The smartphone landscape has shifted significantly over the last few seasons. Gimmicks and flashy specifications are no longer enough to win over a community that values long-term reliability and everyday usability. Consumers are smarter now; they look past marketing hyperbole and demand hardware that functions seamlessly as a daily driver. For London-based technology brand Nothing, this shift represents an opportunity to double down on their distinct design language while lowering the barrier to entry into their ecosystem. The announcement of the Nothing Phone (4b) marks the debut of a new tier for the company, distilling the core experiences of their higher-end devices into a more accessible package.
Nothing Phone (4b): Balancing Form, Function, and Real-World Usability
At first glance, the standard Nothing Phone (4b) is a clear continuation of the design philosophy that has defined the brand since its inception. It balances visual simplicity with tactile precision, blending a refined Glyph Bar with a highly durable unibody construction. Rather than overwhelming the user with unnecessary visual clutter, the back of the device feels clean and structured. The crystal-clear soft polymer camera module features smooth 3D curved edges that melt into an eco-polycarbonate unibody, offering a fingerprint-resistant texture that feels secure in the hand.
Beyond aesthetics, the focus here is squarely on daily resilience. Rated IP64 for dust and water resistance and engineered to withstand significant bending force, the chassis is built to handle the heavy demands of a life in constant motion. The signature transparent architecture is available in Black, White, and Blue, showcasing the internal components with exceptional visual precision.
The user experience is anchored by a 6.77-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. By utilising per-pixel light control, the panel delivers incredibly deep blacks and accurate colour reproduction, making media consumption and text scanning an effortless experience. Under direct sunlight, the screen handles ambient brightness with ease, peaking at 2,000 nits to prevent imagery from appearing clipped or washed out.
Phone (4b) RCB Edition
For sports and tech enthusiasts alike, the lineup expands with a highly specialised variant. Celebrating Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s historic second IPL title, Nothing has introduced the Phone (4b) RCB Edition. This marks the brand’s first official partnership with the cricket club, translating the energy of the sport into hardware design.
This variant features an exclusive crimson colourway that sets it apart from the standard lineup, adorned with bespoke RCB branding that integrates seamlessly with the clear back panel. Delivered in premium collector’s edition packaging, this device serves as a bridge between technology and community sports fandom. It maintains the exact same performance and durability metrics as the standard model, ensuring that the visual flair is matched by uncompromised internal capability.
Sustained Performance and Intentional Software
Powering the device is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 mobile platform. Built on an advanced 4nm process, this chipset provides exceptional sustained performance and improved thermal management during heavy workloads like gaming or 4K video recording. To keep things running smoothly, Nothing has integrated a massive 4,400 mm2 vapour chamber that prevents thermal throttling, allowing titles like League of Legends: Wild Rift to run at high frame rates without turning the phone into a finger-warmer.
The hardware is deeply intertwined with Nothing OS 4.1, running on Android 16. The software remains clean, fast, and free of unnecessary bloatware, offering unique touches like a precise 160-level volume control system and micro-shifting technology to protect the longevity of the display panel. With a commitment to three years of major Android updates and six years of security patches, this ecosystem is clearly built for longevity, ensuring that independent creators and daily users can rely on their tech passing the test of time.
Smart Integration and Availability
The software experience is elevated by a complete suite of Essential AI tools that run natively on the device, accelerating tasks from voice recognition to computational photography via the TrueLens Engine 4. The main 50MP OIS camera combined with an ultrawide sensor delivers crisp, true-to-life images with balanced highlights and deep shadow detail, processing up to 13 RAW frames simultaneously through automated HDR workflows.
The entire experience is supported by a 5,200mAh battery—the largest ever included in a Nothing device—delivering up to 18 hours of heavy daily use.
While regional pricing and availability metrics for the Malaysian market will be finalised at a later date, the Phone (4b) series represents a thoughtful, sincere effort to make purposeful technology more accessible to the next generation of users. The Phone (4b) with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage is currently on pre-order for £299 (approx. RM1,628) in the U.K., ₹29,999 (approx. RM1285.37) in India and €329 (approx. RM1531.40) in Europe.
