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Nothing Phone (4b) First Impressions: Nothing's New Mid-Range Play Looks Promising
Nothing has spent the last few years strengthening its smartphone lineup with new flagship and mid-range devices. Now, the company is taking a slightly different approach with the Phone (4b), the first smartphone in its all-new 'b' series that's aimed squarely at the mid-range segment. Instead of gutting the unique traits that define the brand, this phone keeps plenty of its flagship DNA. You still get the classic transparent look, the Glyph Bar interface, Nothing OS 4.1, and their latest AI features. Credit: Hook.Online Dropping a phone into the competitive mid-range bracket is a massive challenge right now. Soaring component prices and a tight global RAM market means every brand has to cut corners. Nothing and its sub-brand CMF know this struggle very well. My initial hands-on time suggests that Nothing picked the right trade-offs for the Phone(4b). While the full review will cover the long-term details, for now, here are my immediate first thoughts. Nothing Phone (4b): Cost and Configurations Nothing is launching the Phone (4b) in White, Black and Blue colourways. Buyers can choose between two storage setups: a standard 8GB+128GB model at ₹34,999 and an upgraded 8GB+256GB edition for ₹38,999. Credit: Hook.Online To sweeten the deal at launch, introductory offers include a 7.5 per cent immediate bank price cut and trade-in bonuses that drop the effective entry points to ₹29,999 and ₹33,699, respectively. Open sales kick off on July 14, with stock landing across Flipkart, Reliance Digital, Croma, Vijay Sales and certified brick-and-mortar storefronts. Nothing Phone (4b) Design: Redefining a Familiar Look Nothing has made a name for itself by rejecting the boring, copycat designs that clutter the phone market. The Phone (4b) doubles down on that philosophy. It takes major cues from the Phone (4a) Pro, sticking with a sleek unibody build and that recognisable transparent back. The main twist this time is a slightly reshaped camera housing that cleanly swallows up the new Glyph Bar. Plastic phones often get a bad rap, but this all-polycarbonate chassis doesn't feel cheap at all. A matte texture does the heavy lifting to keep oily fingerprints from ruining the look, while a textured section near the top gives it some extra visual pop. On top of that, the curved sides mean it won't dig into your palm during long marathons of scrolling. Credit: Hook.Online What really stands out is how tough and solid the phone feels. I tried twisting and pressing it, but noticed no flex or annoying creaks. That kind of structural integrity is rare for a plastic device. The Glyph Bar remains a personal favourite feature, and it is far more than a flashy gimmick. It lets me keep track of ongoing timers, battery top-ups, and app alerts without forcing me to wake the screen. I also appreciate that Nothing kept the small red recording light from its pricier flagships. It is a tiny detail, but it keeps the brand's identity intact. The phone lands an IP64 dust and water resistance rating, and the new frame layout reportedly fights off bending much better than the older model. I will hold off on a final verdict until I put it through the wringer, but early testing bodes well for daily durability. Nothing Phone (4b) Display: A Bright, Fluid Screen Experience I have only spent some limited time with the Phone (4b), and it’s a 6.77-inch FullHD+ Super AMOLED display, and honestly, it holds up pretty well at first glance. The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate keeps UI animations and scrolling buttery smooth without killing the battery. That is exactly what you want. Everything from my social feeds to streaming videos looks incredibly sharp. Credit: Hook.Online Sure, a few buyers might complain about the FullHD+ resolution, and so do I. At this price, a sharper 1.5K panel would have been awesome. But component costs are skyrocketing lately, so I get why Nothing chose a well-rounded package over a few extra pixels. It is a fair compromise. Now, even though it is just an 8-bit panel, the colour reproduction looks great. Nothing did over-saturate things, and you still get those deep, inky blacks and striking contrast that AMOLED is famous for. Daylight brightness seemed solid during my initial run, but I will need to take it out under truly brutal, harsh sunlight before giving a definitive verdict. For now, it is just a really enjoyable screen to look at. Nothing Phone (4b) Camera Check: First Thoughts The hardware here is pretty straightforward. Nothing went with a 50MP Samsung main sensor loaded with OIS and EIS, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 16MP camera for selfies. It is definitely not a spec sheet that screams groundbreaking, but the actual shooting experience really caught me off guard. Credit: