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Nothing Beats Phone 4b with Ear 3a?
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Nothing Phone 4b: The Budget Phone That Wasn't Supposed to Exist
At 18:04 · chapter starts 16:07
The Nothing Phone 4b is a phone that probably shouldn't exist under this name. David's source confirmed what Marques theorised in his review: the device was originally blueprinted as the CMF Phone 3 Pro, but skyrocketing RAM prices made it impossible to hit the CMF price point without selling at a loss — and nobody would accept a CMF branded device at Nothing-tier pricing. So they invented the B-series [1] — David "Nothing Phone 4b is rebranded CMF phone: A source confirmed to David that the Nothing Phone 4b was originally planned as the CMF Phone 3 Pr…" 17:57 . The result is an AMOLED, 120Hz Android phone with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chip — a low-mid processor whose CPU performance, as Marques's benchmarks show, sits around the same level as Google's Tensor G2 and the 2019 OnePlus 7 Pro. The India SKU adds a 6,000mAh battery and drops NFC; the global version gets 5,200mAh with NFC. The design is divisive — the crew finds it underwhelming for a Nothing device, noting a vestigial circular design element in the corner that betrays its CMF origins. The subreddit is unhappy, but for its price and software experience, Marques argues it beats Moto G and Samsung A-series alternatives.
The Nothing Phone 4b was originally designed as the CMF Phone 3 Pro, but RAM price inflation made it impossible to sell at the CMF price point. So Nothing rebranded it — giving birth to the new B-series and angering the subreddit that expected flagship-level ambition.
A source confirmed to David that the Nothing Phone 4b was originally planned as the CMF Phone 3 Pro but was rebranded because RAM price inflation made it too expensive to sell under the CMF brand.
The India SKU of the Nothing Phone 4b includes a 6,000mAh battery and lacks NFC, while other markets get a 5,200mAh version with NFC.
The Nothing Phone 4b uses a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 — a mid-low-end chip whose CPU performance benchmarks near the much older OnePlus 7 Pro.
CPU benchmarks from Marques's Nothing Phone 4b review revealed that Google's Tensor G2 — found in recent Pixel phones — performs at roughly the same level as the budget Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, which itself matches the CPU score of the OnePlus 7 Pro from 2019.
The Nothing Ear 3a costs $99, matches the original Ear A on price, and earns Andrew's top recommendation for non-iPhone users looking for quality wireless earbuds. Available in white, black, yellow, and new pink colorways, it also adds a novel Audio Snapshot feature for recording calls and media.
