Nothing Phone (3) teardown reveals one sturdy, repairable phone

The Nothing Phone (3) might pack its fair share of controversial design decisions, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a sturdy piece of tech.

In a new teardown from JerryRigEverything, we get a close-up look with exactly how durable Nothing’s first-ever flagship really is. In short: It’s pretty durable! Most of the first half of the video goes about as well as you’d expect. The display’s front Gorilla Glass 7i panel scratches at the usual Mohs level of six — with deeper grooves at a level seven, of course — while the aluminum frame scratches and chips under a standard razor blade. Both the camera glass and surrounding rings hold up well to external damage, and the burn test leaves its typical markings well after the display has cooled.

The bend test, of course, is what most JRE viewers come to the channel to watch. Despite some eyebrow-raising placement for those antenna lines along the frame, the Nothing Phone (3) proves as durable as anyone would hope, failing to bend or even flex under direct pressure.

The back half of the video is standard teardown fare, showcasing the removal of the back panel (with a full razor blade required to cut through the adhesive) to showcase what lies inside. The rear camera bumps are actually part of the rear glass, pulling away from the rest of the phone, as is the Glyph Matrix’s capacitive button cover. Despite the back panel seemingly delivering a look into the insides of your phone, Nothing actually uses a protective shield over the rest of its actual internals to keep everything protected. Maybe the Nothing Phone (3)’s overall design would’ve been less controversial if that cover wasn’t there — but I digress.

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Really, the coolest part of this teardown is, of course, a deeper look at the Glyph Matrix. That coin-shaped display features 489 total pixels, and thanks to the capacitive button needed to cycle through its various displays, the wireless charger actually features a cutout from its usual circle-shaped coils to allow for that sense of space. It’s a solid look at the insides of a device that, apparently, is repairable enough to get a C rating from the EU, as seen at the beginning of the video. And, hey, JerryRigEverything‘s video ends with the disassembled Nothing Phone (3) turning back on after being reassembled. Not bad.

Nothing’s also pushing out a new update for its latest hardware. Nothing OS V3.5-250711-2047 includes a whole host of changes, improvements, and fixes that you can find below. Changes include improvements to the entire Glyph UI, enhancements to Essential Space to allow for actions like Flip to Record, and fixed charging speeds.

Glyph Interface

• Added Caller ID feature, allowing long-press of the Glyph button during calls to display the contact’s name or phone number.
• Essential Notification now supports selecting icons or custom icons.
• Supports generative incoming call and notification ringtones, including Glyph Matrix lighting effects and randomly generated vibrations.
• Optimised visual effects of the Glyph Interface.
• Enhanced stability of Glyph Toys.
• Improved anti-mistouch responsiveness of the Glyph button.

Essential Space

• Essential Space supports Flip to Record. Flip the phone face down and long-press the Essential Key for instant meeting notes, which are automatically organised into a meeting to-do list.
• Camera Enhancements
• Core Imaging Enhancements: Optimising front/rear HDR, Night Mode, and Snapshot scenes for richer brightness gradation and cleaner images.
• HDR Video: Enhanced HDR video processing delivers more natural brightness and superior display performance.
• UltraXDR Display: Upgraded high dynamic range rendering ensures smoother highlight-to-shadow transitions.

Other Improvements

• Boosted performance of a top Battle Royale game at 120fps.
• Reduced Wi-Fi latency during gaming.
• Private space now supports switching the default Gallery app.
• Enhanced pocket mode to prevent accidental touches.
• Improved audio experience by fixing noise issues when toggling spatial audio during music playback.
• Fixed slow or intermittent charging issues.
• Resolved abnormal battery level display after charging completion.
• Optimised system performance and power consumption to enhance overall system stability.

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