Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a Comparison: Which One to Buy?

The Nothing Phone 4b is here! It's the first phone in the company's new (b) series, bringing the same Nothing experience at a slightly pocketable price. But it has many people wondering: how does it compare to the Nothing Phone 4a in terms of specifications, performance, camera and pricing? Let's discuss all that and more in this Nothing Phone 4b and Nothing Phone 4a comparison. 

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Design

• Nothing Phone 4b features a polycarbonate back with transparent design but the Phone 4a has a glass rear panel
• Both devices come with similar 8.6 mm of thickness and IP64 rating for dust and splash protection
• The Phone 4a packs Gorilla Glass 7i protection, while Phone 4b has Dragontrail protection

The Nothing Phone 4a features a transparent glass back with a plastic frame and Gorilla Glass 7i protection at the front. The design looks unique, with the Glyph light setup at the back. But unlike other phones in its segment, it sports an IP64 rating, which is good enough for dust and splash protection.  

The Nothing Phone 4b has a plastic back panel instead of glass and a smaller transparent cutout. If it looks familiar, that's because the Nothing Phone 4a Pro sported a similar see-through window at the top. Meanwhile, the Phone 4b gets the same IP64 rating as the Phone 4a but settles for AGC Dragontrail 2 glass protection on the front. 

The Glyph lighting also takes a hit on the Phone 4b. Both phones use the Glyph Bar system, but the Phone 4a has a strip of six segments plus a red recording indicator, while the Phone 4b trims it down to four LED modules and one indicator. That said, the lights work the same on both devices. 

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Display

• Nothing Phone 4a has a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate
• Phone 4b features a 6.77-inch 1080p AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate
• The Phone 4b only gets 2,000 nits peak brightness, less than Phone 4a's 4,500 nits

The display is the biggest differentiator between the two. The Nothing Phone 4a comes with a 6.78-inch 1.5K LTPS AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. 

The Nothing Phone 4b also features a 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, but the resolution drops to Full HD+, and the peak brightness is noticeably lower at 2,000 nits only. It also sports a thick chin at the bottom of the screen, which is worth pointing out. 

Both phones come with a punch-hole cutout and an in-display fingerprint scanner and show natural-looking colour tones, and neither of them supports HDR on Netflix. But the Nothing Phone 4a clearly wins in this comparison. 

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Hardware 

• Nothing Phone 4b comes with Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor
• The Phone 4a is powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset
• Both come with LPDDR4X RAM, but the Phone 4a features faster UFS 3.1 storage

Coming to performance, the Nothing Phone 4a is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset, also used in the OnePlus Nord CE 6. The Nothing Phone 4b is running on top of the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor.

Both are capable chipsets, but the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 offers a slightly smoother gaming experience over the one used in Phone 4b. But neither of them stands as the best gaming phone under 40,000. 

While both devices run on the same LPDDR4X RAM, Nothing has clearly cut corners in the Phone 4b by using slower UFS 2.2 storage compared to the faster UFS 3.1 storage seen on the Phone 4a. This mainly affects app load times and file transfer speeds in day-to-day use. 

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Software

• The Nothing Phone 4a and Phone 4b come with the NothingOS 4.1 based on Android 16
• Both devices share similar 3 years of major update and 6 years of security patches
• Neither of the two phones come with any extra pre-installed bloatware

Both phones run Nothing OS 4.1 update based on Android 16, and both are promised 3 years of major OS updates and 6 years of security patches. Both offer a nearly stock Android experience with Nothing's signature monochromatic theme on top and some essential customisation features.

The one difference is bloatware. The Phone 4a ships with Instagram and Facebook pre-installed as part of Nothing's decision to bundle these apps on its A-series phones. The Phone 4b keeps those two and adds Amazon Prime Music to the list, making it slightly more cluttered than the other.

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Camera 

• The Nothing Phone 4a and Phone 4b come with a 50 MP main and 8 MP ultrawide cameras
• The Phone 4a also features a 50 MP telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom
• On the front, Phone 4a has a 32 MP selfie camera while the Phone 4b only has a 16 MP shooter

The Nothing Phone 4a has a stronger camera system. It packs a 50 MP main sensor with OIS, a 50 MP periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom, and an 8 MP ultrawide, alongside a 32 MP front camera.

The periscope lens is a genuine advantage, making it one of the best camera phones for its price. The image quality is also solid, and I praised it in my Nothing Phone 4a review. 

On the other hand, the Phone 4b features a simpler dual-camera setup. It has a 50 MP main and 8 MP ultrawide camera with a 16 MP selfie shooter. For video, the Phone 4b main camera allows 4K @ 30 FPS, while the ultrawide and front cameras are limited to 1080p recording only. 

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Battery 

• Nothing Phone 4b has a bigger 6,000mAh battery capacity
• Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone 4a has a slightly smaller 5,400mAh cell
• The Phone 4a supports 50W fast charging, while Phone 4b can charge at a maximum of 33W

The Nothing Phone 4b comes with a large 6,000mAh battery capacity, giving it a clear advantage in this comparison over the Phone 4a's 5,400mAh cell. However, the Phone 4b suffers from a slower charging speed, with 33W wired charging against Phone 4a's 50W max support.

So while the Phone 4b may last longer on a single charge, it will take noticeably longer to top back up.

Nothing Phone 4b vs Phone 4a: Which One Should You Buy?  

It is clear from this comparison that the Nothing Phone 4a is the better all-rounder, with a sharper display, versatile camera system including a periscope zoom lens, faster storage, and quicker charging. If photography, screen quality, and overall performance matter most, it justifies its higher price.

The Nothing Phone 4b makes sense for anyone who wants the Nothing experience, a bigger battery, and long software support at the lowest possible price. The Phone 4b delivers the core Nothing identity for almost Rs 9,000 less. For most buyers on a tight budget, that value proposition will be hard to argue with.