make it appealing enough to a broad set of people—and it certainly has enough power for most.

The handset will be available to buy on July 15.

The Headphone 1 cans have a chunky appeal

Nothing has also launched its first over-ear headphones, the Nothing Headphone 1 (using the singular form in the name). Again, you can see a reluctance to follow conventional thinking when it comes to the design: Passers-by will definitely be able to tell you're not wearing a standard set of cans on your head when you've got these on.

Developed in partnership with audio experts KEF, the headphones boast 40 mm drivers, and bring with them active noise cancellation (ANC), a transparency mode, and spatial audio with head tracking (so sounds from supported sources will shift as you move your head). Nothing says you'll get up to 35 hours of battery life with ANC on.

The Nothing Headphone 1 also sports an array of physical buttons, and 3.5 mm, USB-C, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. As with the Nothing Phone 3, your color choices are black or white, and they'll set you back $299. They're also debuting on July 15.