Nothing Phone (3a) vs Honor X9c
66
out of 100
VS
62
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 Honor X9c, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and came out 4 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)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- 38% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1050K versus 760K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- 24% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1158 and 935 points
Reasons to consider the Honor X9c
- Comes with 1600 mAh larger battery capacity: 6600 vs 5000 mAh
- Water-resistant body (IP65 classification)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- 13% higher pixel density (437 vs 387 PPI)
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 50W)
- Faster storage type - UFS 3.1 versus UFS 2.2
- Reverse charging feature
- Has a built-in infrared port
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 | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.77 inches | 6.78 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2392 pixels | 1224 x 2700 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.9:9 | 19.85:9 |
| PPI | 387 ppi | 437 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 4000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 3000 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Panda Glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.7% | 90.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | - |
| PWM | 90 Hz | - |
| Response time | 1 ms | - |
| Contrast | β Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.52 mm (6.44 inches) | 162.8 mm (6.41 inches) |
| Width | 77.5 mm (3.05 inches) | 75.5 mm (2.97 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.35 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.98 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP64 | IP65 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue | Black, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Average (2.84/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) Β· 90 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 2200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (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 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 810 | Adreno 710 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1050 MHz | 676 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~537.6 GFLOPS | ~346.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4435 | 246 |
| Single-core score | 1158 | 935 |
| Multi-core score | 3276 | 2719 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 402549 | 284852 |
| GPU | 179108 | 55762 |
| Memory | 194640 | 201468 |
| UX | 274304 | 218250 |
| Total score | 1050601 | 760332 |
| Samples | [38 tests] | [12 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 3 FPS | 1 FPS |
| Graphics score | 379 | 200 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11533 | 12996 |
| Video editing | 6290 | 7162 |
| Photo editing | 20294 | 24195 |
| Data manipulation | 10511 | 10073 |
| Writing score | 16899 | 15092 |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (3a)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | CPU Throttle | 82% |
| π 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 GPU | 3328 |
| π 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1158 / 3276 |
| π 2026-06-07 (Aames Ng) | AnTuTu 11 | 1069149 |
| π 2026-06-03 (xperz3650) | AnTuTu 11 | 1065584 |
Honor X9c
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-05-28 (LenslyWhite) | AnTuTu 11 | 764283 |
| π 2026-03-14 (ΠΠ°Π°) | AnTuTu 11 | 611007 |
| π 2026-02-19 (trixeee) | AnTuTu 11 | 603217 |
| π 2026-02-11 (Zver) | AnTuTu 11 | 773303 |
| π 2026-02-07 (Mohammed) | AnTuTu 11 | 743177 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 256 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 15) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 4.0 | MagicOS 9.0 |
| OS updates | 3 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 3 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 6600 mAh |
| Max charge power | 50 W | 66 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (61% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 40 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:06 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1400 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 08:06 hr | - |
| Watching video | 16:25 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:49 hr | - |
| Standby | 131 hr | - |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120Β° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 108 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 108 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9 | Samsung HM6 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (β 0.64 inch) | 1/1.67" (β 0.6 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.6 | - |
| Focal length | 50 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" (β 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 15 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX355 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (β 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6560 x 4928 | 3456 x 4608 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.5 |
| Focal length | 22 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.44" (β 0.29 inch) | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) 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 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Depends on the region |
| Infrared port | No | Yes |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 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 | November 2024 |
| Release date | March 2025 | November 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $329 | $350 |
| Successor | - Nothing Phone (4a) | - Honor X9d |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 66 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Nothing Phone (3a). But if the battery life is more of a priority β go for the Honor X9c.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 13