Nothing Phone (2a) vs Google Pixel 8a
63
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.7-inch Nothing Phone (2a) (with MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro) that was released on March 5, 2024, against the Google Pixel 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 2 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 (2a)
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Shows 52% longer battery life (29:55 vs 19:43 hours)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 18W)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Thinner bezels – 6.5% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- 46% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1433K versus 985K)
- Delivers 54% higher peak brightness (1501 against 977 nits)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 15
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- 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
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 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 (30-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1300 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 | 87.8% | 81.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.3% | 99.1% |
| PWM | 90 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Phone (2a)
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 | 161.7 mm (6.37 inches) | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) |
| Width | 76.3 mm (3 inches) | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 190 g (6.7 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP54 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | 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 | MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro | Google Tensor G3 |
| Max clock | 2800 MHz | 3000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 9 (1 + 4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 |
- 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 | 4 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | MediaTek APU 650 | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G610 MC4 | Immortalis-G715s MC10 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 1130 MHz | 890 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~578.6 GFLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4085 | 8490 |
| Single-core score | 1133 | 1491 |
| Multi-core score | 2581 | 3584 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 363418 | 546093 |
| GPU | 172332 | 391230 |
| Memory | 158940 | 195569 |
| UX | 290571 | 300801 |
| Total score | 985261 | 1433693 |
| Samples | [16 tests] | [6 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | 67% |
| Graphics test | 3 FPS | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | 449 | 990 |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (2a)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-30 (Kaiser) | AnTuTu 12 | 1001163 |
| 📘 2026-09-19 (Vedurijuht2425) | AnTuTu 12 | 1045921 |
| 📘 2026-07-12 (note8techh) | AnTuTu 11 | 984744 |
| 📘 2026-05-06 (legusk) | AnTuTu 11 | 1025139 |
| 📘 2026-04-13 (Divyanshu Raj) | AnTuTu 11 | 1006410 |
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 | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 3.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 21 GB | 18.4 GB |
| OS updates | 3 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4492 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (59% in 30 min) | Yes (33% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:03 hr | 2:09 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 11:32 hr | 08:15 hr |
| Watching video | 18:30 hr | 13:00 hr |
| Gaming | 06:26 hr | 04:54 hr |
| Standby | 148 hr | 86 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#47th place)
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 (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 - RAW support |
- 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 | Samsung ISOCELL GN9 | 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 Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| 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 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 | No | 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* | - | 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 | March 2024 | May 2024 |
| Release date | March 2024 | May 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $329 | $499 |
| Successor | - Nothing Phone (4a) | - 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 camera, performance, gaming, connectivity, and software are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 8a. But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Nothing Phone (2a).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 92