Nothing Phone (2) is getting a Snapdragon 8 Series chip — But which one will it be?

(Image credit: Future)

We’ve been hearing rumors, but now it has been confirmed at MWC. The Nothing Phone (2) is going to be a true flagship phone with a Snapdragon 8 Series chipset, and it's set to launch in the US.

Confirmed for a “late 2023” launch window, this additional detail provides a clearer picture of what Carl Pei meant by a “more premium” next generation phone.

But you may have noticed that Nothing aren't being specific in its announcement here. With no mention of which generation of the 8 Series will be packed in here, the question has to be asked: which one will it get?

Hitting the big leagues

The Nothing Phone (1) was easily one of my favorite phones of 2022. My initial review was underwhelming, but through the sheer force of regular updates, it’s a slick slab at an affordable price.

Of course, it’s not really a global “flagship” phone. The chipset inside is a Snapdragon 778G+, and there hasn’t been an official US release of the phone (lucky I live in dear old blighty then).

That’s where the Nothing Phone (2) comes in, as the company has officially confirmed it will launch in America with a Snapdragon 8 Series chipset. For those uninitiated, the current Gen 2 processor has been seen in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the OnePlus 11, which have lit up our testing benchmarks with Geekbench scores over 5,000 and impressive battery efficiency.

But which one will we get in the Phone (2)? My prediction would be some for of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2+ with incremental upgrades over the current chipset. So, color me excited to see what this will do in the hands of a company that’s been able to extract impressive performance from mid-range specs. You’ll definitely see something made out of nothing (I’ll see myself out).

Outlook

So here we are. Nothing’s next generation Phone (2) is going to be a proper flagship phone with proper flagship specs. This alongside availability in the US is a huge play by the company to establish itself amongst the likes of the iPhone 14 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S23.

How is this strategy going to play out? Time will tell. One thing I know for sure is that when the Carl Pei hype machine ramps up, there’s nothing that can stop it. But I’ll be curious to see just how much of the Phone (1)’s aesthetic DNA makes the transition, and what other specs get a significant bump too.

Oh, and Pei also said you should look forward to another announcement soon (*cough* Nothing Ear (2) *cough).

Jason brought a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a writer at Laptop Mag, and he is now the Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He takes a particular interest in writing articles and creating videos about laptops, headphones and games. He has previously written for Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.