If you were expecting a new Nothing flagship this year, that’s not happening. Carl Pei has confirmed in a YouTube video that there will be no Nothing Phone 4 in 2026. Instead, the Nothing Phone 3 will continue as the company’s flagship for another year.
This actually fits Nothing’s pattern. The brand has never rushed its top-end phones – the Phone 3 itself came two years after the Phone 2. So rather than following the usual yearly upgrade cycle, Nothing seems comfortable taking a slower approach. As a result, we won’t see a flagship from the brand until 2027, especially the Nothing Phone 4. “We’re not just going to churn out a new flagship every year for the sake of it, we want every upgrade to feel significant,” Pei said in the video. “Just because the rest of the industry does things a certain way it doesn’t mean we will do the same.”
The spotlight now shifts to the mid-range. Pei confirmed that the Phone 4a series is coming, and it’s expected to see improvements in areas like design, materials, display, and cameras. Performance should also get a lift, with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip and UFS 3.1 storage likely powering the new models. Battery may not see a major upgrade, however, according to recent certifications.
That doesn’t mean Nothing is trying to turn the A series into a flagship replacement. It’s more about offering a better mid-range phone at a time when flagship prices keep going up. Pei also spoke about software, particularly a feature called Essential Space. This tool will let users create their own widgets. It’s currently in alpha testing and should move to beta soon.
On the hardware side, Pei mentioned rising component costs – especially RAM – as AI features become more common. Because of this, Nothing says it would rather focus on design and overall user experience instead of chasing higher specs every single year.
The Nothing Phone 4a lineup is expected to include multiple models like the vanilla and Pro variants, similar to previous A-series launches. Pei hinted at new colours and some design experiments it has done with the upcoming A-series phones, which suggests Nothing’s strong focus on looks and identity isn’t going anywhere. Nothing did give up on glyph lights with the Phone 3 and the Phone 3a Lite also had a majorly toned down lighting setup on the back with merely a dot that would light up for calls and notifications, so it would be interesting to see how the Phone 4a’s design would end up being.
Author: Abhishek Malhotra
Source: The Mobile Indian
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
