What you need to know
- Nothing hinted at a return to Qualcomm SoCs on X today (Feb 13) with a teaser image of the chip in question.
- The company’s CEO Carl Pei also officially announced the return to Qualcomm for the Phone 3a, mentioning that the device will see a 25% increase in CPU speeds.
- It appears that the chip being hinted at is the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, a budget-friendly chip with significant AI support.
- Nothing confirmed that the Phone 3a will be launched on March 4 at 5 am ET.
Nothing continues to keep its upcoming (a) series phone at the forefront of people’s minds by showcasing its chipset.
Nothing shared an image teaser on X detailing what consumers can expect in terms of capabilities from the budget Phone 3a. The image was simple, yet signified the return to Qualcomm’s SoC with the message “Hello Snapdragon!” Below, the image featured a Snapdragon SoC with a distinct white and red chip imagery.
Nothing added, “Our ideal match for top-notch performance. Now powering up the (3a) Series.”
Qualcomm also reposted a brief video from Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei discussing the Phone 3a. Pei revealed the comeback of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series chips on the next-generation (a) series phone, along with outlining some noteworthy enhancements. According to Pei, the Phone 3a will feature a 25% increase in CPU speed and a 72% faster NPU compared to the Phone 2a Plus.
The Phone 2a Plus is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro.
In addition, Pei mentioned that the company has worked on enhancing the Phone 3a’s camera based on user feedback. The device’s cameras are said to be more “efficient” than before.
Hello @Snapdragon! Our ideal match for top-notch performance. Now powering up the (3a) Series. pic.twitter.com/g86ToLwAQFFebruary 13, 2025
While neither side has confirmed the chip for the Phone 3a, many users in the replies believe it to be the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3. This could be true, mainly because the official images of this chip, when it launched, looked the same as what Nothing teased today (Feb 13). Furthering this is a leak from December concerning the Phone 3a in the IMEI database.
The listing showed the device supported by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, a chip designed for budget phones, but with loads of AI capabilities. The chip was also stated to deliver a better camera and gaming experience while also supporting the Baichuan-7B and Llama 2 AI models.
There’s also that leaked memo from Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei that suggested it could take bigger strides toward on-device AI.
That aside, at the end of January, Nothing confirmed that the “Phone 3a Series” was launching on March 4 at 5 am ET. Users can sign up to stay in the loop about the phone via nothing.tech, so you’re ready for launch (and pre-orders if interested). The company recently teased a hardware change for the Phone 3a by way of a physical camera button.
It seems users will be able to take photos without tapping their screens, similar to what Apple did with the iPhone 16.