Nothing Phone (1) vs Google Pixel 6a
55
out of 100
VS
56
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 6a, which is powered by Google Tensor and came out 2 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 (1)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Shows 12% longer battery life (23:08 vs 20:44 hours)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Has a 0.45 inch larger screen size
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (33W versus 18W)
- Reverse charging feature
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6a
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 33% higher peak brightness (882 against 664 nits)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 15
- 22% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1015K versus 830K)
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- 40% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1487 and 1060 points
- Weighs 15.5 grams less
- 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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
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 | 429 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | 1100 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% | 82.2% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 95.9% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 119 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Phone (1)
6.55″ (20:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
Pixel 6a
6.1″ (20:9 ratio) = 13.9 in2
~15% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 159.2 mm (6.27 inches) | 152.2 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) | 71.8 mm (2.83 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 193.5 g (6.83 oz) | 178 g (6.28 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP53 | IP67 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus | Google Tensor |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 2800 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 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 1.8 GHz: Cortex A55 - 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 6 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 770 | Tensor Processing Unit |
| Graphics | Adreno 642L | Mali-G78 MP20 |
| GPU shading units | 512 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 608 MHz | 850 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~622.6 GFLOPS | ~1085.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 2769 | 9543 |
| Single-core score | 1060 | 1487 |
| Multi-core score | 2973 | 3664 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 326933 | 425227 |
| GPU | 102620 | 126878 |
| Memory | 166467 | 171601 |
| UX | 234438 | 291787 |
| Total score | 830458 | 1015493 |
| Samples | [8 tests] | [20 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 57% |
| Graphics test | - | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1854 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 7105 |
| Video editing | - | 5884 |
| Photo editing | - | 19072 |
| Data manipulation | - | 10310 |
| Writing score | - | 15550 |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (1)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-28 -> Serhii | Geekbench 7 CPU | 910 / 3032 |
| 📘 2026-09-28 -> Serhii | AnTuTu 12 | 871937 |
| 📘 2026-05-10 (Aroslav) | AnTuTu 11 | 854357 |
| 📘 2026-04-03 -> Serhii | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1059 / 3012 |
| 📘 2026-03-27 (kardinal) | CPU Throttle | 89% |
Google Pixel 6a
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-26 -> Islom_1180 | AnTuTu 12 | 1235821 |
| 📘 2026-08-19 (duwi) | AnTuTu 11 | 774697 |
| 📘 2026-07-29 (Mimo) | AnTuTu 11 | 1117985 |
| 📘 2026-07-28 (Hypermini) | AnTuTu 11 | 1015541 |
| 📘 2026-07-27 (Ash) | AnTuTu 11 | 978066 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 3.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 16 GB | 14.3 GB |
| OS updates | - | 5 years |
| Security updates | - | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4410 mAh |
| Max charge power | 33 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (48% in 30 min) | Yes (42% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:31 hr | 1:51 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:10 hr | 08:25 hr |
| Watching video | 13:32 hr | 14:20 hr |
| Gaming | 05:14 hr | 05:34 hr |
| Standby | 115 hr | 89 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12.2 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 4032 x 3024 |
| 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° | 114° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 12.2 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12.2 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 27 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX766 | Sony IMX363 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| 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/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 17 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KJN1 | Sony IMX386 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 55 | 65 |
| Preview | 73 | 67 |
| Zoom | 78 | 74 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Nothing Phone (1) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 6a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 3840 x 2160 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX471 | Sony IMX355 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.13" (≈ 0.32 inch) | 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 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 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, 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 2022 |
| Release date | July 2022 | June 2022 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $500 | $449 |
| Successor | - Nothing Phone (3) | - Google Pixel 10a |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.31 W/kg |
| 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.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, and software are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 6a. But if the display and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Nothing Phone (1).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 536