Nothing Phone 3 will finally play in the big leagues with a near-$1,000 price tag

The Nothing Phone 3 is on its way, and yesterday, on the sidelines of Google’s Android Show, CEO Carl Pei confirmed that it will be the company’s “first true flagship smartphone.” What’s also a first is a near-$1,000 price tag!

“Phone 3 is coming this summer, and we’re going all-in — premium materials, major performance upgrades, and software that really levels things up. It’s our first true flagship smartphone. And since you’re here, a little early clue on the price — it’ll land somewhere around £800,” Pei said in a video.

For context, the Nothing Phone 2 launched at $599 for the base model, topping out at $799 for the highest configuration. If the £800 (~$1,000) figure Pei mentioned refers to the base model of the Phone 3, that’s a major shift away from Nothing’s previous pricing strategy, which aimed at delivering near-flagship experiences at more affordable prices.

The Phone 1, for example, shipped with the mid-range Snapdragon 778G Plus, an underwhelming choice for a phone marketed as premium. The Phone 2 was a big step up, packing the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. While that chip wasn’t the absolute latest at launch, it brought a huge leap in performance and helped Nothing better justify its “flagship killer” label.

Now, with the Phone 3 being positioned as a “true flagship,” we wouldn’t be surprised to see it launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

We don’t have many concrete details about the Nothing Phone 3 yet, but the hype train has officially left the station. One thing we do know is that the Nothing Phone 3 will launch in the US, as previously confirmed by Pei.