Here's why Nothing is previewing Android 15 on its budget phone before its flagship

Android 15 is coming, and OEMs have begun onboarding users to their beta programs for the upcoming platform update. Nothing announced its Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta program, but curiously, the company is giving its budget device, the Phone 2a, first dibs on the new update instead of its flagship, the Phone 2. Now, the company has shared more details on why it had to give its flagship the snub.

Nothing explains that since it is a young company with a relatively smaller team than established brands working on its software. To maintain quality and pace of development, it has to stagger updates across devices, which allows it to gather feedback, make adjustments, and roll out fixes for devices in its portfolio.

For context, the Nothing Phone 2a has received Nothing OS 3.0 Open Beta access, while the same is coming for the Phone 2 in November and for the Phone 1, Phone 2a Plus, and CMF Phone 1 in December.

Nothing prioritized Phone 2a over Phone 2 because the Phone 2a is one of its newest devices and best-selling phones. This gives the software team a larger sample size for collecting feedback before moving forward to other devices.

Further, much like other Android OEMs, Nothing relies on chipmakers Qualcomm and MediaTek to provide a platform update optimized for specific chipsets. Nothing says that it receives significant support from MediaTek in this process, which has allowed it to move more quickly on devices with a MediaTek SoC. Instead of holding back the beta program for Qualcomm to provide the update for the Phone 2’s SoC, Nothing has gone ahead with the MediaTek-toting Phone 2a as the first device in the Open Beta program.

Nothing also explains why it couldn’t hold back the beta program to get all the devices on board, as that would mean waiting until January and pushing out the stable release even further in the process.

As a silver lining, the explainer mentions that both Phone 2 and Phone 2a will receive the final release of Nothing OS 3.0 simultaneously. Unfortunately, it sounds like the company will be holding back the stable release for Phone 2a just for the sake of Phone 2 users, as Phone 2a has a beta program already live, while Phone 2’s beta program goes live 20 days later, at least.

What are your thoughts on Nothing’s Open Beta program for Nothing OS 3.0? Should the flagship Phone 2 get the update before the mid-range Phone 2a? Let us know in the comments below!