Things are looking grim for the Nothing Phone (4b) – to have a fighting chance, the phone needs a price cut and it needs it now. The results from last week’s poll show this quite clearly. Even if the phone gets good reviews – and that’s a big “if” given its specs – few people would be converted into fans.
What went wrong? Well, in last week’s poll we compared the (4b) to the Nothing Phone (4a) – but one commenter says that we should have compared it to the older Nothing Phone (3a). Oof.
There are many pain points – slow, non-expandable storage, relatively weak chipset, only 3 OS updates, small camera sensor and, of course, the pricing.
Some people are considering getting the (4a) instead as the price premium is usually quite small. Or nonexistent if you find a promo, though more often than not we’re seeing the 12/256GB variant discounted.
Hey, at least the (4a) has a 12/256GB variant – the (4b) is available in an 8/128GB configuration almost exclusively, the one exception being the 8/256GB variant for India. India also gets a bigger battery, 6,000mAh vs. 5,200mAh for the rest of the world. Here’s the price table from last time (not including any discounts and promos that you may find).
| Nothing Phone | (3a) Lite | (4b) | (4a) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU | €250 | €330 | €350 |
| UK | £250 | £300 | £380 |
| IN | – | ₹35,000 | ₹40,000 |
Of course, there are plenty of mid-rangers to choose from – ones that stand out with their cameras or their chipsets or their batteries. Those present an even bigger hurdle than the (4a), judging by the poll results.
Carl Pei and co. better go back to the drawing board – with no new flagship this year and the cancellation of the CMF Phone 3 Pro, Nothing only has the Phone (4a) and (4a) Pro this year. The (4b) will land without a splash.
