Why we chose UFS 2.2 - Phone (3a) Series

Raymond · 2025-03-20T11:04:00+00:00

Every smartphone we build is about balance. It is a constant trade-off between performance, cost, and real-world experience. No device can have the absolut...

MrutyunjaySahoo_NgSI3pmlwB

Tutiya banake uska explanation dena thoda casual tha🤡🤡🤣

RaviKumar_5l0laVScAX

Akshay_IVY6ceGfY5 first of all the hardware d/f b/w iphone 13 & 16 is like ground and sky, but if you compare at a price which it is current selling with any android phone with same you will see change and smoothness between phone,

And you said you have nothing phone 3a go and compare it with you any friend ufs 3.1 phones go and see the i think then you will find the answer.

RaviKumar_5l0laVScAX

do_not_reply

RaviKumar_5l0laVScAX first of all the hardware d/f b/w iphone 13 & 16 is like ground and sky, but if you compare at a price which it is current selling with any android phone with same you will see change and smoothness between phone,

And you said you have nothing phone 3a go and compare it with you any friend ufs 3.1 phones go and see the i think then you will find the answer

For another person - yes you deserve ufs 4.0 phone with SD Elite with poor software and tons of overloaded and lots of ads with cheap rate. U deserve it.

For 3rd person - tutiya tutiya bol k sher ni bnte mittar.

Akshay_IVY6ceGfY5

RaviKumar_5l0laVScAX

yaar i think you decided to not accept the fact… ok let it be.

its 2.2 bro you are understanding… may be with software optimization it will sustain for year of year and half…

3.1 actually has its benefits thats why technology exists… even nothing knows it … that why they gave it in there high end devices! insted of me asking this.. ask your nothing only .

do you think with out any testing and comparison i was talking here ?

a global company dont have to respond to the criticism but they did because they know it is impacting sales! if it is no impact sales will be huge and company dont need to answer because sales it self is the best answer.

Thyag

Brgs_Corentin

Don’t the companies have the basic funda of “Customer is King”, so why don’t we leave the option to the users, let them choose. Is it tough to provide options of 2 different models with different storages, when it can be done with RAM why can’t be it done with storage ?

Brgs_Corentin

Thyag

Yes, it is possible to have models in between, as you say, with RAM between 8 and 12 GB, just as you have 128 and 256 GB of storage.The issue here is not the storage itself but the type of memory technology used, and companies are not going to bother giving a choice of total customization of the technologies used.Otherwise, you have to turn to other brands that allow you to customize the modules you want for your phone.

And besides, your expression “the customer is king” is an old principle which is not entirely valid. We should not forget to take the variations of the complete expression.And besides, your expression the customer is king is an old principle which is not entirely valid, we should not forget to take the variations of complete expression, “The customer is always right, as long as they are not wrong.”

Most companies now are more logical about, Most companies are now more logically focused on “valuing the customer, but also respecting employees and economic viability.”

sh0ck

Raymond
Hey, so I read this post about why they went with UFS 2.2 for the Phone (3a) series, and I’ve got some thoughts. They’re saying it’s all about “balance” and putting resources where they matter—like battery life and display instead of storage speed. Fair enough, but I’m not totally sold. Here’s what’s bugging me:

1. Does it really feel the same?

They claim you won’t notice the difference between UFS 2.2 and 3.1 for stuff like texting or scrolling X. Okay, maybe for basic things, but what about when I’m juggling a bunch of apps or playing something heavy like Genshin? Even if it’s just a split-second lag, that stuff adds up, right?

2. Software can only do so much.

They’re leaning hard on Nothing OS to smooth things out and make UFS 2.2 feel fast. That’s cool, but why not just start with faster storage like UFS 3.1 and then optimize it? Feels like they’re putting a fancy band-aid on an older part instead of going all-in.

3. Those benchmarks… huh?

They compare the Phone (3a) to a Realme phone with UFS 3.1, but they don’t tell us the whole story—like what else is different between them. If the Realme’s got a beefier processor or more RAM, isn’t that skewing things to make UFS 2.2 look better than it is?

