Nothing
Nothing Phone (1) Receives Massive Boost in Performance and Battery Life After Nothing OS 2.6 Update
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Last week, Nothing OS 2.6 update was released for Nothing Phone (1) and users were waiting for this one with quite some enthusiasm. This update does seem to bring not only performance improvements but also better battery life, so this should make it a worthy upgrade for the device.
The latest benchmarks, after the update, posted that the performance scores were better or, in this case, the Geekbench CPU single-core score increased from 992 to 1026, and the multi-core score from 2833 to 2972. Nearly the same GPU scores, which is actually a good thing, show that graphical performance has been very stable. The real change comes in with the way the battery will be managed on the device and more efficiency overall.
Antutu Benchmark Score: 602310
CPU Throttling Test: CPU throttled to 83% of its max performance
Battery lives do particularly vary, but screen-on time has certainly seen an upswing. Before the update, users were reporting an average of 5-6 hours of screen-on time. Else, some are even clocking as much as six hours and nineteen minutes—with major usage going toward media playback, and usage of hotspot services.
Although with the improvements, there still are some discrepancies in the performance and life of the batteries amongst users, the operating system seems quite stable and efficient after the update, irradiating the result of Nothing OS 2.6 as a movement in the right direction toward consistency in user experience.
All in all, this update could be taken as a sort of a shot in the arm for the performance credentials of the Nothing Phone (1). One, however, shall be able to judge the real difference the update can make only when shared users’ experiences actually start adding up. The update seems to promise handling with more efficiency and without a superfast battery drain, specifically in scenarios like gaming, browsing, and streaming.
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CMF by Nothing appears to be teasing two new products, and its latest social media post has given fans another clue to speculate about what could be coming.
Yesterday, CMF shared an image featuring two Pokémon — Snivy (#0495) and Victini (#0494). At first, it could simply look like a fun Pokémon reference, but the Pokédex numbers may be the more interesting part of the teaser.
CMF has already confirmed that it is preparing to launch two new products, and the latest teaser features exactly two Pokémon with the numbers 0495 and 0494.
Nothing/CMF typically has specific model numbers associated with its products, so it raises the question: could 495 and 494 be a clue toward the model numbers of the upcoming products?
Of course, this is only speculation for now. The numbers could simply be the official Pokédex numbers of Snivy and Victini, with no connection to the products.
But considering CMF is currently teasing two new products, the timing makes the reference interesting.
CMF has already entered several categories, including smartphones, smartwatches, neckband, TWS earbuds and headphones. This also raises the possibility that at least one of the upcoming products could belong to a new category, potentially something like a portable speaker.
Interestingly, CMF also recently announced a Community review program, which could potentially be related to these upcoming products. However, Indian users are once again not eligible for the program.
For now, CMF hasn’t revealed what the two products are, but this Pokémon teaser may have given us another small clue.
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Nothing has announced special pricing and promotional offers for the Nothing Phone (4a), Phone (4a) Pro and Phone (4b) as part of the Flipkart Big Billion Days sale. The offers include price drops, bank discounts, coupons and exchange bonuses on selected variants.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the offers.
Nothing Phone (4a) Offers
The Nothing Phone (4a) gets a ₹3,000 price drop on the 6GB + 128GB variant. With the applicable bank offer, coupon and exchange benefits, the effective price comes down to ₹32,999.
| Variant | Offer Price |
|---|---|
| 6GB + 128GB | ₹32,999* |
| 8GB + 128GB | ₹40,999 |
| 8GB + 256GB | ₹45,999 |
| 12GB + 256GB | ₹46,999 |
The 8GB + 128GB variant gets a ₹4,000 bank offer, while the higher-storage variants are also eligible for a ₹4,000 bank offer.
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro Offers
The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is available with a ₹4,500 bank offer along with a ₹500 exchange bonus on the listed variants.
| Variant | Effective Price |
|---|---|
| 8GB + 128GB | ₹49,999 |
| 8GB + 256GB | ₹52,999 |
| 12GB + 256GB | ₹54,999 |
The 8GB + 128GB model brings the effective price down to ₹49,999 after the applicable offers.
