Nothing Phone 3
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CPU: Octa-core (1x3.21 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A720)
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RAM: 12GB/16GB
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Storage: 256GB/512GB
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Display: OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 2160Hz PWM, HDR10+, 4500 nits (peak)
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Camera: 50MP
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OS: Android 15, up to 5 major Android upgrades, Nothing OS 3.5
PROS
- Aluminum frame with IP68
- 6.67-inch AMOLED display, 120Hz refresh.
- Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, 12/16GB RAM.
- 50MP rear and 50MP selfie camera.
- 5150/5500mAh battery with 65W charger.
CONS
- FM Radio is not available.
- No 3.5mm audio jack.
The Nothing Phone (3) marks the brand’s definitive leap into the true premium flagship arena in South Africa. Combining top-tier, enthusiast-grade processing power with an evolved, intricate semi-transparent aesthetic, it caters directly to power users who want maximum performance without losing a shred of unique design personality.
Here is a detailed look at its local pricing, widespread commercial availability, and the powerhouse features that define it.
Premium Pricing & Local Purchasing Factors
In South Africa, the flagship Nothing Phone (3) enters the premium market with prices starting from approximately ZAR 18,000.
When planning your purchase for this tier-one device, keep these localized factors in mind:
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Flagship Storage Options: The baseline price typically secures a generous 256 GB of internal storage paired with 12 GB of RAM, ensuring massive space for heavy applications, high-resolution media, and elite multitasking overhead.
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Provincial Market Variations: Because premium flagships are highly sought-after tech items, exact cash prices can experience minor shifts across different provinces based on independent storefront promotions, local courier logistics, or stock availability.
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Premium Contract Plans: While upfront cash keeps you free of monthly fees, local cellular networks heavily support the Phone (3) on executive 24-month or 36-month contracts, allowing you to split the cost into predictable monthly installments bundled with high-speed data.
Where to Buy the Nothing Phone (3) in South Africa
Nothing has secured full commercial penetration across South Africa, ensuring you can pick up the Phone (3) cash or secure it on a contract plan through major e-commerce platforms, hypermarkets, and cellular operators nationwide:
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Online Platforms & Tech Specialists: Takealot, HiFi Corp, and Hi Online.
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Cellular Networks & Mobile Specialists: Available on contract upgrades and prepaid via MTN, Chatz Connect, Cellucity, and 4U.
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Major Hypermarkets & Retail Chains: Makro, Game, and Foschini.
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Everyday Value & Convenience Outlets: Mr Price, PEP, and Ackermans.
Standout Features: Premium Flagship Power and Evolved Style
The Nothing Phone (3) separates itself from standard flagship “bricks” by pairing raw, uncompromised hardware performance with its iconic visual interface.
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The Evolved, High-Definition Glyph Interface: The signature transparent rear panel returns with an even more sophisticated, multi-segmented LED light matrix. It offers highly granular visual feedback, acting as a progress bar for ride-hailing apps, a volume level indicator, a visual countdown timer for camera shots, and fully customizable ringlights for your primary contacts.
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Elite Flagship Snapdragon Performance: Under the hood, the Phone (3) jumps straight into the highest tier of performance, utilizing a powerhouse flagship processor. It crunches complex AI tasks, demanding mobile gaming titles, and massive workloads with effortless efficiency while running cooler thanks to an advanced internal cooling chamber.
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Pro-Grade Triple Camera Array with OIS: Moving away from standard dual-camera setups, the premium flagship features an advanced triple-lens system. It anchors a 50 MP main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a high-resolution ultra-wide lens, and a dedicated telephoto camera for crisp, lossless optical zoom shots.
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Breathtaking LTPO AMOLED Display: Media viewing and gaming are exceptionally premium on the large flexible LTPO AMOLED screen. It features perfectly uniform, razor-thin bezels and scales dynamically from a battery-saving 1 Hz up to a buttery-smooth 120 Hz refresh rate, pushing massive peak brightness to combat harsh South African sunlight.
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Next-Gen Charging & Premium Toughness: The device is supported by a large, long-lasting battery structure that easily clears a heavy day of multi-media utilization. It supports blazing-fast wired charging alongside premium wireless charging and reverse wireless charging capabilities, all wrapped in a robust aluminum frame with enhanced dust and water resistance.
Note: Running on Nothing OS, based on a clean Android framework, the phone offers a deeply optimized user experience that is completely free of pre-installed bloatware or annoying duplicate software. The unique monochromatic interface and custom widgets are designed to streamline your daily workflow and enhance digital well-being.
