Word has recently gotten out that Nothing, that company best known for mid-range smartphones that are thinking outside the box, is planning to release its first flagship smartphone in a few months. It will be released as the Nothing Phone (3)—under the nomenclature that we’re already quite used to.
The question is, for a company that has wowed us with smartphones that firmly hit the target for mid-range specs and mid-range pockets, what might a Nothing Phone with no limitations be like? Here’s what I’ll be hoping to see in Nothing’s very first flagship smartphone.
Leak Shows That Nothing Is Planning a Flagship for 2025; Here’s What to Expect
It might not be official, but a leaked memo shown to the world via Evan Blass might as well be. We know that Nothing is going to try its hand at a flagship phone for the first time this year, and it’ll follow the usual naming system as the Nothing Phone (3). Carl Pei, the founder of Nothing, also founded OnePlus, so I have little doubt that a flagship Nothing Phone will be able to take root in the modern smartphone atmosphere.
Taking the Nothing Phone (2) as a template, here are some things that I’d like to see Nothing build upon for the Nothing Phone (3):
- Flagship-level cameras: The Nothing Phone (2) has a dual-50MP camera setup, but I’d love to see them utilize an even better sensor, and potentially throw in a telephoto camera to round things up.
- A flagship processor: The current king of Nothing Phones uses a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which was a full year old by the time the Nothing Phone (2) launched. This part is wishful thinking, but a Dimensity 9400 or Snapdragon 8 Elite would be lovely.
- Better battery and charging: These days, 5,000mAh is only the beginning for serious OEMs. We’ve seen a lot of manufacturers fit 6,000+ batteries into shockingly slim bodies. The Phone (2) had a 4,700mAh battery. Pushing that to at least 5,500mAh, paired with 80W charging, would make me happy.
- More Glyph-like quirkiness: Nothing has to do things different, or nothing sets them apart. The Glyph lighting system is a big part of that, so I’d absolutely love to see a more intricate lighting system or something else that you simply won’t see anywhere else.
- Improved durability: The Nothing Phone (2) made do with IP54 dust and water resistance. For a flagship Nothing device, I don’t think that we want to see anything lower than IP67. That’s when we know it can play with the rest of them.
Nothing Is Going to Happen to Nothing’s Mid-Range Magic
For those who have become loyal to Nothing because it has only made phones in the mid-range price bracket, switching its sole device to a flagship option certainly won’t go down great. Everyone loves better specs, but not everyone is ready to pay the price that comes with those specs.
Here’s my opinion on the matter. I don’t think Nothing is going to entirely abandon the mid-range market. One option is that the Nothing Phone (3) will be very competitively priced and will position itself as a flagship killer. That could mean pricing $100 or $200 above its typical launch prices. That’s not drastic enough pricing to chase all its loyalists away, and it is low enough to attract more than enough new customers to make up for it.
However, while I think the Nothing Phone (3) will priced comparatively lower to most flagships, I expect the company to simply have the Nothing Phone (3a) take up the midrange helm. It will maintain an option for those who love the company but aren’t ready to pay any more than they’re used to.
