What the Nothing Phone (4b) Is and Where It Fits
The Nothing Phone (4b) is a budget-focused mid-range smartphone that combines a transparent phone design, Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 performance and streamlined hardware, including a single rear camera, to sit below Nothing’s A-series while remaining above its CMF-branded entry devices in both features and positioning. Nothing has now confirmed the Phone (4b) name and a July 7 launch, with the device set to debut in several markets as the first entry in the new B-series naming scheme. Co-founder Akis Evangelidis has explained that the number refers to generation while the letter maps to segment, making the 4b a fourth-generation, budget-leaning model. In practice, that means a more affordable alternative to the Phone (4a) line but one that still carries the core Nothing identity rather than being pushed to CMF.
Confirmed Nothing Phone 4b Specs: Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 and Android 16
On the hardware side, the Nothing Phone 4b specs are now clearer thanks to a Geekbench listing. The phone, under model number A009P, is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 paired with 8GB of RAM and runs Android 16 out of the box. In Geekbench 6, it scores 1,088 in single-core, 3,155 in multi-core and 2,896 in OpenCL, pointing to balanced Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 performance for everyday use and mid-level gaming with the Adreno 810 GPU. The CPU cluster reportedly mixes cores clocked at 2.30GHz, 2.21GHz and 1.80GHz, which should help with efficiency when the phone is not under heavy load. According to MyMobile India, this configuration positions the Phone (4b) as “one of the first affordable smartphones” to ship with Android 16, giving it a software edge in the budget smartphone launch wave expected later this year.
Design: Transparent Aesthetic, Light Strip and Single Camera
Design remains central to Nothing’s strategy, and the Phone (4b) keeps the transparent phone design that defines the brand. Sketch-style teasers show the familiar lines on the back panel and a prominent camera island. Earlier images suggested a single rear camera surrounded by Nothing’s visual flourishes, which would be a first for the company’s phones. While a newer sketch hints at a pill-shaped vertical camera module that could physically fit more than one sensor, leaks and reports still expect a single main camera as part of broader cost cutting. The camera island also includes a horizontal strip similar to the lighting element on the Nothing Phone (4a), signaling that some form of glyph-like light strip will carry over to the B-series even if its exact function is not confirmed. This mix of pared-back hardware and signature styling is how Nothing aims to stand out in the budget mid-range.
B-Series Strategy, CMF Phone 3 Pro Cancellation and Pricing Context
The Nothing Phone (4b) is more than a one-off; it inaugurates the B-series that Evangelidis describes as a new tier between A-series flagships and CMF devices. That positioning became more important after Nothing scrapped the CMF Phone 2 Pro successor and reportedly cancelled the CMF Phone 3 Pro amid RAM and memory supply challenges. The 4b effectively moves a key budget smartphone launch back under the core Nothing brand, relying on familiar design while trimming hardware like the camera count. In some markets, device pricing now sits in a narrow band between the higher-end Nothing Phone 4a and cheaper CMF models. Meanwhile, earlier A-series and CMF phones have seen price increases after a “memory crisis,” with Nothing’s co-founder Carl Pei stating that memory has become the most expensive component and that costs have doubled twice since the Phone 4a was planned.
