Nothing’s next smartphone may not be the (4a) Pro after all, but rather the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite.

We recently brought you the news that the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro had appeared in IMEI certification, all but confirming its existence.

However, tipster Sudhanshu Ambhore has posted to X claiming that “Nothing’s next smartphone will be Nothing Phone (3a) Lite”.

Apparently, the phone will pack 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and will come in black and white colour options, as is Nothing’s wont. It’ll launch globally this year.

Three and not out

If you’re a frequent visitor to these pages, we can probably guess what you’re thinking. You thought that the Nothing Phone (3) series was all done and dusted, didn’t you?

We get why you’d think that, when Nothing CEO Carl Pei strongly implied that the Nothing Phone (3) was the final addition to the series.

Perhaps the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is the distant cousin of the “familia”, destined to be conveniently forgotten at family get togethers.

Lest you think that this might be an iffy rumour, it would seem to tie in with a post from established leaker Yogesh Brar back in July, when he announced that “Nothing could be adding ‘Lite’ or ‘T’ branded phones to their lineup”.

Back then, it was said that Pro (aka premium) models just weren’t cutting it for the British-based tech brand, and that it might be shifting its focus back to the cheaper end of the market.

We were a little confused by the terminology at the time (in large part thanks to Nothing’s loose use of the term ‘Pro’), but this latest claim would go some way to clearing things up.