Future Technology[Hardware Weekly] The £299 phone that makes flagships look silly
The most interesting phone launch this week cost £299, and it wasn't from Samsung or Apple.
The Big 3
Nothing's Phone (4b) undercuts every flagship on the market
Nothing launched the Phone (4b) on 7 July at £299, roughly $400, with sales starting at its Soho store in London on the 11th and wider retail availability from the 14th. It's not coming to the US, Nothing's keeping the Phone (4a) Pro as its cheapest American option, which is a shame, because the spec sheet undercuts most mid-rangers: a 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chip, 8GB RAM, up to 256GB storage, a 5,200mAh battery, and six years of security updates. That's a longer support window than plenty of phones twice the price. It won't out-camera a flagship and the chip is mid-tier, but at this price those compromises are easy to live with.
Should you care? If you're in the UK or Europe replacing an ageing phone on a budget, this is the mid-range pick to beat right now. Skip it if you're in the US, it's not landing there.
Samsung's Unpacked is confirmed for 22 July, and the watch leaks are the real story
Samsung has locked in its next Unpacked event for 22 July in London, where the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8, and two new watches are expected. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is the one worth watching: leaked firmware points to a new Wear Elite chip on a 3nm process, the first Snapdragon wearable silicon with its own dedicated AI processor, which should mean smarter on-watch replies and fitness coaching without murdering the battery by lunchtime. The Fold line, meanwhile, still hasn't solved its core problem: brilliant screen, thick body, a price that keeps climbing.
Should you care? If a foldable's on your radar, wait the 11 days. If it's the watch you actually want, this could be the first Snapdragon wearable chip worth getting excited about.
OpenAI's first custom chip is aimed at Nvidia, but not yet at your wallet
OpenAI and Broadcom have unveiled Jalapeño, OpenAI's first custom AI processor, built to reduce how dependent the company is on Nvidia GPUs for running its own models. It's a statement of intent rather than an immediate threat, custom silicon takes years to scale into production, and Nvidia still holds an estimated 70 to 80% of the AI GPU market with Blackwell's volume ramp still to come this year. But it's the clearest signal yet that the companies spending the most on AI compute want to own more of their own supply chain rather than rent it entirely from one vendor.
Should you care? Nothing changes for anyone buying a graphics card this year, but if you hold semiconductor stocks or care where AI compute pricing goes next, this is the story to bookmark.
Quick Hits
Xiaomi's new watch claims three weeks on a charge. The Watch S5 46mm pairs a 1.48-inch AMOLED display at 2,500 nits with an 815mAh battery rated for up to 21 days of light use, 68% longer than last year's model, or around six days with always-on display and full health tracking running. (2 minute read) Source
Intel just had its worst week of the year. Intel's stock dropped 21% as investors questioned whether AI infrastructure spending can keep growing at its current pace, even as the same AI chip rally added a combined $2 trillion in value to Micron, Intel and AMD last quarter. Markets can't agree whether AI chips are overheated or underpriced. (3 minute read) Source
Google's Fitbit Air skips the screen entirely. Described as Google's highest-profile fitness release this year, the Fitbit Air is a screenless band weighing just 12 grams with up to a week of battery life, going head-to-head with Whoop rather than the Apple Watch crowd. (2 minute read) Source
Two $599 laptops are trying to out-cheap each other. Apple's MacBook Neo launched at $599 and put immediate pressure on Windows rivals. HP's OmniBook 7 Aero, from $949.99/£649 with an AMD AI 5 or AI 7 chip, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, and Acer's Swift Air 14 are the sharpest responses so far, though neither quite matches Apple's price. (2 minute read) Source
Pick of the Week
Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank (£49.99 / around $50 to $55 depending on region)
A 6mm-thick, 98-gram magnetic power bank built around a 5,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, supporting 15W wireless and 22.5W wired charging.
If you carry a charger everywhere out of habit and want something that disappears in a pocket rather than adds bulk, this is it.
The catch: wireless charging tops out at 15W and it's built around Xiaomi's magnetic ecosystem, so you'll want a compatible Xiaomi phone to get the full experience. It'll still wired-charge anything with USB-C.
Worth Waiting For
The Apple Watch Series 12 is expected in September 2026. If you're eyeing an Apple Watch upgrade, the current model isn't the one worth buying now. Hold off eight or so weeks and see what September brings before spending anything.
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