Usage of a Sub-Flagship Chipset

AnmolMalhotra · 2025-06-28T06:12:43+00:00

Hey everyone, I wanted to discuss a thing or two that have been on my mind since the announcement of the chipset for Phone (3). First of all, the Chip. I know that even though the chip is the heart of the device, it's the software and how it's optimized that make up the soul and I really love what the nothing team did with the Phone (2). But the thing that's been bugging me is the use of a sub-flagship in a flagship device. My Phone (2) lags behind a lot of other phones in raw power delivery even though it is probably better for day to day tasks. Don't get me wrong when I say this, I love my phone, but there have been instances when I have seriously considered switching to the latest Samsung or Apple and I just don't want the same to happen with the Phone (3) if I buy it. Also, if the leaks of GSMArena are accurate, then the picture's not looking too good on the benchmark aspect. Secondly, I was thinking how the Phone (3) would stand against Nothing's own (3a) and (3a) Pro since both these devices are extremely good for the day to day works and anyone would blindly buy a cheaper phone if they're concerned only about the basic usage of the phone even if they get a little less in everything. I totally agree with Carl on the terms that a balanced experience is necessary to actually enjoy using a phone but that doesn't mean that the bar for being a balanced phone has to be low, you can take everything a notch up and get a balanced phone (Oppo Find X8 Ultra is an example), and even if that bumps the price up, the level up in the quality of the product would seem good enough to most of the buyers to make a purchase. This sums up almost everything that I had to say and I really hope that the nothing team does wonders with the optimisation like they did with Phone (2).

CMF1_hacker

AnmolMalhotra I find Xiaomi.EU a great way to run Xiaomi hardware.

The 168-hour wait time for unlocking was ridiculous though.

pollenjh

AnmolMalhotra Yeah no it’s a very valid concern. But in the Nothing world, it’s the best you can get. So that’s pretty much the justification lol

PaulStoner

Really all it depends on are a few things…

What do you want to use your phone for?
Do you like you phone’s ecosystem / function / design / etc.?
Does the phone you choose do what you want it to do?

Price doesn’t matter because if you want it, you will buy it. If you see the value in it, you will buy it. I got away from big tech thanks to Nothing. Best decision I have ever made, and I will pay for the products they make that suit me.

Value is subjective my friend…

CMF1_hacker

PaulStoner I use MacBook Air and iMacs for standard office computers as I love macOS. I love Ubuntu for actual work with multiple GPUs. I love NOTHING OS for mobile usage and have a CMF1 and NP3 and the only real difference for me is the camera quality (otherwise it’s 99% identical, that 1% being the cheap-ass screen protector on the CMF1 which has worn out over 6 months of decent usage.)

PaulStoner

CMF1_hacker Exactly…Nothing wrong with mixing it up or choosing what makes you happy in your tech.

Carl

if we had a flagship last year, the phone (3) this year wouldn’t be as contentious. it was hard to justify the investment back then.

that said, you can’t change the past, and it’s good that we released the phone (3) in 2025.

CMF1_hacker

Carl you know, the phone looks great now and it would’ve looked great in 2024. It’s not often that a physical object doesn’t photograph as good as it looks in person. (In fact, the inverse is usually true.) I handed this to a different dad today, and one of my PhDs yesterday, and they both had read The Guardian review, and they said they same thing, “how could anyone consider this ugly.”

That’s tge only thing I can’t understand about the NP3. Everything else is very clear, so my advice would be do NOTHING differentially going forward from this iteration.

Jerin Jose

Carl Hey Carl, The problem here is not the phone you launched, its the price segment at which it is launched. And also we were expecting a lot of improvements atleast from the software end. Atleast if you have planned to step in the particular segment, you should have chosen the correct processor, display and other specs for the asking price.

Do you think software alone can justify the asking price?

CMF1_hacker

Jerin Jose of course, the software is the reason why I buy Apple and NOTHING products. The hardware is always more than sufficient. I think this software is a few hundred £ value add, to be honest. Form the hardware side, you get an extra button on the side, one on the back (both can be remapped) and an extra screen on the back that can be reprogrammed.

Nothing else in the price segment is even close to the hardware provided in terms of raw options. Sure the SoC is a little slower and the screen/glass is a little lower spec but none of that matters with the extra screen and buttons.

Does on really notice the difference between 7i and victus or USB 2.0?

Honestly, people are missing the forest for the trees, sadly

Jerin Jose

CMF1_hacker Do you think the Nothing OS is fully matured on par with other brands at this price segment.

And the glyph matrix and capacitive button won’t do much. Its kind of gimmick. Because the glyph lights were introduced with some use cases during launch. Even Nothing as a company could not go further with that with new features. Atleast Glyph lights were well received for their uniqueness. The same would happen for glyph matrix but it is not liked by all. Even I am impressed by Glyph light and not glyph matrix.

And Nothing OS is still half baked. It never justify the asking price of 80k.

CMF1_hacker

Jerin Jose

I’m sorry but you’re missing my argument.

Nothing is very polished and bloatware free. The discount you see on the Chinese phones (Xiaomi) is due to your data being sold. Not sure much in Europe due to GDPR but definitely in India.
I find NOS excellent as it’s light, fast and no bloatware.
The buttons can be remapped and the screen reprogrammed. I see these as hardware value adds. I can run Essential Space on my CMF1 with remapping and the ES button on phones with it can be reprogrammed to other functions. Essentially, I have four buttons now that I can remap and a front and rear screen that I can control
NOTHING is very open source now compared to other brands and I can alter the OS and reinstalled. The BL can be unlocked simply unlike the Chinese brands.

