Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei recently confirmed the upcoming on Twitter Nothing Phone (2) will run on the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 mobile platform.
This reveal comes months after initial rumors suggesting chipset inclusion, which caused some surprise at the time. Some questioned the decision to equip the company’s new flagship smartphone with last year’s tech instead of the latest developments, which Samsung has done with Galaxy S23. Pei, seemingly aware of these concerns, continued the announcement with an explanation of the Twitter thread justification for the company’s decision to switch to older equipment. He claims that “it’s not just about speed – it’s about the whole package.”
Potential features
Pei says the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera will support Raw HDR image files and 4K video recording at 60fps. This is thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 with “an 18-bit image signal processor (ISP) capable of capturing over 4,000 times more camera data” than in Nothing Phone (1). He is also quite confident about the chipset’s effective “power draw and thermal management”, calling it “best in class”.
It is worth noting that Pei understands that Telephone (2) will not be a powerhouse. The thread goes on to say that the company prioritizes “user experience over being first in the spec race.” But at least the flagship device will see an 80 percent increase in overall performance over the phone (1), so there are indeed improvements being made. Speed just isn’t a priority for them, which is probably a smarter move.
Reliable
Had Nothing installed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on the phone (2), the price would most likely increase significantly – not to mention all the bugs users will have to deal with. An expensive phone would also fly in the face of the consumer base. After all, the company has carved out a niche for itself as an affordable option for high-tech smartphones like the previously mentioned Galaxy S23.
As Pei states, the Gen 1 platform “has been extensively tested and continuously optimized through numerous updates since its introduction,” so it’s not like people are getting dog days or anything. You could even argue that customers will use the chipset at its prime.
It should be mentioned about the latest report from the Inverse news website claims that Nothing OS will be redesigned to be more distinct. In the past, the system has been criticized for being “mostly stock Android with a few bits of custom dot matrix Font Nothing”. According to Inverse, the new UI will break away from the “fixed grid layout”. However, there were no screenshots showing the redesign, and the report couldn’t confirm it was coming to the upcoming device.
Phone Nothing (2) is set to launch later this year.