In a recent interview, Sélim Benayat, Nothing’s AI head, shared insights on the decision to equip the Nothing Phone 3 with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset instead of the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite. He addressed the impact of pricing on this choice, clarifying that the move aimed to keep the smartphone competitively priced while still brandishing the flag of a flagship device.
Benayat spoke with TechRadar’s Axel Metz, explaining that Qualcomm’s partners were faced with the challenge of keeping premium smartphone prices manageable, which led to the introduction of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. Although this chipset does not carry the flagship designation, Benayat insisted that the device’s capabilities and user experience remain at the forefront of their strategy.
A Qualcomm executive had previously indicated that the Snapdragon 8 Elite would come at a steep cost, cited between $200 and $240 per unit, largely due to the inclusion of advanced in-house Oryon cores that optimize both performance and efficiency. Unsurprisingly, this price point did not sit well with Qualcomm’s partners, leading Nothing to seek alternatives for the Phone 3.
“From a product perspective, I think we can give the experiences that we want to give with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 and [more generally] the spec sheet of the Phone 3. Obviously, it’s also helpful from a price perspective. But generally, we were more focused on what [kind of] experience we wanted to create, and therefore on what specs we needed [to facilitate that experience],” Benayat explained.
He further noted that during discussions about future components, the team does not automatically opt for the latest and most powerful chipsets. Instead, they prioritize creating a meaningful user experience, saying, “Every time there’s a debate over what should be prioritized, we go back to that principle. We’re not just chasing whatever competitors are doing – we have this philosophy of, ‘What should the interface between tech and humans look like?’ And that’s where we’re ultimately going, because we believe that, at the end of the day, [this approach will result in] features that people actually want to use.”
While Nothing has not publicly stated whether it will employ a Qualcomm flagship chipset in the future, it has acknowledged that the anticipated Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, utilizing TSMC’s third-generation 3nm process, is likely to be costlier to produce. This raises questions about the feasibility of launching a $1,000 flagship device next year with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 as a potential option.
