A Qualcomm executive has leaked a major hardware spec of Nothing’s upcoming Phone 2, presumably by accident. Qualcomm SVP and GM of the Mobile, Compute, and XR division Alex Katouzian recently took to LinkedIn to congratulate Carl Pei and Co. on the Phone 2, which has been confirmed to come rocking a Snapdragon 8 series chipset. The name of the chipset was not specified though, until Katouzian— apparently— jumped the gun and shared the information in his LinkedIn post.
The post has since been edited to remove the detail but internet’s internet and someone somewhere naturally managed to capture it, just in the nick of time. So, spoiler alert, here it goes— the Nothing Phone 2, as per information shared by Katouzian, will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. It’s not the latest and greatest spec— from Qualcomm— at the time of writing as many would be hoping but still some top-shelf stuff regardless. For reference, the OnePlus 11R we just reviewed has the same processor and performs like a champion. We’re assuming Nothing, with all its focus on keeping things lean and mean software wise, would be up to the task, too.
Also Read | Nothing Phone 2 to launch in 2023; Carl Pei hints it will be more premium than Phone 1
The choice of chipset also suggests work on Phone 2 started a while back. That won’t be surprising because the Phone 2 is a make-or-break product for Nothing. Not only is it set to be its first full-blown flagship killer, it is also the vessel driving Nothing’s future prospects in the US.
Carl Pei has previously contended that the company did not have enough resources to enter the US, a market where a brand such as itself needs to –also— tie up with carriers to make a phone launch successful. Nothing has doubled its employee count to 400 (since the launch of Phone 1) and onboarded 100 people apparently just to work on the software side of Phone 2. The phone is set to arrive later this year, though we’re still to get a firm launch window. The specs, too, remain largely a mystery, though with Qualcomm partnership confirmed, we can expect Nothing to drop more details soon enough.
In the meanwhile, Nothing has sent out invites for the launch of Ear 2 wireless earbuds which are launching globally, India included, on March 22. Stay tuned for more updates.
Also Read | Nothing Ear 2 wireless earbuds with ‘next-level’ personalisation to launch in India on March 22
