Carl Pei discusses reasoning behind flagship Snapdragon chip usage on Nothing Phone (2)

Earlier this week, a Geekbench listing suggested that someone had got their hands on the Phone (2), Nothing's next smartphone. As we discussed at the time, the Phone (2) was benchmarked under its 'Nothing A065' model number with 12 GB RAM running Android 13. Additionally, the Geekbench listing mentioned that the device featured a 'taro' motherboard and an octa-core CPU split into three clusters.

Carl Pei, Nothing CEO, has now confirmed that the Phone (2) will launch later this year with the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, currently the third most powerful smartphone chipset that Qualcomm offers after the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. Arguably, this announcement comes as no surprise; Qualcomm revealed as much in March, although it swiftly acted to remove its LinkedIn post.

According to our database, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 delivers 25% better performance than the Snapdragon 778G Plus powering the Phone (1). Conversely, Pei insists that the Phone (2) opens apps twice as quickly as the Phone (1) in initial tests, 'with an impressive 80% overall performance improvement'. As always, we would recommend waiting for independent reviews to arrive before passing judgment on the Phone (2)'s capabilities compared to the Phone (1).

Separately, Pei explains that choosing the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 allows Nothing to keep the Phone (2) 'accessible while delivering a significantly improved experience compared to Phone (1)'. The 'improved experience' that Pei speaks of extends beyond performance too, with the CEO citing battery life, network connectivity, and camera refinements, such as an improved ISP that opens the possibilities of supporting 4K/60 FPS videos and RAW HDR. Unfortunately, Nothing still remains quiet about when it will introduce the Phone (2), other than a vague commitment to releasing it in 'summer 2023'.

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