Nothing Phone (4b) Offers
The Nothing Phone (4b) gets a ₹4,000 price drop on the 6GB + 128GB variant. With the applicable bank offer, coupon and exchange benefits, the effective price is listed at ₹27,999.
| Variant | Effective Price |
|---|---|
| 6GB + 128GB | ₹27,999* |
| 8GB + 128GB | ₹35,999 |
| 8GB + 256GB | ₹36,999 |
The 8GB variants receive a ₹3,500 bank offer along with a ₹500 exchange bonus.
Nothing BBD Offers at a Glance
The headline effective prices for the three phones are:
- Nothing Phone (4b): ₹27,999
- Nothing Phone (4a): ₹32,999
- Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: ₹49,999
The final price for the base variants depends on the applicable combination of bank offers, coupons and exchange bonuses. Buyers should check the offer terms on Flipkart before placing an order.
Nothing Phone BBD Pricing Table
| Model | Base Variant | Effective Price* |
|---|---|---|
| Phone (4b) | 6GB + 128GB | ₹27,999 |
| Phone (4a) | 6GB + 128GB | ₹32,999 |
| Phone (4a) Pro | 8GB + 128GB | ₹49,999 |
*Effective prices for the base variants reflect the combined applicable bank offers, coupons and exchange bonuses.
These offers make the upcoming Flipkart Big Billion Days sale particularly relevant for buyers looking at Nothing’s latest smartphone lineup.
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Kea: Button Remapper has received a major update that brings a new Floating App Sidebar, Action Combos, more customization options and several new features for Android users.
The update also brings a redesigned user interface with improved animations, blur effects and a cleaner overall look. While Kea remains available as a free app, some of the new features are available through the paid Kea Pro version.
Floating App Sidebar
One of the main additions in the update is the new Floating App Sidebar. It allows users to pin their favorite apps and actions and quickly access them from anywhere on the phone.
Users can add apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Gmail, games, and more, as well as actions, to the sidebar. The sidebar also supports customization for its position, number of rows and columns, background, icon style, and accent color.
The background can be changed between transparent, translucent and solid styles. Users can also choose different icon styles and customize the sidebar’s color using the available color options and color wheel.
Action Lab Combos
Another new feature is Action Lab Combos. It allows users to perform multiple actions with a single button press.
For example, users can create a shortcut that mutes media volume and enables Do Not Disturb at the same time. This can be useful during meetings when multiple settings need to be changed quickly.
Users can also create their own custom combos by selecting multiple actions and arranging them into a sequence.
Voice and Call Recording
Kea Pro also adds shortcuts for voice recording and call recording using the Nothing Recorder widget.
After setting up the required Recorder widget, users can assign a button press to start or stop recording. Saved recordings can then be accessed through the Nothing Recorder app.
More Customization
The update brings several new options for Kea’s visual overlays. Users can choose different styles, including Dark, Frosted and Smoke themes.
There are also different animation effects, while the position of the overlay can be adjusted for different hardware keys. Kea Pro users can further customize the accent color and use a color wheel for more control over the appearance.
More Features for Nothing Phones
Kea Pro also includes several features designed for Nothing Phone users. These include Glyph Torch and Glyph Timer shortcuts.
Users can assign these features to different button gestures. The app also supports shortcuts such as Circle to Search, QR code scanning and additional hardware button actions.
The app also supports volume button mapping and power button customization, giving users more ways to control different actions using physical buttons.
Free Version Still Available
Kea: Button Remapper continues to offer a free version with more than 30 actions and support for four different button gestures. The free version also includes features such as visual overlays, lock screen controls and a Quick Settings tile.
The Floating App Sidebar, Action Combos, volume button mapping, voice and call recording, Glyph shortcuts and other additional features are available with Kea Pro.
Kea Pro is offered as a one-time lifetime purchase, giving users permanent access to the Pro features after purchasing it.
Here is the app link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.techiboystudios.kea
The latest update also significantly refreshes the Kea interface. TechiBoy Studios will bring more features that are planned for future updates, so the list of available features is expected to grow over time.