T
he Nothing Phone (4b) showed up on Geekbench this week under model number A009P. What the listing indicates isn't unexpected exactly, but it is clarifying.
This is a cheap phone. Nothing's first real one, actually, under the Nothing name.
The gadget runs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 (SM6650), 8GB of RAM, Adreno 810 GPU, and Android 16 out of the box.
Geekbench 6 scores: 1,088 single-core, 3,155 multi-core, 2,896 on OpenCL.
Now here's the bit folks will pass over. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is the same chip inside the OPPO K13 5G, which launched at ₹17,999. Same chip in the Realme P3 5G, which debuted at ₹16,999.
So when Nothing rates the 4b somewhere between ₹25,000 and ₹30,000, the silicon tells you precisely where that gap is going: the design, the software, and the name on the back.
Not a critique. Just the math.
Nothing killed CMF this year. Co-founder Akis Evangelidis stated it openly: growing RAM and storage costs make the CMF Phone 3 Pro impossible to price without either raising the bill or cutting shortcuts.
So CMF, the full sub-brand created to own the cheap end, got scrapped for 2026.
The 4b is filling that place now, just under the Nothing logo instead of CMF's. Evangelidis also spelled out the new name logic: numbers are generations, characters are segments. The 4a stays premium. The 4b sits below it.
It's less a product launch and more a stealthy reworking of how Nothing thinks about its lineup. Honestly more intriguing than whatever the benchmark results suggest.
Whether it's intelligent planning or damage control from the CMF crisis, certainly a bit of both.
Photo: @Nothing
Nothing has been tight-lipped. The only items publicly out are a sketch-style teaser and a Flipkart webpage announcing July 7.
The design is undeniably nothing. Transparent back, exposed internals, that whole style that makes the item look like it fell out of a concept art deck.
Teaser sketches reveal a rectangular camera block with a large vertical oval module with area for numerous sensors, plus a separate notch that's possibly flash and focusing. Early leaks stated a single rear camera; current renders say otherwise. Nothing has proven nothing, which is kind of on-brand at this point.
What stays consistent: 120Hz AMOLED, Android 16, a battery somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 mAh (big range, yes, but at least it won't be a 4,500), and some LED strip on the rear.
Full Glyph Interface? Unclear. A stripped-down version feels more likely at this price point.
Launch is July 7, 4:00 PM IST. Flipkart is the principal channel, and Reliance Digital and Vijay Sales are offline later.
If you compare AnTuTu scores before buying, this phone isn't for you. Poco and iQOO have been selling phones with this chip or better for much under ₹20,000.
Realme shoppers aren't crossing over for a logo.
But the 4B isn't really selling the chip. It's selling the transparent design that still turns heads, Nothing OS, which is actually one of the cleaner Android builds out there, and Android 16 on day one, which means more than people think considering how long most brands sit on updates.
If that package sounds worth the cost to you, it probably is.
Nothing pulled off something interesting here. They lost CMF, the sub-brand designed to hold down the budget end, and instead of scrambling, they used it as an excuse to plant the main Nothing flag lower in the market without it feeling frantic.
Most brands that try to go downmarket merely appear cheap. Nothing at least has the design language to pull it off.
July 7 will tell us if the actual phone lives up to the move.
