A leak could point toward the first smartphone from Nothing's low-budget sub-brand.

The lower-priced sub-brand of Nothing may be developing a smartphone, as it shows a strange model number for authentication.

According to Android Headlines, his Nothing product with model number "A015" was found in the database under the brand's manufacturer name. Initially, it was suspected that the number referred to Nothing Phone 3. However, the model number does not follow Nothing's typical internal naming behavior.

Remember: Phone 1 was tagged "A063" and Phone 2 was tagged "A065".

91Mobiles personnel quickly noticed that the same model number appeared in the BIS certification database. Oddly enough, "Nothing Technology Limited" is replaced by "CMF by Nothing" in the brand category. With this discovery, the chance that the A015 device represents a Phone 3 appears to be (nearly) zero. Apart from the claimed model number, product specifications and other important information were not available.

This model number may refer to a completely different product. Therefore, this rumor is best taken with a grain of salt. CMF by Nothing is a sub-brand of the London-based company that aims to combine styles at low cost. The brand debuted last September with the launch of his Buds Pro, Watch Pro, and 65W GaN charging adapters. It will be interesting to see if this CMF by Nothing smartphone rumor turns out to be true and where such a device fits in. In early April, Nothing announced the Phone 2a as a budget option that slightly underperforms the Phone 2. The device ditches the Qualcomm chipset in favor of MediaTek's Dimensity 7200 Pro. The phone was launched in the UK, India and other regions, excluding the US.

Current speculation is that his CMF by Nothing phone will be available in certain countries, similar to the Phone 2a, to avoid self-competition.

While this rumor seems to be steering us away from the Phone 3, a recent report is said to provide some details about the chipset that will power the Phone 3. According to reports, the Phone 3 will be based on Qualcomm's latest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. The rumor adds that if true, the price in the US could be around $540, as there is no chance that the price of the next phone will go up.