Full Specifications
General
| Brand | Nothing Phone |
| Model | Nothing Phone 3 |
| Announced | 02 July, 2025 |
| Released | 15 July, 2025 |
| Status | Available |
| Price | ZAR 18,000 |
Design
| Type Design Type called form factor refers to a mobile phone's size, shape, and style as well as the layout and position of major components of phone. There are three major form factors seen in mobile phones => bar phones, folding phones and sliding phones. | Bar |
| Dimensions | 160.6 x 75.6 x 9 mm (6.32 x 2.98 x 0.35 in) |
| Weight | 218 g (7.69 oz) |
| Protection |
Monochrome LED display on the back (489 LEDs, notifications, timer, flashlight) IP68 dust tight and water resistant (submerged up to 1.5m for 30 min) |
| Colors | White, Black |
Network
| 2G Network | |
| 3G Network | |
| 4G Network | |
| 5G Network | |
| SIM SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a small card that contains mobile network subscriber's account information. This allows the phone using the card to attach to a mobile network. The SIM card is most commonly associated with GSM and UMTS mobile networks. Moving a SIM card from one phone to another allows a subscriber to switch mobile phones without having to contact their mobile network carrier. SIM cards can also be used by a phone to store limited amounts of data, such as phone numbers and text messages. | Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM + eSIM |
Display
| Display Type Display Technology => A number of display technologies and types used in mobile phones => TFT (Thin Film Transistor), IPS (In-Place Switching), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode), Super AMOLED (an even advanced version of AMOLED), Resistive Touchscreen (Resistive touchscreens contain two layer of conductive material with a very small gap between them which acts as a resistance), Capacitive Touchsceen (Capacitive touchscreen technology consists of a layer of glass coated with a transparent conductor) | OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 2160Hz PWM, HDR10+, 4500 nits (peak) |
| Size | 6.67 inches, 107.4 cm2 (~88.5% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 1260 x 2800 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~460 ppi density) |
| Display Protection Display Protection => Gorilla Glass is a special alkali-aluminosilicate glass shield with exceptional damage resistance that helps protect mobile displays from scratches, drops, and bumps of everyday use, It is always better to go for a smartphone with Gorilla Glass for that added protection and peace of mind. | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i |
Media
| Audio Playback | |
| Video Playback | |
| FM Radio | No |
| Ring Tones | |
| Loudspeaker |
Camera
| Main Camera Camera is able to capture photographs and usually videos, The most important characteristics of a camera are the resolution (measured in megapixels), lens focus type (fixed or automatic), higher megapixel cameras are known to capture higher quality photos, but not always a good measurement of the photos quality. |
50 MP, f/1.7, 24mm (wide), 1/1.3", PDAF, OIS 50 MP, f/2.7, (periscope telephoto), 1/2.75", PDAF, 3x optical zoom. OIS 50 MP, f/2.2, 114˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.76" |
| Camera Features | HDR |
| Video | 4K@60fps, 1080p@60fps |
| Selfie Camera | 50 MP, f/2.2, 81˚ (wide), 1/2.76" |
| Camera Features | HDR |
| Video | 4K@60fps, 1080p@60fps |
Software
| Operating System OS => Every computer system run on a base software called Operating System (OS). Operating System controls all basic operations of the computer (such as smartphone, PDAs, tablet computers and other handheld devices). The Operating System allows the user to install and run third party applications (apps), apps are used to add new functionality to the device. | Android 15 |
| User Interface UI or user interface of a device is the look and feel of the on-screen menu system. How it works, its color scheme, how it responds to button presses, all of these things are part of the user interface. | Nothing OS 3.5 |
Hardware
| Chipset Chipset is a group of integrated circuits designed to perform one or a more dedicated functions, often with real time computing constraints, Popular smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming. | Qualcomm SM8735 Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 (4 nm) |
| CPU CPU (Central Processing Unit) mostly known as processors, CPU processes instructions in order to carry out certain functions that make your device operate properly. Processors are often described as the brain of computers, smartphones and tablets, Smartphones and tablets rely on processors to carry out their every task, Processors are an incredibly important factor in selecting any type of computing device, including your smartphone. | Octa-core (1x3.21 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3x3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A720) |
| GPU GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a single-chip processor designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display, This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D motion. | Adreno 825 |
| RAM (Memory) RAM (Random Access Memory) is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes that allows information to be stored and accessed quickly from random locations. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computer systems, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. | 12GB/16GB |
| Internal Storage Internal Storage is a data storage space (flash memory) mostly used in smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices where operating system, apps, music, photos, videos, files and other user data Is stored. | 256GB/512GB |
| Card Slot Memory Card Slot is a special slot for inserting a memory card. Memory cards allow you to expand the phone's built-in memory, A memory card (sometimes called a flash memory card or a storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable or remote computing devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras. | No |
| Sensors Sensors are electronic components that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical environment. The specific input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure and location, The output is generally a signal that is converted to use in computing systems, a location sensor, such as a GPS receiver is able to detect current location of your electronic device. |
Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, proximity, gyro, compass Circle to Search |
Connectivity
| Bluetooth Bluetooth is a wireless communications technology for exchanging data between mobile phones, headsets, computers and other network devices over short distances without wires, Bluetooth technology was primarily designed to support simple wireless networking of personal consumer devices. | 6.0, A2DP, LE |
| Wi-fi Wi-Fi is a popular wireless networking technology using radio waves to provide high-speed network connections that allows devices to communicate without cords or cables, Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of internet connectivity all over the world. | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Wi-fi Hotspot | |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Positioning GPS The Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio navigation system, GPS permits users to determine their position, velocity and the time 24 hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the world, In order to locate your position, your device or GPS receiver must have a clear view of the sky. | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC, SBAS |
| NFC NFC (Near field communication) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish peer-to-peer radio communications with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches. |
Battery
| Battery Type Battery Type => Cell phones run on various kinds of batteries depending on the manufacturer, phone size or shape and features. There are basically four types of cell phone batteries => Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride and Nickel Cadmium. | Si/C 5150 mAh |
| Charging Wireless Charging (Inductive Charging) uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is usually done with a charging station. Energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device. |
65W wired, PD3.0, PPS, QC4 15W wireless 7.5W reverse charging 5W reverse wireless 5W reverse wireless |
Reviews
Disclaimer Note
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only.
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