Tempting offer! Nothing Phone (3) is 7 thousand cheaper and makes great sense at this price

Last summer, the Nothing Phone (3) arrived with a price tag of 21,599 CZK and immediately drew fierce criticism. Not for the hardware — that was decent. But for the audacity. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is not a flagship chip, yet Nothing dared to price it similarly to the Samsung Galaxy S25 or Xiaomi 15. Today, less than a year after its launch, Heureka offers it from 14,369 CZK — and the whole story suddenly looks different.

Quick summary:
✅ Makes sense if you want the most powerful Nothing with a periscopic telephoto lens, Glyph Matrix rear display, and clean software without ads — and you don’t want to wait for the Phone (4), which isn’t coming this year anyway.
⚠️ Consider if the new Phone (4a) Pro for 12,199–13,999 CZK suits you better — it has a thinner body, a newer chip, and a periscope too.
💡 For 14,369 CZK you get 12/256 GB, IP68, Nothing OS 4.0 (Android 16), a trio of 50Mpx cameras, and battery life that will reliably get you through a day.

A phone that had to get cheaper to make sense

At its launch last year, the Nothing Phone (3) cost practically the same as the base Samsung Galaxy S25. And therein lay the problem. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is a great chip, but it’s a second-tier chip — without the same raw performance, without the same graphics. Nothing argued then that it was selling the overall experience, not benchmarks. But customers who buy at the twenty-thousand price point have a natural reflex to compare. And the Phone (3) didn’t win comparisons against the Galaxy S25, Xiaomi 15, or other flagships.

At 14,369 CZK, the situation is completely different. In this price category, the Phone (3) competes with the Xiaomi 15T (Pro), Samsung Galaxy A57, or OnePlus 15R — and there, its features and software stand out. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is adequately powerful here, and Nothing OS without bloatware, without system ads, and with guaranteed 3 years of major Android updates is a nice bonus.

What you get for your money

The Phone (3)’s hardware hasn’t aged dramatically in a year. The 6.67″ AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,800 × 1,260 px and a 120Hz refresh rate is still above average. Brightness is sufficient even in direct sunlight, and it has thin bezels.

The camera consists of a trio of 50Mpx sensors — a main one with an f/1.68 aperture and optical stabilization, an ultrawide, and a periscopic telephoto lens with 3× optical zoom. This is a setup that is not entirely common for phones costing 14 thousand CZK. Night shots are solid, and in daylight, the Phone (3) shoots consistently and without excessive post-processing. Exactly what you’d expect from a brand with an aesthetic signature.

The rear Glyph Matrix display — 147 mini-LED diodes in the upper right corner of the back — is still the most original idea to appear on the back of a phone in recent years. Yes, it’s partly a gimmick. But it’s a gimmick that you enjoy.

Phone (4) isn’t coming. Phone (3) will therefore remain the top model

Nothing announced this year that the classic numbered series — meaning Phone (4) without a suffix — will not be released in 2026. Instead, the brand opted for the recently introduced Phone (4a) and (4a) Pro models, starting at 9,199 and 12,199 CZK respectively. This puts the Phone (3) in an interesting position: it’s the most powerful Nothing you can buy today, and that won’t change until at least next year.

The comparison with the (4a) Pro is fair, though. The new model will offer a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, a lower-tier chip, but also a thinner body. The Phone (3) holds the advantage in raw performance and a more sophisticated Glyph Matrix. Which one makes more sense depends purely on priorities — a smaller and lighter phone, or better hardware for roughly the same money.

What to watch out for

Essential Space — an AI feature tied to the Essential Key button on the side of the phone — functions as a notebook that analyzes screenshots, recordings, and notes. In Czech, it performs with reservations: voice note transcription is unreliable, and it evaluates context slowly. Users who have tested the Phone (3) long-term agree that Essential Space is more a showcase of ambition than an everyday tool.

The Phone (3) does not support wireless charging — in 2026 and at this price, it’s a noticeable absence. Wired charging handles 65 W, and the 5,150 mAh battery charges from zero to full in less than an hour. Battery life is reliably all-day, with a reserve even for more demanding days.

Verdict

The Nothing Phone (3) was overpriced last year. Today, at 14,369 CZK, it’s a different story — a phone with upper-mid-range features, uncompromising software, and a design that still deserves applause after a year. If you don’t mind the absence of wireless charging, you’re getting one of the most interesting phones in the current price category.

Would you have bought Nothing’s flagship last year for over 20 thousand, or would you rather wait for a discount?