Nothing Phone (1) vs Google Pixel 8a
62 out of 100
VS
75 out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.55-inch Nothing Phone (1) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus) that was released on July 12, 2022, against the Google Pixel 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 1 year and 10 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Nothing Phone (1)
- Shows 17% longer battery life (23:08 vs 19:43 hours)
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Has a 0.45 inch larger screen size
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (33W versus 18W)
- Reverse charging feature
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- Delivers 128% higher peak brightness (1518 against 667 nits)
- 92% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1223K versus 637K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- The phone is 1 year and 10 months newer
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- 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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.55 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 402 ppi | 430 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | 1400 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 85.9% | 81.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 95.9% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 119 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 159.2 mm (6.27 inches) | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 193.5 g (6.83 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP53 | IP67 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus | 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 670 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.5 GHz: Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78) | - 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 | 6 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 770 | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 642 | Mali-G715 MP7 |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 608 MHz | 890 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~933.8 GFLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 205648 | 368321 |
| GPU | 156535 | 432077 |
| Memory | 136844 | 218319 |
| UX | 138832 | 204978 |
| Total score | 637859 | 1223695 |
| Samples | [23 tests] | [3 tests] |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) | Android 14 |
| ROM | Nothing OS 2.5 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 16 GB | 18.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4492 mAh |
| Max charge power | 33 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (48% in 30 min) | Yes (33% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:31 hr | 2:09 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:10 hr | 08:15 hr |
| Watching video | 13:32 hr | 13:00 hr |
| Gaming | 05:14 hr | 04:54 hr |
| Standby | 115 hr | 86 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Digital | 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 | 120 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 114° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 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 | Sony IMX766 | Sony IMX787 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" | 1/1.73" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KJN1 | Sony IMX712 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" | 1/3.06" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 55 | 60 |
| Preview | 73 | 71 |
| Zoom | 78 | 126 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Nothing Phone (1) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX471 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.13" | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 | 5.2 | 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 | - | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, 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* | 18 | 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 | July 2022 | May 2024 |
| Release date | July 2022 | May 2024 |
| Launch price | $500 | $499 |
| Sensors | - 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.