It’s a hardware paradise if anything and people area making way too big of a deal about a slightly lower spec SoC. I originally bought the One Plus One and ran a custom Linux distro on it not map networks and port scan.

Jerin Jose

CMF1_hacker Again, I think people are blowing this hardware spec difference up too large (SoC, glass and USB) while missing the actual hardware differences that will (buttons/screens) that will make a legitimate user difference .

Hope you understand from below

Jerin Jose And the glyph matrix and capacitive button won’t do much. Its kind of gimmick. Because the glyph lights were introduced with some use cases during launch. Even Nothing as a company could not go further with that with new features. Atleast Glyph lights were well received for their uniqueness. The same would happen for glyph matrix but it is not liked by all. Even I am impressed by Glyph light and not glyph matrix.

The hardware you are saying is a gimmick, the button and display. And they are inconsistent in the past on their new features. For example glyph lights, widget sharing feature, gallery.. everything is left half baked. No further improvements

Jerin Jose

CMF1_hacker Not Everyone will buy it for hardware and run a custom ROM.

Even Nothing OS has bugs, lags, stutters, its bloat free but not feature rich

Don’t justify everything on behalf of them, let them know, let them work on their weak points and let them comeback stronger

CMF1_hacker

Jerin Jose I guess that our experiences with NOTHING OS differ. I don’t have lags, stutters, etc on my CMF1 or my NP3.

There is a large difference in time to start-up and some lag opening intensive apps on the CMF1 compared to the NP3.

But I’ve only had one bug on NOS on both phones. The detection of a PPS-enabled charger is hit and miss on both phones (most people wouldn’t notice though as they don’t look in detail at the charging Wattage.)

The user experience between both phones is nearly identical with exception of the camera hardware and the lower-quality tactile feel of the CMF1 but that makes sense as I could buy five CMF1 phones for one NP3 (£169 vs. £899).

Again, I think people are blowing this hardware spec difference up too large (SoC, glass and USB) while missing the actual hardware differences that will (buttons/screens) that will make a legitimate user difference .

Both of my units are made in China and perhaps that makes a difference between the made in India models, which I can’t compare.

CMF1_hacker

Jerin Jose I have to disagree. I’m using the SDK and have found using the GM interesting and useful. The ES button is also useful and I haven’t decided to remap it yet.

I’d wager that a lot of these posts are from people that haven’t touched the phone, used the hardware or tried the SDK.

Some people have built tools that, while only used for somewhat lame uses currently, show instantly how useful it can be.

Right out of the box within a few minutes, I was able to use a tool from someone that never had a NP3 and use that tool to access the GM, which is stellar. This shows that the ecosystem is function already and this was before the release date of 15 JUL.

Anyone that thinks it’s gimmick hasn’t used it extensively. This is within the first 5 mins of using the phone. The SDK is also very powerful but takes more time to learn the nuances of. The GL looked cool but are far too limited in their application with respect to conveying information.

Jerin Jose

CMF1_hacker You didn’t understand the point.

Anonymous717

Is not a secret that the price is high for the chipset and the gimmicks, only the cameras worth it, i hope that nothing will improve prices for their next true flag-ships.

georgios1

Anonymous717 The Nothing software certainly worths paying a premium over any other Android based OS. If ones doesn’t like the Nothing Phone 3 hardware at this price then you can always get the Nothing Phone 3(a) Pro with the same exceptional software and less powerful hardware at half the price. There are great options for everybody and every budget

CMF1_hacker

georgios1 personally, I believe that I’m paying around a £2-300 premium on a £1k Apple product for macOS and Apple design language compared to a comparably spec’d PC.

I feel with this phone, I don’t like the word gimmick as I chalk up the GM and two extra buttons as NOTHING design language.

I feel that like macOS, for NOTHING OS and the NOTHING software (essential space/search/etc..) that I’m paying a 25% premium again, like Apple, and I’m fully OK with that as I know what I’m getting into.

People that disagree with that seems to employ the word “gimmick.”

I do use Ubunutu-power workstations with 2xA4000 GPUs each from Dell when I really need to get some simulation done (same price as an iMac … £2200 per machine).

So, I understand the value proposition of each use and the way NOTHING has balanced the NP3 suits me (don’t care about specs and want the better OS and “gimmicks.”)

Anonymous931

georgios1 The Nothing software certainly worths paying a premium over any other Android based OS.

Pixel. Then Nothing. OneUI is also amazing in optimisation and performance, although bloated as hell with everything existing packed in (needed and not needed, it’s all there).

CMF1_hacker

Anonymous931 I haven’t used/owned a pixel myself except when using/seeing other Pixels but I have never viewed anything minimal like Nothing OS. I’m sure it’s possible but if it’s not widespread I would surmise that it would be nowhere as refined as what NOTHING offers.

georgios1

Anonymous931 I own a Pixel 8 Pro and the software is not great. Almost zero customisation, the Google launcher is the worst launcher I have ever used, there is not a single interesting widget, fingerprint scanner is not great at all, I had to add the same finger multiple times to make it work, battery is not amazing, there are occasional lags (possibly because of powerless CPU). Pixel is top in terms of camera algorithms and software upgrades.

OneUI depends on which device it runs. If it is flagship device then it performs extremely well, if not then… good luck! It is extremely bloated as you said. OneUI positively surprised me on a S25+ about how extremely smooth gaming is, smoother than OP13 and Nothing Phone 3, games feel amazing, they perform great, similarly to Redmagic 10 Pro