Smartphones that catch the headlines such as the iPhone 16 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13 are all excellent devices but they’re also incredibly expensive. Samsung’s latest costs at least £1,249, making it an unrealistic choice for many people when the time comes to upgrade to a new phone.
Thankfully there are many great budget and mid-range phones out there, and UK tech start up Nothing has just confirmed a new cheaper phone is coming soon. The Nothing Phone 3a series is being teased by the firm on social media, the use of the word ‘series’ suggesting more than one device, and the latest news from CEO Carl Pei is that at least one phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.
“I’m happy to announce that we are going back to the Qualcomm Snapdragon series with the Phone (3a)”, Pei said. “Compared to the Phone (2a) Plus it’s going to have 25% faster CPU, and a 72% faster NPU”. NPU stands for ‘neural processing unit’, a component that powers AI features.
If you have a Nothing phone and earbuds, you can talk directly to ChatGPT, something the company is likely to expand on with the new 3a phone.
In a short video posted to X, below, Pei also said the phone will have a better camera than the Nothing Phone 2a from 2024 and be generally “more efficient” in its performance.
An upcoming Phone 3a will be Nothing’s fifth phone released since the original Phone 1 in 2022. Both that device and 2023’s Phone 2 used mid-range Snapdragon processors, but the Phone 2a and 2a Plus from 2024 settled on MediaTek Dimensity chipsets. While not necessarily worse in any way than their Qualcomm alternatives, it’s interesting to see Nothing decide on Snapdragon for the 3a, with Pei saying in the video this was in part down to Nothing Phone fans’ feedback.
Going with Qualcomm power in its mid-range phone could be a way for Nothing to differentiate itself from Samsung and other Android rivals in the mid-range price bracket. The Phone 2a costs just £319, and Samsung phones of a similar cost tend to use Samsung’s own Exynos chips, while other companies often opt for MediaTek silicon.
Although this isn’t something many phone buyers consider when getting a new phone, Nothing’s tech savvy dedicated fanbase will notice the choice of the often more powerful Snapdragon, particularly if the Phone 3a manages to stay as cheap as the 2a but perform better.
The Phone 2a Plus was a beefed up version of the 2a with a better processor and camera, so for Pei to tease improvements in both these areas for the upcoming 3a is a sure fire way to excite the Nothing community, who are very vocal online.
The question will be whether this release will help Nothing break through to mainstream buyers. Its devices are well made and have thoughtful software at an affordable price, but their transparent designs with flashing lights aren’t for everyone. The phones are only available online apart from one Nothing store in Soho, London, whereas Samsung, Oppo and other Android phones are in many high street shops or available from mobile network providers. Those firms also have much larger marketing budgets to make consumers aware they exist.
Nothing has said it will launch the Phone 3a series on March 4 at 10am UK time, which is during the annual Mobile World Congress technology trade show in Barcelona.
