My Adventure in Going Back to Android
Edit: Happy Blaugust 2025!
I miss the days of cool, translucent colors in all sorts of electronics from the 2000s, along with unique phone designs, headphones, mp3 players, computers. Remember Apple's iMacs and iBooks? My Tumblr is dedicated to reblogs of retro tech and electronics that hit my nostalgia so good.
Earlier this year I started looking at tech blogs again (trying to escape a bit from the real world) and discovered Nothing, a company out of London who's mission was to make tech fun, just how it was about 20 years ago. I really liked the look of their earbuds and line of affordable-yet-futuristic looking mobile phones.
I thought to myself "I'll bounce back to Android since I'm getting bored of Apple's sameness", plus, with the new iOS 26 of "liquid glass", I wasn't a fan since it's too transparent and really not practical for accessibility. Maybe they were also trying to get back to the cool days of transparency in tech, but doing it on an OS isn't the best idea since it's just not practical. Make the hardware transparent instead maybe?
Anyway, I went all in on the Nothing Phone 3, Headphones 1, and free set of "Ear" earbuds that came with the phone purchase. After pre-ordering, the release date arriving, and then waiting a whole week after that date with no word on my order (and me having to ask them twice where it was), everything arrived and I was excited.
Until I wasn't. The headphones are very good, and incredible cool looking - I was going to live my best cyberpunk life. They're great quality, but a bit heavy because of the sturdy build. I wanted to be able to enjoy them for hours at a time because they do sound so good, but I kept going back to my various other over-ear headphones, especially my Bose QuietComfort Headphones. The Bose are so, so lightweight, sound awesome, and I can literally keep them on for hours during my work day.
As for the phone, I admit, I'm a power user, and something just felt "off" about it. Maybe it wasn't snappy enough, or maybe it was a bit heavy, or maybe it was the not-so-exciting-glyph toys on the back that didn't really do much. I also didn't like or use any of the Nothing OS widgets or AI summary tools.
What made me realize I didn't like the phone was the lack of magnetic charging (like Apple's Magsafe). The Nothing Phone 3 only supports Qi, and not Qi2 charging. That's huge for someone who was already used to that feature in their everyday life. For example, charging at my desk was a pain because the phone slide around while on the wireless charger. And it was a pain to use in my car because I had to get a different charger with a clamp, and the phone kept wobbling around.
But the real bummer of the phone? The Essentials key button. I kept pressing it accidentally and it not only took a screenshot when I didn't want to do so, I couldn't swipe it away, and then I had to tap the screen and then hit the "arrow" button to get rid of it. It then adds said screenshot to your photo gallery or "essential space" so you can organize your unwanted screenshots (and audio recordings or notes) if you wanted them. Just...no.
So, I'm going to return everything. The headphones and earbuds are great, but maybe I'll buy them another time. As for the Phone 3, it's not for me. I'll keep an eye out for their next product for sure. I'll wait for the Google Pixel 10 to release in a few weeks, as I've always loved the Pixel phones (and Nexus before that). Rumors are that it'll support Qi2/magnetic charging, and of course have a great camera and stock Google Android.
I only have 30 days to return the Nothing products, so since I needed a phone in the meantime, I bought a used/renewed Moto Razr+ 2024 in hot pink! I actually love it, as it's the fun phone that I've wanted for a while with it's cute color, flip screen, runs smoothly, and I absolutely love the small screen use when it's folded. The camera seems pretty good for quick snaps around town. I already have a mirrorless Fujifilm and DJI Osmo Pocket 3 if I really wanted to create memories with better quality media.
