Can Gemma 4 E2B run on Nothing Phone (3a)?
YES — Runs, barely
Grade A · 70/100 · formula estimate
What this means
Our estimate says Gemma 4 E2B should fit, but replies are likely to arrive slowly.
Download the Q4_K_M version, which is about 3.1 GB. We expect it to use about 4 GB of the roughly 9 GB available to a model on this phone.
At the estimated speed, a roughly 300-word answer may take about 2 minutes to finish.
This result is calculated from the phone and model specifications. It has not been measured on this exact phone and setup.
3.7tokens/s
estimated · reading pace
4GB
needed at Q4_K_M
Q4_K_M
quant checked
A
grade · 70/100
needs 4 GBusable 9 GB
Snapdragon 7s Gen 312 GB RAMCPU / GPUalso sold with 8 GB
Make it bearable
1
Drop context to 2K — saves ~0.1 GB of KV cache and a little speed.
2
Close every other app before loading — the 5 GB headroom is real; Android may kill the app otherwise.
3
Expect throttling after ~10 min of sustained generation on a phone chassis.
See how fast it feels
Estimated at 3.7 tokens/s — reading pace. A ~300-word reply takes about 108 seconds on this phone.
Where the memory goes
| Component | Detail | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Model weights | Q4_K_M GGUF (3.1 GB) + mmap overhead | 3.3 |
| KV cache | 4K context window | 0.1 |
| Runtime | llama.cpp + app overhead | 0.6 |
| Total needed | at Q4_K_M, 4K context | 4 |
| Usable on Nothing Phone (3a) | 12 GB RAM − Android system reserve | 9 |
| Headroom | left for the OS and your other apps | 5 |
Pick your quant
| Quant | Download | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3_K_M | 2.5 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~4.6 tokens/s |
| IQ4_XS | 3 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~3.8 tokens/s |
| Q4_0 | 3 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~3.8 tokens/s |
| Q4_K_S | 3 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~3.8 tokens/s |
| Q4_K_M BEST HERE | 3.1 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~3.7 tokens/s |
| Q5_K_M | 3.4 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~3.4 tokens/s |
| Q6_K | 4.5 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~2.6 tokens/s |
| Q8_0 | 5 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~2.3 tokens/s |
Get it running in 3 steps
1
Install PocketPal from the Play Store — free, no account needed.
2
Download "Gemma 4 E2B Q4_K_M" in the in-app model hub — 3.1 GB, use Wi-Fi. Search Hugging Face for
unsloth/gemma-4-E2B-it-GGUF and pick the Q4_K_M file.3
Set context to 4K — expect ~3.7 tokens/s on this phone.
Related checks
MORE ON NOTHING PHONE (3A)
GEMMA 4 E2B ON OTHER PHONES