4. Future-proofing feels shaky.

They’re brushing off worries about UFS 2.2 getting outdated, saying it’s fine for now and software will keep it going. But apps and games keep getting bigger—think 8K videos or crazy AI stuff. Won’t this phone start feeling slow way sooner than one with UFS 3.1 or even 4.0?

5. Gaming’s my thing.

They say gaming’s smooth on titles like BGMI because of “data management.” But I’ve played games where textures load late, and faster storage totally helps. Are they saying I won’t care about that, or just that it’s not a big deal for most people?

6. Am I getting my money’s worth?

They’re saving cash by not using UFS 3.1, but where’s that money going? If I’m paying for a 2025 phone, I kinda expect modern guts—not something that feels like a compromise, even if the screen’s pretty or the battery lasts longer.

7. What’s “Smart Clean” anyway?

They throw out terms like “NTFS optimisation” and “Smart Clean” to sound clever, but what does that even mean? Are they just tidying up files, or is this some magic trick? Without numbers—like how much faster it makes things—I’m not sure I buy it.

8. AI’s the future, right?

They tie the phone’s AI chops to the Snapdragon chip, but faster storage could help load those fancy AI features quicker. Are they saying UFS 2.2 won’t hold that back at all, even as AI gets bigger in phones?

9. People aren’t dumb.

They admit folks are bummed about UFS 2.2 and now worry it’s not future-proof. That’s not just nitpicking—if other phones in the same price range have UFS 3.1, it’s hard not to feel like Nothing’s lagging behind, no matter how much they hype “real-world performance.”

10. Show me the trade-off!

They say they can’t max out every spec without jacking up the price—makes sense. But what did UFS 2.2 save them, and what’d they spend it on? Did I get an amazing screen or an extra hour of battery? Give me something concrete so I don’t feel shortchanged.

What do you think? I want to like the Phone (3a), but this UFS 2.2 thing has me second-guessing. Am I overthinking it, or are they dodging the real questions?

Thanks for reading!

JIaxyga

sh0ck You are absolutely right 👏

Barbatos

Raymond I don’t really care about the nerdy shutter speed and stuff but please do add lpddr 5 and ufs 4.0 at least on phone 3 if ur gonna cut cost

SunilThori

Why are they justifying it?

UFS 3 is more power efficient, better when searching files in, better in copying file, it’s all round better experience than 2.2 , no matter how much bull shit u speak about it being optimised.

These are test results from pixel device having ufs 2.2 and ufs 3.1 storage. You can judge for urself.

_z_

Raymond

Seriously!

You are Comparing smartphone of 2023 with smartphone released in 2025.

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

sh0ck

_z_ I have already asked the same question few days back.

https://nothing.community/d/27907

Ryan

I actually don’t think this is a problem for this phone. The CMF Phone 1 with the Dimensity 7300 has UFS 2.2 and has no speed issues. In benchmarks there isn’t actually that much difference between the Snapdragon 7s gen 3 and the Dimensity 7300 (maybe 10% benefit to the SD).

I suppose the real question is is the CMF Phone 1 overpowered for it’s price or is the Nothing 3a underpowered?

Unless you’re a hardcore gamer (in which case go and get a gaming phone…) performance won’t be a noticeable issue with the 3a unless there is a software issue. People like to chase specs that make no difference to their usage of the phone.

Nothing do not need to make these posts justifying their decisions, they can make what they want. If the customer isn’t happy with the specs of a product they have the choice not to buy it.

JIaxyga

Ryan Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems you’ve never used a phone with UFS 3.1 or higher. I’ll be honest with you—“you get used to good things quickly”. So when you switch from UFS 3.1 to a phone with UFS 2.2, the difference is immediately noticeable, and it feels awful. That said, if you’ve never experienced UFS 3.1 before, you naturally won’t notice anything wrong

Ryan

JIaxyga You are wrong so I’ll correct you; I’ve owned a Oppo Find x8 Pro and an S24 Ultra. These both use UFS 4.

Don’t assume what’s beneficial to everyone. I’m not sure what your use case is but in my use case it made absolutely no difference.

