Nothing Phone (4b) confirmed for July 7 — but don't hold your breath for a UK or US release
Nothing has confirmed the Phone (4b) — its cheapest handset yet — will launch on July 7 at 11 AM BST (3:30 PM IST). The announcement comes from Nothing's India division, with a Flipkart microsite already live for the market. No UK or US availability has been announced.
The phone
The Phone (4b) opens a new budget "(b)" tier that sits below the existing Phone (4a), which starts at £349 in the UK. Rumored India pricing lands around ₹25,000 — roughly $300 — though Nothing has not confirmed a figure. The transparent rear panel and Glyph lighting strip appear to carry over from pricier models, but the camera setup has been dialed back: teasers show a single rear camera module, compared with dual shooters on the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Chipset and RAM configurations remain unconfirmed ahead of the July 7 reveal.
Phone (4b).
— Nothing India (@nothingindia) 23 червня 2026
Kept sketching the Phone (4a) series and accidentally made a new phone.
7 July, 3:30 PM. pic.twitter.com/pHqspOmgKH
Why the budget segment is shrinking
The Phone (4b) exists in part because Nothing's budget sub-brand CMF hit a wall. The company cancelled the CMF Phone 3 Pro earlier this year after memory costs made affordable pricing impossible. RAM prices have jumped roughly 130% year-over-year — memory now accounts for around 50% of a smartphone's component costs, up from 10–15% historically. AI infrastructure buildout is hoovering up DRAM and NAND supply meant for consumer devices. To put that in concrete terms: the CMF Phone 2 Pro launched at $230; an equivalent device today would cost $360–420, per gagadget. Nothing co-founder Carl Pei has warned that RAM costs doubled again after March 2026.
Rather than kill the low-cost category entirely, Nothing is folding it under the main brand — hence Phone (4b) instead of a new CMF model. The move lets Nothing hold a higher price point while keeping the transparent design language that sets it apart from POCO, Realme, and Motorola in the budget tier.
What UK and US buyers should know
Right now, the Phone (4b) is an India story. TechRadar notes speculation that the device could effectively be the cancelled CMF Phone 3 Pro, repackaged under the Nothing brand at a higher price. If a global rollout follows, UK buyers can expect pricing above the CMF range — and Gartner forecasts a 13% rise in smartphone prices in the UK and US by end-2026, so waiting is unlikely to get cheaper. Full specs arrive July 7.
