Nothing Phone (2) vs Google Pixel 8a
66
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Nothing Phone (2) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1) that was released on July 11, 2023, against the Google Pixel 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 11 months after. 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 (2)
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Shows 18% longer battery life (23:16 vs 19:43 hours)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Thinner bezels – 6.2% more screen real estate
- Reverse charging feature
- 16% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1729 and 1491 points
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- Delivers 52% higher peak brightness (1501 against 990 nits)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 15
- The phone is 11 months newer
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+1)
- 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
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 | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2412 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 430 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (10-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | 1400 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Touch sampling rate | 360 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.5% | 81.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.3% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 90 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Phone (2)
6.7″ (20:9 ratio) = 16.8 in2
Pixel 8a
6.1″ (20:9 ratio) = 13.9 in2
~20% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.1 mm (6.38 inches) | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 201.2 g (7.1 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP54 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray | White, Black, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | - | Good (3.52/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Excellent (A) · 270 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 | Google Tensor G3 |
| Max clock | 3200 MHz | 3000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 9 (1 + 4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Immortalis-G715s MC10 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 900 MHz | 890 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1843.2 GFLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 5931 | 8490 |
| Single-core score | 1729 | 1491 |
| Multi-core score | 4563 | 3584 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 545410 | 546093 |
| GPU | 241847 | 391230 |
| Memory | 249651 | 195569 |
| UX | 399726 | 300801 |
| Total score | 1436634 | 1433693 |
| Samples | [7 tests] | [6 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 76% | 67% |
| Graphics test | 6 FPS | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | 823 | 990 |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (2)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-11 (Ramalama) | AnTuTu 11 | 1375740 |
| 📘 2026-03-26 (meqvice) | AnTuTu 11 | 1395466 |
| 📘 2026-02-07 (Skvizi) | AnTuTu 11 | 1473702 |
| 📘 2025-12-31 (Kilian) | AnTuTu 11 | 1436722 |
| 📘 2025-12-31 (Twister) | AnTuTu 11 | 1436634 |
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 | 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 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 2.5 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 28 GB | 18.4 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4700 mAh | 4492 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 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 (62% in 30 min) | Yes (33% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:04 hr | 2:09 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 10:12 hr | 08:15 hr |
| Watching video | 16:37 hr | 13:00 hr |
| Gaming | 06:07 hr | 04:54 hr |
| Standby | 91 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 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 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 IMX890 | Sony IMX787 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 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 | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KJN1 | Sony IMX712 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.64 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 Nothing Phone (2) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX615 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | - |
| 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 | 5.3 | 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, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | 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 | 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 | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | July 2023 | May 2024 |
| Release date | July 2023 | May 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $499 |
| Successor | - Nothing Phone (3) | - 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 performance and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Nothing Phone (2). But if the display, camera, gaming, connectivity, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 8a.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 52