Nothing Phone (3a) vs Google Pixel 8a
66
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.77-inch Nothing Phone (3a) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3) that was released on March 4, 2025, against the Google Pixel 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Nothing Phone (3a)
- Has a 0.67 inch larger screen size
- Shows 27% longer battery life (25:03 vs 19:43 hours)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Supports higher wattage charging (50W versus 18W)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Thinner bezels – 6.4% more screen real estate
- The phone is 10 months newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- 36% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1433K versus 1050K)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (1506 against 1261 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
- 11% higher pixel density (430 vs 387 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.77 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2392 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.9:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 387 ppi | 430 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 3000 nits | 1400 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Panda Glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.7% | 81.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 90 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Phone (3a)
6.77″ (19.9:9 ratio) = 17.2 in2
Pixel 8a
6.1″ (20:9 ratio) = 13.9 in2
~23% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.52 mm (6.44 inches) | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 77.5 mm (3.05 inches) | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.35 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP64 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue | White, Black, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Average (2.84/5) | Good (3.52/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Excellent (A) · 270 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 | Google Tensor G3 |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 3000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 9 (1 + 4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520) - 3 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720) - 1 core at 2.5 GHz: Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720) |
- 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 810 | Immortalis-G715s MC10 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 1050 MHz | 890 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~537.6 GFLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4435 | 8490 |
| Single-core score | 1158 | 1491 |
| Multi-core score | 3276 | 3584 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 402549 | 546093 |
| GPU | 179108 | 391230 |
| Memory | 194640 | 195569 |
| UX | 274304 | 300801 |
| Total score | 1050601 | 1433693 |
| Samples | [38 tests] | [6 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | 67% |
| Graphics test | 3 FPS | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | 379 | 990 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11533 | - |
| Video editing | 6290 | - |
| Photo editing | 20294 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10511 | - |
| Writing score | 16899 | - |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (3a)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | CPU Throttle | 82% |
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 GPU | 3328 |
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1158 / 3276 |
| 📘 2026-06-07 (Aames Ng) | AnTuTu 11 | 1069149 |
| 📘 2026-06-03 (xperz3650) | AnTuTu 11 | 1065584 |
Google Pixel 8a
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2025-12-28 (adismsha) | AnTuTu 11 | 1471866 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | Geekbench 6 GPU | 8490 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1491 / 3584 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | AnTuTu 11 | 1397797 |
| 📘 2025-12-17 (jpara_dise) | AnTuTu 11 | 1397797 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 4.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | - | 18.4 GB |
| OS updates | 3 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4492 mAh |
| Max charge power | 50 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (61% in 30 min) | Yes (33% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:06 hr | 2:09 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1400 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 08:06 hr | 08:15 hr |
| Watching video | 16:25 hr | 13:00 hr |
| Gaming | 05:49 hr | 04:54 hr |
| Standby | 131 hr | 86 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 64 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9 | Sony IMX787 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.73" (≈ 0.58 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.6 | - |
| Focal length | 50 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 15 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX355 | Sony IMX712 |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 60 |
| Preview | - | 71 |
| Zoom | - | 126 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6560 x 4928 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 22 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.44" (≈ 0.29 inch) | - |
| Autofocus | No | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | March 2025 | May 2024 |
| Release date | March 2025 | May 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $329 | $499 |
| Successor | - Nothing Phone (4a) | - Google Pixel 10a |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the battery life and design are more important to you, then choose the Nothing Phone (3a). But if the performance, gaming, and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 8a.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 28