Nothing Phone 4B Review | Should You Buy It or Not?

720p display. IPS LCD panel. 4GB RAM. These are three things you never want to hear about a new phone — and the good news is the Nothing Phone 4B has none of them. This is Nothing's most affordable phone yet, part of a brand-new "B series" line, and I spent a full week using it as my daily driver. Here's my honest, point-by-point breakdown.
- 6.77" 1080p AMOLED display, 120Hz, hits 1,800 nits peak brightness
- Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chip with 8GB RAM on the base model
- 50MP main camera with OIS, decent in daylight and indoors
- Massive 6,000mAh battery — Nothing's biggest ever — with 33W charging
- Starts at ₹29,999, with 3 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches
- Bright, sharp AMOLED display with 120Hz and always-on support
- Genuinely loud, full-sounding dual stereo speakers
- Smooth day-to-day performance with no lag or crashes
- Huge 6,000mAh battery that easily lasts a full day
- Clean software with long update support and no ads
- No NFC, no eSIM in India, no microSD card slot
- Struggles with heavy games like Genshin Impact
- Haptics feel weak and need real attention to notice
- Camera detail drops noticeably when you zoom in
- Camera app occasionally fails to rotate the preview properly
1Design and Build Quality
Unbox it and your first thought will probably be "this looks a lot like the Phone 4a Pro" — and you'd be right. Here's what stands out:
- Familiar design: Nearly identical back panel to the 4a Pro, but the dimple near the camera now lines up properly with the cutout
- Plastic unibody: No metal this time, but it still feels premium in hand, not cheap
- Weight: 210g — not the lightest, but it doesn't feel tiring to hold
- Glyph Lights: Five vertical LED squares instead of seven, but brightness and functionality are unchanged, and the red recording LED is still there
- Durability: IP64 rated for light splashes, Dragontrail glass on front, with a pre-applied screen protector in the box
- Colours: Blue, white, and black — blue is my personal favourite
2Display and Speakers
This is where you'll spend most of your time, and Nothing hasn't cut corners:
- Panel: 6.77-inch, 1080p AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate and an optical in-display fingerprint scanner
- Brightness: Hit 1,800 nits in testing — even higher than Nothing's official claim, and easily readable in direct sunlight
- HDR playback: Looks sharp and vivid on both YouTube and Prime Video
- Speakers: Proper dual stereo speakers that sound louder and fuller than you'd expect at this price, thanks to a dedicated top speaker grille instead of just the earpiece
- Bezels: Thinner on top and sides than the CMF Phone 3 Pro and Phone 3 Lite, though the chin is a touch thicker
- Extras: Always-on display included
3Performance
A full week of daily use, and the phone stayed reliably smooth. Here's the breakdown:
- Chip: Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, paired with 8GB RAM even on the base variant
- Storage: 128GB or 256GB, UFS 2.2 with LPDDR4X RAM
- Benchmarks: Just above 1 million on AnTuTu
- Real-world test: Handled Android Auto, hotspot tethering, music, and app-switching over a 2-hour drive without heating up or slowing down
- Gaming: Steady 90 FPS in Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI; struggles with heavier titles like Genshin Impact
- Minor issues: Animations aren't quite as smooth as the 4a/4a Pro, and the camera preview occasionally doesn't rotate correctly — likely fixable with a software update
4Software
Runs on Nothing OS 4.1 based on Android 16. Key points:
- Update promise: 3 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches
- Clean experience: No ads, no lock screen clutter — just 3 uninstallable pre-installed apps (Facebook, Instagram, Amazon Music)
- Essential Voice: Converts speech into formatted text inside any app with a keyboard — long-press the Essential key to use it, and it can translate on the fly
- Glyph live activities: Track things like a Zomato delivery right on the Glyph strip
- Haptics: The weak point — vibrations are there but easy to miss, and cranking up the intensity makes them feel too harsh instead of better
5Camera
A simple three-camera setup: 50MP main with OIS, 8MP ultrawide, and a 16MP selfie camera.
- Daylight: Punchy colours, well-handled HDR, genuinely pleasant photos
- Zoomed-in shots: Noticeably softer, with less fine detail
- Indoor shots: Surprisingly good in several test shots
- Night photos: Decent colour reproduction, but grain and softness appear once you zoom in
- Portraits: Skin tones could be better, though edge detection is solid
- Video: 4K at 30fps with rich colours, plus a dual capture mode for simultaneous front and rear recording, and decent walking stabilisation
Verdict: Not the best cameras in this segment, not the worst either — solidly in the middle.
6Battery and Charging
This is where the 4B genuinely stands out:
- Battery size: 6,000mAh — the biggest Nothing has ever fitted into a phone
- Real-world use: Comfortably lasts more than a day with normal use
- Screen-on time: Averaged around 6.5 hours in testing (Instagram, YouTube, gaming, photography)
- Charging speed: Up to 33W, taking about 1 hour 40 minutes from 20% to 100%
7Connectivity
- Network: No call drops or connectivity issues on either Airtel or Jio
- Included: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6, and support for nine 5G bands
- Missing: No NFC, no eSIM support in India, and no microSD card slot
8Nothing Phone 4B Price and Verdict
For that price, you get 8GB RAM on the base model, a 1080p AMOLED display, a main camera with OIS, good stereo speakers, a huge battery, and strong software support.
Is it the phone we would have dreamed of a year ago? Probably not. But in a genuinely tough year for budget and mid-range phones, this is a well-balanced device. Nothing seems to understand that cutting corners on the basics isn't the answer — it just makes a phone frustrating to use. Giving people a properly usable phone instead of just the cheapest one seems like the smarter move, and honestly, the only sensible one.
9Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.77" 1080p AMOLED, 120Hz, always-on display |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
| RAM / Storage | 8GB RAM (base), 128GB / 256GB UFS 2.2 |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main (OIS) + 8MP ultrawide |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| Battery | 6,000mAh, 33W wired charging |
| Software | Nothing OS 4.1 (Android 16), 3-yr OS + 6-yr security updates |
| Build | Plastic unibody, IP64, Dragontrail glass |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6, 9 5G bands, no NFC/eSIM/microSD |
| Price | Starts at ₹29,999 |
10Frequently Asked Questions
No. In India, it skips NFC, eSIM, and a microSD card slot entirely.
Its 6,000mAh battery comfortably lasts more than a day of regular use, averaging around 6.5 hours of screen-on time in testing.
It runs Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI smoothly at 90 FPS, but heavier titles like Genshin Impact push it to its limits. It's not built as a dedicated gaming phone.
It starts at ₹29,999 with launch offers.
Yes, if you want a bright AMOLED display, a big battery, decent cameras, and clean software without paying flagship prices — it's a solid, well-rounded pick in its segment.