Nothing Phone (4b) is not a rebranded CMF Phone 3 Pro, says Carl Pei
Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl Pei has denied speculation that their latest launch, the Nothing Phone 4b, was originally a CMF smartphone that was moved under the Nothing brand. In a reaction video on Nothing’s official YouTube channel, Pei said the Phone 4b is instead the direct successor to the Phone 3a Lite, with Nothing simplifying its naming as it expands the number of phones in its lineup.
“It’s not like a CMF product redirected,” Pei said while responding to the theory. He also clarified that the ‘b’ in Phone 4b does not specifically stand for “budget”, but was chosen as a simpler way to create a tier below the standard and ‘a’ series.
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No CMF phone this year
The speculation gained traction after CMF confirmed that it would not launch a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro in 2026. Nothing and CMF co-founder Akis Evangelidis said the company had been working on a successor but cancelled it because rising RAM and storage costs made it difficult to deliver a meaningful upgrade without significantly increasing the price.
The timing left questions about how Nothing would fill the gap at the more affordable end of its smartphone lineup. However, the definition of affordable now is another story. The Nothing Phone 4b launched in India in July at Rs 34,999 and now starts at Rs 39,999, while the Nothing Phone 4a starts at Rs 44,999 after launching at Rs 31,999.
There is some evidence behind Pei’s description of the 4b as a Phone 3a Lite successor. The Phone 3a Lite launched in India in November 2025 at Rs 20,999 and featured a 6.77-inch display. The newer model retains that screen size while bringing a Super AMOLED panel, a larger 6,000mAh battery compared with the older phone’s 5,000mAh unit, and longer software support.
However, the upgrade is not that straightforward. The Phone 3a Lite used the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro, with a higher maximum clock speed of 2.5GHz, while the Phone 4b uses the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 clocked at up to 2.3GHz. The newer phone drops the 2MP macro camera from the older triple-camera setup and instead focuses on its 50MP main and 8MP ultrawide cameras.
The price difference is also significant. The Phone 4b’s current Rs 39,999 starting price is almost twice the Phone 3a Lite’s original Rs 20,999 price, although rising component costs and changes to the hardware and software support make a direct price comparison less meaningful.
Our first impressions of the Phone 4b also noted it being designed as a Nothing product. It uses a transparent camera island with Glyph lights and takes design cues from the Phone 4a Pro and Phone 3a. The polycarbonate frame and a small circular indentation on the rear may have contributed to comparisons with CMF, but the overall design follows Nothing’s established visual language.
However, with many price hikes, the Phone 4b now sits close to the Nothing Phone 4a in price, making the differences between the two more important. The 4b’s larger battery is a key advantage, while the Phone 4a offers a telephoto camera and higher-end hardware. The hardware changes and its place in Nothing’s lineup support Pei’s description of the Phone 4b as the successor to the Phone 3a Lite, although the near-doubling of the launch price means it is not a like-for-like replacement. Pei also says the new phone is selling strongly, with early sales tracking at roughly twice Nothing’s internal targets.
