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British startup Nothing is sending out free pairs of its Bluetooth 'buds to anyone who preorders its Phone (4a) ahead of the UK release date on March 13, 2026.
Usually £79, the Ear (a) are a wallet-friendly pair of wireless earbuds from Nothing. As you'd expect from the award-winning British brand, these 'buds feature a translucent design so you can peek inside to see some of the core components.
Nothing Ear (a) boasts several features that aren't guaranteed at this price point, including Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Bluetooth 5.3 to pair to two devices at once, and controls on the stem for playback. With ANC switched off, you'll enjoy 9.5 hours of listening between charges, while that drops to 5.5 hours when quashing distracting noise. The bundled carry case offers a total of 42.5 hours.
Get a pair of Bluetooth 'buds from Nothing for FREE
Phone (4a) is available to preorder ahead of its March 13 release date. If you add one of these £379 Android handsets to your basket, British technology startup Nothing will send a pair of its Ear (a) wireless earbuds to you in the post at no cost. That's a free gift worth £79
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The Nothing Ear (a) are on sale for £58 right now from its online store.
But if you preorder the incoming Phone (4a), which was announced at a glitzy event in central London last week, Nothing will include a pair of wireless 'buds in the box at no extra cost.
While Ear (a) are available in a choice of colours — White, Black, Yellow — the complementary pair sent to Phone (4a) owners will always be white.
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If you missed the announcement, the latest budget Android smartphone from Nothing hits the market on Friday. Priced at £349, Phone (4a) is a competitively-priced follow-up to Phone (3a) released in March 2025.
London-based Nothing has made quite a splash since it launched back in late 2020. Kickstarted by Carl Pei, one of the co-founders of fan-favourite Android brand OnePlus, the UK startup has picked up awards for its approach to making technology that stands out from the crowd. Like other models in the lineup, Phone (4a) features a transparent design that spotlights the small components and screws that power the device.
The London-based designers have stuck with the trademark transparency seen across the rest of the lineup, as well as a new Glypth Bar with brighter LEDs
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On the back, Phone 4a boasts a redesigned Glyph Bar, which replaces the previous model's LED arrangement with something completely fresh. The eye-catching hardware flourish houses 63 mini-LEDs arranged across seven square light zones on the back of the device. Each zone can light up in a series of custom patterns to silently alert you about an incoming call, text, or notification when your handset is face down.
The setup reaches brightness levels of 3,500 nits, making it 40% brighter than the earlier version. That means notifications stay visible even in direct sunlight, and there's no light bleeding between zones.
It's not just for alerts either – the Glyph Bar doubles as a fill light for photos and videos, plus shows progress indicators for things like charging, timers and incoming calls. Elsewhere, the rear case features a bolstered camera setup. At the heart of it sits a 50MP periscope telephoto lens offering 3.5x optical zoom. That's paired with a 50MP main sensor that includes optical image stabilisation to keep shots steady.
Phone (4a) features an expansive 6.78" AMOLED display, a 32MP selfie camera, and a choice of four colourways — Black, White, Blue, and Pink.
Out of the box, Phone (4a) is powered by NothingOS 4.1, which is built on Android 16 and brings some useful improvements to daily use. Essential Space is one of the standouts. Designed to act like a second memory, it stores screenshots, notes, voice memos, URLs, and much more. AI analyses the contents to summarise lengthy notes or voice memos and prompts you to take action if it spots a date or deadline.
New for NothingOS 4.1, Essential Space syncs across devices through the cloud, meaning notes, ideas and captures move seamlessly between phones, desktops and laptops.
NothingOS 4.1 promises "a cleaner, more intuitive interface with redesigned icons, a refreshed lock screen, and a deeper dark mode. Multitasking is easier with floating apps and resizable Quick Settings, while widgets are more flexible than ever," according to the British upstart
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The lock screen has been reworked to be more customisable, whilst Live Notifications and Quick Settings can now be resized to suit individual preferences. Nothing is committing to three years of Android updates and six years of security patches, which is solid support for a phone at this price point.
One disappointment for US fans of the British startup — Phone 4a won't be available in the US market at all. Only the pricier Pro model is heading stateside.
Phone (4a) tops out at £399 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For comparison, the newly-launched Pixel 10a costs £499 – the most price-sensitive model in Google's lineup, the latest additions to the budget Galaxy A series from Samsung start from £399, and the new iPhone 17e will set you back £599.