Following the devastating reveal that Nothing’s much-hyped Phone (1) wouldn’t come to Canada, more details have emerged about the device: it sports a mid-range chip.
Admittedly, it’s a “custom-tuned” mid-range chip, but it’s a mid-range chip all the same. The news comes from Input, which reported that Nothing confirmed the Phone (1) would run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G+.
Although the 778G+ is “custom-tuned” for the Phone (1), Input says the chip isn’t significantly different from the regular Snapdragon 778G. Both have an eight-core CPU containing four performance Cortex-A78 cores and four efficiency Cortex-A55 cores. There’s also an Adreno 642L GPU and an X53 5G modem.
In fact, the only real plus with the 778G+ is that it supports wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. Typically, Qualcomm saves those features for its flagship chips, but Nothing told Input that Qualcomm added those features specifically for the Phone (1).
As for why Nothing opted for a mid-range chip, co-founder Carl Pei told Input that it came down to performance, power consumption, and cost. According to Pei, smartphones have hit a point where performance is good enough and powerful flagship chips have diminishing returns.
Generally, that sentiment rings true. In my experience testing mid-range devices like Google’s A-series Pixel phones, I’ve found them to be excellent overall. It’s rare that I miss the extra performance of higher-end devices. What I do miss are convenience features like wireless charging — likely why Nothing made sure to include it on the Phone (1).
Nothing Phone (1) in black | Image credit: WinFuture
All that being said, I’m curious to see if customers will find the Phone (1)’s mid-range chip worthy of its flagship-level hype. Nothing has made a pretty big deal out of the Phone (1) over the last several months, expertly building hype to a fever pitch. Mid-range specs may deflate some of that hype.
In other Phone (1) news, WinFuture leaked renders of the device in a black colourway. So far, we’ve only seen it in white — the black looks really sleek. You can check out more pictures here.
Header image: Nothing
Source: Input
