Nothing's New Phone (3) and Headphone (1) Look Nothing Like You've Seen Before

Phones kind of look same-y. Headphones don't look that visually different either, whether it's a Sony or a Bose. UK-based tech company, Nothing, took it upon itself to change things up again, giving us a smartphone with a design the likes of which we haven't seen before, and headphones that are sure to turn heads.

Today, the company announced the Phone (3), its third-generation flagship smartphone, and the Headphone (1) at an event in London. The smartphone starts at $799 for the 256 GB model, and the headphones—made in collaboration with renowned audio brand, KEF—cost $299. That pricing undercuts the competition in both categories. Preorders kick off July 4, with official sales starting July 15. Here's everything you need to know.

Nothing founder Carl Pei says the company only has a 0.2 percent market share in smartphones, but it has achieved more than $1 billion in revenue since its founding in 2021. While the company initially delved into mature categories like earbuds and smartphones, Pei says he wants Nothing to “shift from being followers of the market to lead the way and explore how people interact with technology in the future.” Last year's Ear (Open) was one such risk since it's a relatively nascent category within the broader earbuds market, but it was successful; they're some of our favorite open earbuds right now.

Headphones are hardly a new market, but Pei says Nothing wanted to create something radically different as “current designs on the market are uninspiring.” The over-ear headphones are visually distinct and are a noise-cancelling collaboration with acclaimed British audio brand KEF. I’ve spent a few days with the gorgeous Headphone (1) and have been impressed with the build and physical controls. A pair of nickel-plated 40-mm dynamic drivers work with acoustic damping technology from KEF to keep everything crisp, clean, and without flabby low-end.

They have a clickable volume wheel and an excellent paddle you can push left or right to skip tracks (you can hold it to scrub at speed!). A button on the outside of the earcup activates voice assistants by default, but if you have a Nothing phone, it'll trigger a feature called Channel Hop. This cycles through recent audio apps or favorites, like a Spotify Playlist or your favorite podcasting app. It'll work with 25 apps at launch.

They boast the same industrial-chic look we’ve come to know and love from the makers of the Ear (A), with a $300 price that undercuts competition from Sony, Bose, and Apple. They have all the same bells and whistles as those more expensive options, with no sonic compromise to my ears (yes, there's even a 3.5-mm jack). You even get a high-quality hard case, multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, and the ability to do spatial audio—awesome for watching movies on the go. The only downside I've noticed so far is that the earpads, while removable, aren’t replaceable (Nothing says it has no plans to sell replacements as of publication).

Pei says they employ AI-powered adaptive environmental noise cancellation trained on over 28 million real-life scenarios, paired with beam-forming microphones, to track your voice and filter unwanted background noise so you sound crystal clear on calls. With an IP52 rating, 35 hours of battery life, and great (but not quite as good as Sony or Bose) active noise cancellation, these promise to be a workhorse pair you’ll likely see a lot of in the real world, once people get their hands on them.

Unlike most smartphone companies, Nothing took a gap year from its last “flagship” smartphone, the Phone (2), which launched in 2023. That time allowed the company to spend more time in the design phase and launch the phone when it was ready, rather than adhering to a once-a-year lifecycle. That's the tempo you can expect for its cheaper A-series phones instead, according to Adam Bates, the global design director at Nothing.

The phone has a grid design with three columns, representing the flexible printed circuit boards underneath. The triple-camera system is laid out along the top of these grids with the Glyph Matrix display—more on that in a second. It’s an unusual style that breaks from circular or rectangular camera modules in most phones.

The Glyph Matrix is an evolution of Nothing's famous Glyph LEDs on prior phones. Originally designed to light up when notifications arrived, it also used the lights creatively to show how much time was left on a timer, or how close your Uber driver was to your location. The new Glyph Matrix can do all that and more, because it acts more like a display.

Nothing showed off several new “Glyph Toys” launching with the phone, like the ability to see a pixelated preview of yourself so you can take selfies with the rear cameras. There's also a spin-the-bottle game, a Magic 8 Ball that gives you an answer when you shake the phone, and even a game of rock-paper-scissors. Intuitively, there's a little touch-sensitive circle below you can use to cycle through these modes, instead of having to constantly switch back and forth to the settings menu on the phone's front screen. Nothing has launched a software developer kit, so anyone can create Glyph Toys for the phone.

Another fun feature is the little red square on the back. Originally on the Phone (2a), it's now more than just a design accent. It lights up when you're recording a video, just like a recording light.

The phone may not have the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite, instead opting for the slightly lesser Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, but it still should deliver flagship-grade performance, and the rest of the specs rival competitors, especially at the $799 price. Especially notable is the use of a silicon-carbon battery, a relatively new technology that enables denser batteries in thinner designs. While it's slightly thicker than its predecessor (by 0.2 mm), the 5,150 mAh is decently larger than the 4,700 mAh in the Phone (2).

The Phone (3) adds the Essential Key found on the Phone (3a) (8/10, WIRED Recommends) from earlier this year. It's Nothing's AI tool that captures the contents of the screen and stores it in the Essential Space app, using large language models to pull helpful info from the screenshot. New in the Phone (3), you can flip the phone and press and hold the key to have it start recording—handy if you're in an interview—and you'll see the automatic transcription in the app later. Nothing has also powered up the search bar in the app drawer, allowing you to ask it anything, from questions about Saturn to specific photos in your Gallery app.

The rest of the phone should offer an upgraded experience in every facet, from the brighter AMOLED screen to cameras with larger sensors that should deliver better photos in low light. The best news? There's no longer a beta program for the US. You'll be able to buy it directly from Nothing's storefront, though it's unclear just yet if that means it'll work without issues on carriers like Verizon. Stay tuned for our review soon.

Nothing hosted WIRED at its media event in London and paid for a portion of our reporter’s travel expenses.