A Mid-Range Phone That Finally Feels High-End Where It Matters
The Nothing Phone 4b is a mid-range smartphone that combines a 6.77-inch 120Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor, 50MP OIS camera, and a 5,200mAh battery at a starting price of £299, targeting buyers who want premium-feeling features without premium pricing.
Nothing has expanded its lineup with the Phone 4b, an even more affordable model sitting below the 4a series but keeping the brand’s distinctive transparent-inspired look and Glyph Bar notification system. Launched globally on 7 July and going on sale from 17 July, it starts at £299 (€329) for international markets. The pitch is clear: this is a mid-range smartphone 2025 buyers will eye when they are tired of four-figure flagships and don’t want to sacrifice good screens, battery life, or design flair. If you are shopping under flagship money, the 4b is not a compromise device; it is Nothing asking why mid-range should feel dull.
Display and Design: Flagship-Like Screen, Standout Glyph Bar
The screen is where the Nothing Phone 4b looks most like a flagship. You get a 6.77-inch Super AMOLED panel with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 1200 nits outdoor brightness, 2000 nits peak brightness and HDR10+ support. In practice, that means scrolling, gaming, and animations match the fluidity you normally expect from far pricier phones, while the OLED tech keeps colours lively and contrast deep. This is a 120Hz OLED display experience that no longer feels reserved for the top tier.
Around the back, Nothing keeps its transparent-inspired ethos with a unibody polycarbonate shell and a simplified Glyph Bar made of 45 individually controlled mini-LEDs that can light up to 3500 nits. That Glyph Bar is more than a gimmick: it gives you glanceable notification patterns and visual ringtones in a sea of lookalike slabs. Add IP64 dust and water resistance, and the 4b looks and feels considered, not cheap, despite its mid-range positioning.
Performance, Battery and Software: Smart Compromises for Everyday Use
Under the hood, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 paired with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage is built for dependable mid-range performance rather than benchmark bragging rights. It is designed to handle everyday multitasking, social apps, streaming and mobile gaming with better power efficiency than previous generations. For most buyers, that is the sweet spot: enough muscle for day-to-day use, without paying for unused flagship overhead.
The 5,200mAh battery on the global model is another key reason this phone makes sense as a daily driver. Official claims promise up to 18 hours mixed usage, 22 hours of YouTube, or 26 hours on Instagram, with 33W wired fast charging and Safe Cell technology to keep things cool and safe. Combined with the efficient Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, Nothing says the Phone 4b can comfortably last a full day of heavy use. On the software side, Nothing OS 4.1 on Android 16 adds Essential AI tools and promises three years of OS updates plus six years of security patches, giving this mid-range phone a longer life than many rivals.
Camera and Creativity: 50MP OIS That Encourages You to Shoot More
The camera hardware reads like a sensible, well-judged spec sheet rather than an arms race. You get a 50MP main sensor with optical and electronic image stabilisation plus an 8MP ultra-wide with a 119-degree field of view. Nothing’s imaging stack, including TrueLens Engine 4 and Ultra XDR imaging with 13 RAW frames, aims to deliver sharp everyday photos without chasing needless megapixel counts. For video, 4K at 30fps with AI anti-shake and dual video capture (front and rear simultaneously) will appeal to vloggers on a budget.
More interesting is how the software leans into creativity. Exclusive Disco and DV filters, Signature Presets, and Playground mode give you a playful toolkit straight out of the box. This is where a mid-range smartphone 2025 buyer wins: a balanced 50MP OIS camera and large battery combination that supports long shooting days instead of draining in the middle of an event. If your priority is dependable social-ready photos and fun video tools, the 4b’s camera setup feels thoughtfully matched to its price, not compromised by it.
Is the Nothing Phone 4b the Right Mid-Range Pick for You?
At £299 (€329), the Nothing Phone 4b clearly aims to undercut four-figure flagships while delivering the basics that matter most to everyday users: a 120Hz OLED display, reliable Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 performance, a 50MP OIS camera, long battery life and long-term software support. It went official on 7 July and will be available globally from 17 July, with some markets still waiting on release details.
If you live in your social feeds, watch hours of video, play moderate games and care about design, the 4b makes more sense than spending three or four times as much on a flagship. You are trading away headline-grabbing chipsets and luxury materials, but gaining a balanced mid-range smartphone that feels modern in the ways that matter daily. The question now is not whether the Nothing Phone 4b is good enough for the midrange—it is whether paying much more for marginal gains still makes sense when phones like this exist.
