The Nothing Phone 3 will get seven years of updates, ensuring the handset remains fully operational until at least 2032.
While the Nothing Phone 3 launch is set for July 1, the firm has been steadily revealing information about its next flagship phone, and it’s dropped two more nuggets of information for us.
First up, it’s been confirmed the Phone 3 will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. Even though the handset is being billed as the firm’s “first true flagship” this chipset is a step below the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite which you find in rival flagships such as the Galaxy S25 series, OnePlus 13 and Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro.
One reason why Nothing may have opted for the 8s Gen 4 over the 8 Elite could be to do with cost, as the top-tier chipset is an expensive addition to any phone. Yet Nothing co-founder and CEO, Carl Pei, has previously confirmed the Phone 3 will cost around £800 (which might mean $799 in the US), which is a flagship price.
Nothing co-founder, Akis Evangelidis has addressed why the company didn’t opt for last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship chip, noting it “has a weaker GPU, NPU, connectivity and ISP – and default software support is 4 & 4”. With the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, Nothing is able to provide longer software support.
As Evangelidis notes in his tweet (below), the 8S Gen 4 chipset allows Nothing to offer ‘5 & 7’ support to users. What does this mean? Well, let me tell you.
8 Gen 3 has a weaker GPU, NPU, connectivity and ISP – and default software support is 4 & 4. Phone (3) will have 5 & 7.
The first number relates to the years of software updates a device will receive, while the second number refers to the years of security updates which will be made available.
So for the Nothing Phone 3, users can expect five years of major Android software updates and seven years of security updates. That means the phone will be in line for new features all the way through to 2030, and will remain up to date with the latest security protections through 2032.
According to Statista, the average replacement cycle length of smartphones in the United States is 2.67 years, which should mean the Nothing Phone 3 can hit the second hand market in the years to come and still offer users new updates.
The ‘5 & 7’ support is a strong offering from Nothing, but it’s not quite market leading. Apple’s new iOS 26 is coming to the six year old iPhone 11 series, while Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series and Google’s Pixel 9 range will receive seven years of both Android OS and security updates.
While the Nothing Phone 3 isn’t quite matching these flagships in terms of software updates (and in some cases chipset), it appears to be getting pretty close to them. We’ll find out just how close the Phone 3 can get, come its July 1 launch.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.
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The rumored camera setup includes a single 48MP rear camera and a possible 24MP selfie camera. There's new hardware to consider, but buyers hoping Apple would extend that upgrade generosity to smoother scrolling could be disappointed.