Nothing Phone (3) reparability and durability becomes clear in new teardown video

The Nothing Phone (3) has launched with a design that could most charitably be described as deconstructed, particularly around its camera hump and new Glyph Matrix. The famous YouTuber Zach Nelson of the JerryRigEverything channel has been a little kinder to it in comparing it to a Picasso painting.

The Phone (3) has a rear panel littered with detailing apparently inspired by "an artist's interpretation of what the inside of a smartphone looks like", which, ironically, makes it a little more difficult to remove than that of the average Android handset.

The Glyph Matrix itself is also an entire extra part that might need to be replaced should it break. The good news is that it, unlike the Phone (3)'s cameras, is located under the smartphone's clear glass rear panel and is thus probably more safe from damage

The "interface" is made of 489 individual LEDs and is controlled by a little capacitive button on the rear panel. As it turns out, Nothing has had to source a wireless charging coil that caves in on 1 side in order to accommodate it.

According to the latest rumors, that kind of component might be seen again soon once the iPhone 17 Pro is available to tear down.

The Phone (3)'s JerryRigEverything appearance may also prove that it has the scratch-, burn- and bend-resistance of the average upper-tier Android smartphone, despite its looks.

The Essential Key is presented as another novel feature of the Phone (3), even though it is clearly the Nothing equivalent of OnePlus' Plus Key. This version of the button is coated in a shiny material which, as Nelson has discovered, is very susceptible to scratches and might degrade in appearance with normal use. 

In addition, it seems the Phone (3)'s camera rings are quite raised and could also be damaged should the user do something like take a set of Mohs hardness picks to its 6.67-inch AMOLED display.

Nothing claims to have used 80% recycled steel, 100% recycled aluminum and 100% renewable energy in the Phone (3)'s manufacture, making it potentially more sustainable at least.

That might not offset the device's other, already widely-discussed shortcomings, chief among which are its sub-premium Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC and relatively small battery (stay tuned for our full review to find out for sure).

The latter spec (which only gets as good as 5,500mAh in India) might only start to look worse compared to what the rest of 2025 might have in store for the smartphone market.

Then again, the Nothing Phone (3) is now priced at $799 on Amazon, compared to well over $1,000 for some more 'normal' Android flagships.