Nothing Phone 3 Drops from ₹80,000 to ₹34,999 – The Most Insane Smartphone Deal Ever?

Okay, so I’ve seen a lot of deals come and go. But this nothing phone deal. This has to be the most impossible deal I have ever seen. Seriously, the phone that launched for 80,000 rupees is now available for as low as 349. That’s more than 50% discount on a phone that’s not even a year old. This is just crazy.

See, the phone was definitely overpriced when it was launched. But still, this much discount, I don’t think anyone saw it coming. Now, there are two very important questions. First, how does this even work? And second, is nothing phone 3 even worth it at this discounted price? Well, I’ll answer both the questions. Let’s start with the first one. First of all, there’s a whopping 20,000 discount for everyone? And that brings down the price from 79 to 59. But if you are a Nothing Phone 1 or Nothing Phone 2 user, you can get it for just 449. You see, loyalty always pays. And by the way, in case you want to exchange your old nothing phone 1 or Nothing Phone 2, you get an additional 10,000 off, making the effective price just 349. Now, that I think is insane. So, long story short, nothing Phone 3 is available for 60K for all the first time nothing users, and it’s 35K if you’re exchanging your old nothing phone one or two.

Now, coming to the second question, is the Nothing Phone 3 worth it or not? Actually, when I saw the Nothing Phone 3 for the first time at London even, I called it a questionable design because obviously the cameras are all over the back, the glyph lights were gone and the symmetry from the back was completely missing. But after using it extensively for the past 2 months, I got used to the design and it doesn’t really bother me at all. And for the glyph matrix, I am as addicted to this as I was addicted to the camera control on my iPhone. I didn’t use it much. Jokes aside, the recent update brought glyph mirror inside the camera app. So, the Matrix can now be used as a viewfinder for taking both photos and videos.

Apart from that, I did drop the phone quite a few times, but there’s no scratch or dent anywhere. Both the screen and the back are protected well, and it’s water resistant as well. In the hand, the phone does feel a bit thick and heavy, but you get used to it. I also didn’t face any issue with the display as it’s pretty visible everywhere. The auto brightness works well, and the HDR videos play nicely on YouTube. There’s no Dolby Atmos support here, but still, the 50/50 stereo speakers are good enough. I just wish it was an LTPO panel instead of LTPS, but other than that, it’s a good quality panel that they have put in.

Performance-wise, the phone is very smooth to use in day-to-day usage. Apps stay in the memory for as long as I want. There are no weird bugs or slowdowns, and games like COD Mobile and PGMI also support 120 fps. The camera app did have some bugs for a short while, but now it’s fixed. And in benchmarks, it in fact scores better than Poco F7 with the same processor, and the vapor chamber keeps the phone pretty cool. Software experience is always excellent on nothing phones and it’s the same for nothing phone 3 as well. There are no ads, no bloatware, only the essential stuff and some pretty useful AI features. The haptics are also good, but they are not integrated well into the UI which I think is a miss. You’re also promised 5 years of OS updates and 7 years of security patches and we all know nothing likes to keep their promises.

For the battery, I was getting around 5 hours of SOT throughout my usage. But I think nothing can optimize it a bit more because with 5500 mAh battery, I think this phone should last a bit more. And for charging, it gets full in less than 1 hour. And there’s wireless charging support as well.

Finally, all four cameras are flagship grade 50 megapixel sensors, three at the back and one on the front. The periscope camera can go up to 3x optical and you get 4K 60 recording on all four of them. I will leave the camera samples driving, but to give you a gist, the cameras were a bit inconsistent for a short while, but after the recent update, they are clicking much better photos than before. The details, the colors, the punchiness, everything is on point.

I also did not encounter any connectivity issues, and I was using it with my Air TIM the entire time. Plus, you also get both NFC and ESIM support, which is nice. There’s also Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, but the type-C port is still 2.0.

See, for the price of 80K, nothing Phone 3 was a big no. But for the discounted pricing for Nothing Phone 1 and Nothing Phone 2 users, this phone is an absolute steal. For the price, you’re getting a very balanced phone which has a powerful processor, very good camera setup, and an excellent software experience. And since Nothing Phone One will not get any OS updates, it’s the perfect time and opportunity to upgrade. It’s actually great how nothing is supporting their loyal user base by giving them additional discounts. I think more brands should just copy it.

By the way, it’s not just Nothing Phone 3 that’s getting all the discounts. Other nothing phones are also going on sale. The phone 3 will be available for 20 triple 9. The phone 3A Pro for just 24le 9. And if you’re on a tight budget, the CMF Phone 2 Pro