Nothing Phone (2a) vs Apple iPhone 12
71 out of 100
VS
66 out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Nothing Phone (2a) (with MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro) that was released on March 5, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 3 years and 5 months before. 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 (2a)
- Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
- Comes with 2185 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 2815 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Shows 41% longer battery life (29:55 vs 21:15 hours)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Delivers 52% higher peak brightness (989 against 649 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- The phone is 3 years and 5 months newer
- Has 2 SIM card slots
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
- 53% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1095K versus 714K)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- 17% higher pixel density (460 vs 394 PPI)
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- 73% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1941 and 1125 points
- Weighs 26 grams less
- 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.
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 | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2412 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (30-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1300 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.8% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.3% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 90 Hz | 226 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 16 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.7 mm (6.37 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 76.3 mm (3 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 190 g (6.7 oz) | 164 g (5.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP54 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2800 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | MediaTek APU 650 | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G610 MP4 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1130 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~578.6 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 216662 | 310050 |
| GPU | 175938 | 323143 |
| Memory | 152470 | 173777 |
| UX | 169590 | 288345 |
| Total score | 714660 | 1095315 |
| Samples | [17 tests] | [31 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 45.6 °C | 41.2 °C |
| Stability | - | 77% |
| Graphics test | - | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 7601 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 2.5 | - |
| OS size | 21 GB | 7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (59% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:03 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:32 hr | 08:00 hr |
| Watching video | 18:30 hr | 12:09 hr |
| Gaming | 06:26 hr | 04:35 hr |
| Standby | 148 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Quad 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 (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 114° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL GN9 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" | 1/3.4" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KJN1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" | 1/3.6" |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 55 |
| Preview | - | 74 |
| Zoom | - | 60 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX615 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | - |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 127 |
| Video | - | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - 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 | 5.3 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG | - Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| DisplayPort | No | - |
| 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 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2024 | October 2020 |
| Release date | March 2024 | October 2020 |
| Launch price | $329 | $800 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | - |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