Hook.Online Photos from the main lens look great. The level of detail is high, but what I actually loved was the colour tuning. Nothing did not go crazy with saturation, so images stay realistic while holding onto plenty of deep contrast. The HDR handles tricky spots nicely, saving detail in bright skies and dark shadows without making the final image look fake or over-edited. The ultra-wide takes a hit in pure sharpness, which is typical, but the colours match up with the main sensor quite well. Credit: Hook.Online Selfies in daylight show off accurate skin tones and clean facial details. For video, you get 4K at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps, alongside Ultra XDR, slow-mo, and a dual-recording feature. Credit: Hook.Online I still need to push the stabilisation and low-light performance over the next few days to see how it really holds up, so stay tuned for the final review. Nothing Phone (4b) Performance & Gaming: Early Take The internal specs look decent. Nothing has packed a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chipset inside the Phone (4b), pairing it with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. They are claiming some solid CPU and GPU bumps over the older model. To back that up, a massive vapour chamber cooling setup is built in to handle heat when things get intense. Credit: Hook.Online Nothing also mentions that it can push BGMI to 90fps, while lighter titles like Wild Rift or Subway Surfers can go up to 120fps. With a 1,000Hz touch sampling rate and dual stereo speakers, the hardware checks all the right boxes for casual gaming. On paper, everything is there for a snappy daily experience. Honestly, my brief time testing it showed exactly that. Apps snap open quickly, bouncing between tasks is seamless, and the camera fires off instantly. It just runs fine. That said, the real test is still ahead. I still have to run my usual benchmark suite, check for thermal throttling, and log serious gaming sessions before dropping a final verdict. Nothing Phone (4b) Software: A Familiar Highlight The software remains a massive selling point for Nothing, and the Phone (4b) keeps that momentum going. Out of the box, you get Nothing OS 4.1 built on top of Android 16. It offers the exact same minimal, clean UI that you usually find on their pricier devices. Thankfully, the company did not strip out features to save cash, loading this budget phone with the same Essential AI tools as the flagships. You get tools like Essential Search, Essential Voice, and Essential Space right here. Live Updates is back too, linking up with the rear Glyph Bar to show helpful alerts for food drop-offs, navigation directions, or calendar notes. I also really like the new Soundscape widget, which is perfect if you want ambient noise playing while you focus or unwind. Support looks rock-solid as well. Nothing promises three years of core Android platform upgrades alongside six years of security patches, giving buyers massive peace of mind for the future. Nothing Phone (4b) Battery Life and Charging Speeds The battery is easily one of the standout features on the Phone (4b). Units that will be sold in India will get a massive 6,000mAh cell, which is the biggest capacity Nothing has ever put inside a smartphone. In my initial testing, I had no issues with battery anxiety whatsoever. When you do need to plug in, it supports 33W fast charging. Nothing says you can top it up from 1 to 50 per cent in about 27 minutes, while a full charge takes around 80 minutes. It even handles 7.5W reverse-wired charging if you need to juice up another gadget. I still have to properly benchmark the actual endurance and real-world charging times for the final review, but these early numbers look incredibly promising. Nothing Phone (4b) First Impressions It seems that Nothing has crafted a highly encouraging foundation for its fresh 'b' series. Rather than simply piling on specifications, the brand clearly prioritised everyday balance. The result is a device that combines a unique aesthetic, highly refined software, reliable camera performance, and highly promising battery endurance. Credit: Hook.Online Of course, this being 2026, there’s a lot to be said about the pricing. It would have been great to get a crisper 1.5K display panel and speedier UFS 3.1 storage tech. Surging hardware component costs, mean manufacturers across the board are going to make some tough compromises, so it will be interesting to see how buyers are going to respond to that. I still have to put this handset through our routine benchmark stress tests, monitor gaming frame rates, test the lenses under varied lighting, and measure actual battery drain. But for the moment, the Phone (4b) stands out as a genuinely compelling package, and I am keen to see how it handles our extended testing for the final review.
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