Nothing phone (1) is powered by the Snapdragon 778G+, black colorway revealed

What you need to know

• With the launch just around the corner, the Noting phone (1) chipset has been confirmed by Carl Pei.
• According to Pei, the phone (1) will be powered by the Snapdragon 778G+.
• Pei suggests that the mid-range chipset is the "most balanced choice" in a recent tweet.
• A black colorway has also been revealed in a set of images.

Nothing phone (1) is the most anticipated smartphone that is all set to launch on July 12. Over the past few weeks leading to the announcement, we have seen much of what to expect from the debutant smartphone. Nothing has already confirmed plenty of details, and Carl Pei has now confirmed the processor powering the device.

Pei told Input that the phone (1) would come with a Snapdragon 778G+ chipset. The 7-series octa-core processor from Qualcomm features a Kryo 670 CPU and an Adreno 642L GPU. The said SoC is an upgraded version of the existing Snapdragon 778G, featured in phones like Realme GT Master Edition 5G and Samsung Galaxy A73 5G, which translates to slight improvements in clock speeds.

Pei further explains the reason behind opting for a mid-range chipset instead of getting a flagship processor like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. He believes choosing the new 778G+ chipset would ultimately reduce costs in favor of achieving good performance and power consumption. Pei further believes that mid-range phones have reached a point suitable enough to undergo day-to-day tasks with ease. He further adds that the power-hungry premium chips are bringing less than impressive returns despite their high pricing.

Pei notes the chipset is more power-efficient, which translates to battery life on the phone (1). The SoC is said to bring up to 30% improvement in performance, heat dissipation, and energy-saving abilities when compared to its predecessor.

The 778G+ processor also brings other enhancements to the phone (1). It enables wireless and reverse wireless charging capabilities on the phone (1), features usually seen in flagship SoC(s) from the chipset maker.

As a follow-up, Pei tweeted a photo implying the Snapdragon 778G+ SoC is the "most balanced choice." That said, phone (1) is not the first phone to choose the Snapdragon 778G+ processor, which has already been found in phones like the Motorola Edge 30 and Xiaomi Civil 1S.

With the new Qualcomm chipset confirmation from Carl Pei, it appears the first phone from Nothing won't quite take on the top Android phones like the OnePlus 10 Pro or the Galaxy S22 Ultra, for that matter. However, based on what we know of the Nothing phone (1), the expected price is likely under $500; therefore, we should be anticipating an all-around performance from the mid-range device with the new 7-series chipset from Qualcomm.

Aside from the SoC, the phone (1) includes a translucent design similar to ear (1) — the first product announced last year by the company. One impressive feature to look forward to on the phone (1) is the Glyph interface, backed by several LED lights (around 900, to be precise) on the rear of the transparent phone, which are meant to give new life to notification lights.

While we've seen plenty of images of the phone (1) in white, a recent tweet from Roland Quandt of WinFuture reveals a new black colorway that appears more striking with the contrasting LEDs.

While the exciting new features are building up anticipation on the phone (1) ahead of the launch, it is sad to see that it won't be coming to the U.S. The company is planning to launch the smartphone in select markets like the U.K., Europe, and India.