Why Nothing needs to tread very carefully with the Phone 3’s reimagined Glyph lights

27 Jun 2025, 18:01 by Andy Boxall · Android Police

The Nothing Phone 3 will have a new set of flashing lights on the back, as the company switches from its signature Glyph Interface to the smaller, more detailed Glyph Matrix. It’s a bold but necessary move. However, Nothing needs to tread carefully, as other brands with recognizable design features have stumbled after making similar, radical changes.

You can now try the Nothing Phone 3's controversial new Glyph Matrix for yourself

The Glyph Interface died for this?

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Deep in the Matrix

Nothing has taken the red pill

The Glyph Interface has defined the design of Nothing’s phones from the original to the most recent Nothing Phone 3a Pro. Essentially a fancy notification LED (remember them?) spread over the entire rear panel, the Glyph Interface was fun, different, and surprisingly useful. The lights glowed, faded, and danced to visualize timers, alert you of calls and messages, and even act as a fill light for the camera. The lights matched the beat of Nothing’s equally memorable ringtones, making each phone come alive in your hand.

I’m talking in past tense because Nothing has killed the Glyph Interface. It said so itself in a note posted to X, indicating it’s unlikely to appear on any future Nothing Phone models after the Phone 3. Light-up elements have been used on smartphones before, but the Glyph Interface was unique in that it had actual functionality and wasn’t simply for show. It gave each Nothing phone character, and along with the brand’s love of transparent case backs and use of pixel art, made it impossible to mistake a Nothing phone for any other.

The Glyph Matrix sits in the top right corner of the Nothing Phone 3, and appears to be a small, more LED-dense panel capable of creating intricate animated patterns. Nothing hints it’ll do more than show pretty pictures, and uses the phrase “light becomes language” to accompany the Glyph Matrix’s teaser video. It’s a daring alteration that needs to be made if Nothing wants to continue evolving as a design-led phone brand. The trouble is, the Glyph Matrix may be a step too far, too soon.

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Asus has already made a similar switch

Asus’s crazy ROG Phone range became less crazy after a similar feature swap

The Glyph Matrix doesn’t appear quite as unique as the Glyph Interface. It looks very similar to Asus’s AniMe Vision display on the back of the ROG Phone 9 Pro, a panel of 648 mini-LEDs to show logos, patterns, and notifications, along with information like battery remaining. You can even play a little mini-game on it. It fits in with Asus’s Republic of Gamers image well, and never looks out of place alongside the brand’s RGB keyboards and futuristic monitors. Nothing doesn’t have this heritage to fall back on.

Asus used it to replace its colorful ROG Vision screen and RGB light arrays seen on previous ROG Phone models, and it turned out to be an unfortunate backward step. Phones with the AniMe Vision display have a less hardcore look, fewer vibrant colors, and ironically, given the display’s greater functionality, less emotion to them. The AniMe Vision’s maturity hurt the ROG Phone because while it may be a more accomplished piece of technology, it doesn’t inspire gleeful smiles like the silly-but-fun RGB screens that came before it.

Brands have to change things up to stay fresh and relevant, but highly recognizable, signature design elements are always hard to follow. Deciding how to change them is complicated, and sometimes it may seem like a better plan to just get rid of them entirely. This is likely how OnePlus’s meetings went when it was shaping the OnePlus 10T without the iconic Alert Slider.

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The Alert Slider, a physical key used to switch between ring, vibrate, and silent modes, has been a OnePlus phone’s single, enduring design feature since the beginning. The phone’s shape and look may have changed over the years, but the Alert Slider has always been there. Yes, most of us leave our phones in silent mode, but there’s no need to unlock the phone to change this with the Alert Slider. It’s wonderfully tactile too, and using it almost like a fidget spinner is one of the unique joys of owning a OnePlus phone.

Nevertheless, OnePlus removed it from the OnePlus 10T, stating by doing so it freed up valuable internal space for other components. The decision was met with considerable pushback from the brand’s community, scaring OnePlus into bringing it back for the OnePlus 11, OnePlus 12, and OnePlus 13. However, the writing was on the wall for the Alert Slider, and the OnePlus 13T along with future OnePlus phones will have a Plus Key on the side instead. It acts like the Action Button on an Apple iPhone with sound and volume controls, customizable actions, and AI feature control.

Using the Alert Slider almost like a fidget spinner is one of the unique joys of owning a OnePlus phone.

OnePlus has a very committed, interactive, and engaged community of owners, and they haven’t taken the news well. There’s even a Change.org petition with nearly 300 signatures asking OnePlus to keep the Alert Slider. OnePlus clearly wants to move on, but its most vocal supporters want to see it do so while keeping its most recognizable, long-standing design element intact. When you foster a strong community, expect strong feedback on controversial decisions. Time will tell if OnePlus backtracks again.

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Big change, brave move

Nothing’s daring design choices may save the Phone 3

Carl Pei, Nothing’s co-founder, also co-founded OnePlus. He has built Nothing up in a similar fashion by ensuring its biggest advocates have a chance to become deeply involved with the brand, right down to letting its community help design special edition phones. As OnePlus discovered, this can be both a blessing and a curse. Reactions to the new Glyph Matrix have been mixed so far, with the least positive related to the small size, although most seem happy to wait and see the real thing in context with the rest of the phone.

Nothing is no stranger to controversy when it comes to design, which may help it move on from the Glyph Interface. It shocked with the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, but the jarring camera module layout and mix of shapes and angles gets easier on the eye over time. It looks likely the Nothing Phone 3 will follow in its mad footsteps, and it may help draw attention away from a more technically impressive, but potentially less characterful and emotional light show.

Nothing is one of the few mobile tech brands willing to experiment with design. It gleefully avoids established standards, and through the Glyph Interface, fantastic sound design, and clever use of transparent materials, it has created a highly recognizable and individual visual character for its hardware. Changing arguably the most important element is brave, but arguably essential if it wants to grow. However, as other top brands have proved, it’s not an easy trick to pull off, and an action that can end up alienating the very people crucial to its ongoing success.