After long announcements, the company Nothing finally presented its new flagship – Phone 3. The smartphone retains its trademark minimalist style, but received an unexpected innovation: instead of the usual Glyph LED backlight on the back panel now has a monochrome display called Glyph Matrix, consisting of 489 individual LEDs.
As Android Authority writes, the Phone 3 inherits the recognisable design of its predecessors, but now instead of individual LEDs for alerts, a full-fledged micro-LED screen is used. Each pixel in this matrix is a separate micro-LED that emits light independently, unlike backlit LCD panels. This allows for high brightness, contrast, energy efficiency, as well as a wide colour palette and large viewing angles.
According to Nothing, the new display is designed to reduce the need to frequently switch on the smartphone’s main screen, although the Glyph Matrix itself is technically also a display. Interestingly, the brand no longer uses the name Glyph Interface in its usual form, but the term is still applied to the new matrix, potentially confusing users.
Glyph Matrix can display notifications from apps and individual contacts, show real-time progress of various processes. You can also customise your own pixel avatars for subscribers to appear when they receive messages. The incoming calls detection feature will be available within a month via OTA update: just press and hold the Glyph button and the caller’s name or number will appear on the screen.
Apart from that, Nothing Phone 3 has got a few more useful features: an inbuilt visual timer for the camera, Glyph Torch backlight, volume indicator and animations for NFC operations.