JIaxyga

Ryan I have the Nothing Phone (1) and (2). Since my (3a Pro) is still on pre-order, I can’t compare them directly yet, but I definitely will once I get it. However, my friend has the (2a) UFS2.2 as well, which he bought on my recommendation — and it’s just awful. I feel so ashamed in front of him because of that. I just don’t want to compare the (1) and (2a), because that would be a fundamentally flawed comparison. MediaTek has a weaker UFS PHY to begin with (trust me, I’m a Linux developer — or at least consider how skillfully Raymond compares the UFS speed of the (3a) and Realme 11 Pro Plus with MediaTek).
All I’m saying is, it feels like the engineers at Nothing don’t actually use their budget devices in daily life. If they did, they’d never make these kinds of decisions. Or maybe the marketing team forced their hand—just to shave a few bucks off the production cost 🤡

Ryan

JIaxyga I agree and disagree with you.

Is the slowness you’re describing a result of the storage, or is it something else? eg. underpowered chipset or software issue? Where are these speed issues you mention occuring?

I genuinely say that using a CMF phone 1 and a Oppo Find x8 pro side by side (which I did do for a while as work and personal phones) there was no meaningful difference to me in operating speed in my day to day tasks. Obviously when I push the devices harder with more intensive loads the difference becomes apparent, but I’m talking day to day usage (emails, web browsing, messaging, camera). I’m a developer and IT professional by trade too and have extensive linux experience.

I’ll stand by my comment that for the average user the 3a will be a perfectly acceptable device. However, and this is a big however, I do not think the specifications of the device are good enough compared to the rest of their product range. A 10% performance increase over the CMF phone released nearly a year ago, that costs less than half of the price of this phone is unacceptable. When compared to the 3a pro the spec to price ratio is even worse.

It seems like to buy this phone the prospective customer must value aesthetics and material choices above all else.

Me personally, I’d prefer high performance in a cheap plastic housing. I don’t really care about the looks of the phone. My reason for interest with Nothing as a company is that I like their OS because it’s not bloated, I like the fact they allow me to unlock the bootloader, I like the underdog and I like their enthusiasm. The flashing lights and see through cases are of little interest to me but are part of the parcel.

JeffreyRivera

wow! Using NTFS on a phone is something new to my ears! Nice one Nothing team!👍

JIaxyga

JeffreyRivera lmao, true 🤣

pixcel25

VinayThakur_uWgnJHi4tw ,true , but then again the community would complain why was the uw camera removed

ShlokRanawade

I just think if they added ufs 3.1 then the cost would go up and every one will complain. If they want to reduce the price they will have to add bloatware and everyone will again complain about software not being clean and say things like, ''I expect to get a phone with no ads if I pay for it 😭.." or something like that.

AND I don’t think they could remove the ultrawide like some people are saying lens cause I am pretty sure the cameras was there biggest focus on this phone.

And personally I am an np2a user and I don’t feel that much slowness or anything ( but I think my opinion in whether it is slow or not does not matter cause I have not used ufs3.1 sooo… I can’t actually tell the difference 😐)

BUT I kinda think they should have added it in np3a pro. And I AM expecting it or something higher it on the np3.

megatomic

I see a lot of cheapskates here. Buy a flagship if you need top tier specs. Phone 3 is coming this summer (assumably).

JIaxyga

megatomic I bet that Phone 3 won’t be a true flagship, just as Phone 2 wasn’t. As expected, it’s powered by last year’s downgraded SoC, mid-range cameras, USB 2.0, lacks alt mode, and doesn’t support UFS 4.1 (apparently, we’ll be very lucky if they opt for UFS 3.1, xD). Also, judging by the rumors, it will feature a MediaTek INSTEAD SoC. As usual.

Phone 1 is the best device Nothing has produced so far, as it was an uncompromising mid-range offering, albeit pricier than its competitors. I’m waiting for a truly genuine, uncompromising flagship, no matter the price.

Ryan I agree with you but it’s exactly the point that a €459 phone (I mean, the 3a Pro) in 2025 is still using UFS2.2. This setup made sense for the budget segment back in the CMF 1 and maybe even in Phone 2a but neverless Phone 2a seems questionable already.

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