The Nothing Phone (3) is expected to launch in 2025 and we’re starting to see plenty of activity from the manufacturer that points to the new flagship phone – but the latest tease left us scratching our heads.
Via the official Nothing account on X, the company has shared an image of Arcanine – yes, the Pokémon. Arcanine is a fire-type Pokémon and was one of the Generation 1 characters, but what's it doing as a tease for a Nothing device? It’s not just Arcanine, it’s presented in the dot matrix style that Nothing has favoured so far.
pic.twitter.com/zhcmw0cW3iJanuary 21, 2025
To be fair, such teases are nothing new for the brand, with various Pokémon being used as codenames for previous devices, but they often start by an employee sharing the post, not the main account. For example, before the launch of the Nothing Phone (2a), company founder Carl Pei shared a similar picture of Aerodactyl.
So, what the latest tells us is that Nothing is moving ahead with its launch campaign for a new phone – the only remaining question is which one?
Nothing Phone (3), Phone (3a) or Phone (3a) Plus?
Nothing could have as many as three devices in the works, the new Nothing Phone (3) flagship, as well as the affordable Phone (3a) in two sizes. That’s about as much as we know so far. Previously there have been reports of the model numbers A059 and A059P and these two models have also been spotted on BIS – the Indian standards authority.
That detail was picked up by 91mobiles, but there’s some confusion over what these models are. Some think that because there are two related models, we’re looking at the Phone (3a) and (3a) Plus. But the numbering makeup is closer to that of the flagship device – the Nothing Phone (2) was model A065.
However, back in 2024 when Nothing was talking about its advances in artificial intelligence, it was confirmed that AI would debut on the Nothing Phone (3) – so that’s the device we’re expecting to see first.
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However, the fact that we’re seeing Nothing throwing out slightly cryptic messages means one thing – there’s a launch coming and we can expect to learn a lot more about this device in the coming weeks and months.
Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he's covered just about every product launched, witnessed the birth of Android, the evolution of 5G, and the drive towards electric cars. You name it and Chris has written about it, driven it or reviewed it. Now working as a freelance technology expert, Chris' experience sees him covering all aspects of smartphones, smart homes and anything else connected. Chris has been published in titles as diverse as Computer Active and Autocar, and regularly appears on BBC News, BBC Radio, Sky, Monocle and Times Radio. He was once even on The Apprentice... but we don't talk about that.
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