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The recently unveiled Nothing Phone (2) stands out from other phones released in 2023 by featuring an older chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+. The base variant of Nothing Phone (2) comes with a price tag of $599, you might think it’s a good idea to buy but there is one thing you should pay attention to in terms of performance.
Nothing Phone (2) comes with defective Snapdragon chips
It’s important to note that Qualcomm, the designer of the Snapdragon SoCs, does not manufacture them directly. Instead, it collaborates with TSMC, which prints the designs on silicon wafers. During the manufacturing process, around 15-30% of these chips may turn out defective, resulting in a yield of only 70-85%.
The defective chips are usually present in the lower-grade devices and the chips are sold at a lower price point to the OEMs. While Nothing Phone (2) is not a budget friendly option, it still comes with inferior Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC has two variants: SM8475-AB (a worse bin with lower clock speeds) and SM8475-AC (a better bin with higher clock speeds). Nothing Phone (2) employs the inferior SM8475-AB variant, while other 8+ Gen 1 devices use the superior SM8475-AC variant.
This decision seems to have been driven by profit motives, as Carl Pei, the person behind Nothing Phone (2) opted for a worse bin chip with lower clock speeds. Would you like to have LED lights on the back of your phone or better quality processor, is the thing you should ask yourself if you plan to buy Nothing Phone (2).
