The music video for "New Rules" was met with acclaim from critics, many of whom praised its pop visuals and themes of female empowerment. Paper's Claire Valentine labelled it Lipa's "strongest video so far." Hafeezah Nazim of Nylon called it "a empowering visual", while New Statesman writer Anna Leszkiewicz described it as a "colourful and acutely choreographed video", as well as considering it one of the best clips released in July 2017. BBC reporter Mark Savage wrote that the video is "unquestionably brilliant" and should have won British Video of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.

Owen Myers of The Fader commented on its importance on Lipa's career, stating that, "The release of 'New Rules' gave Lipa something else that until then mostly eluded her: credibility. She has often talked in interviews about her feminist beliefs, and taking pride in her involvement with every aspect of her music."