Nothing Phone (3a) Lite vs Phone (3a)
65
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.77-inch Nothing Phone (3a) Lite (with MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro ) that was released on October 29, 2025, against the Nothing Phone (3a), which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and came out 8 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 (3a) Lite
- Shows 8% longer battery life (27:00 vs 25:03 hours)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Reverse charging feature
- The phone is 8 months newer
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Nothing Phone (3a)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Water-resistant body (IP64 classification)
- 19% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1050K versus 884K)
- Stereo speakers
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- Supports higher wattage charging (50W versus 33W)
- 14% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1158 and 1015 points
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 | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.77 inches | 6.77 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2392 pixels | 1080 x 2392 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.9:9 | 19.9:9 |
| PPI | 388 ppi | 387 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 1300 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 3000 nits | 3000 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 480 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Panda Glass | Panda Glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.9% | 87.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | - | 99.8% |
| PWM | - | 90 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164 mm (6.46 inches) | 163.52 mm (6.44 inches) |
| Width | 78 mm (3.07 inches) | 77.5 mm (3.05 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.35 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 199 g (7.02 oz) | 201 g (7.09 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP54 | IP64 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Average (2.83/5) | Average (2.84/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520) - 3 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720) - 1 core at 2.5 GHz: Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | MediaTek APU 655 | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G615 MP2 | Adreno 810 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1047 MHz | 1050 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~536.1 GFLOPS | ~537.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 2511 | 4435 |
| Single-core score | 1015 | 1158 |
| Multi-core score | 2922 | 3276 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 347556 | 402549 |
| GPU | 126923 | 179108 |
| Memory | 143829 | 194640 |
| UX | 265899 | 274304 |
| Total score | 884207 | 1050601 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [38 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 98% |
| Graphics test | - | 3 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 379 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11393 | 11533 |
| Video editing | 5297 | 6290 |
| Photo editing | 23565 | 20294 |
| Data manipulation | 9751 | 10511 |
| Writing score | 17591 | 16899 |
Recent User Tests
Nothing Phone (3a) Lite
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-17 (Minekenet) | AnTuTu 12 | 971209 |
| 📘 2026-04-21 (Zenos) | AnTuTu 11 | 911497 |
| 📘 2026-04-07 (a1kzz) | AnTuTu 11 | 694121 |
| 📘 2026-03-26 (Kashi) | AnTuTu 11 | 884207 |
| 📘 2026-01-25 (amor) | AnTuTu 11 | 875040 |
Nothing Phone (3a)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | CPU Throttle | 82% |
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 GPU | 3328 |
| 📘 2026-07-10 -> ratulislam-55 | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1158 / 3276 |
| 📘 2026-06-07 (Aames Ng) | AnTuTu 11 | 1069149 |
| 📘 2026-06-03 (xperz3650) | AnTuTu 11 | 1065584 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 3.5 | Nothing OS 4.0 |
| OS updates | 3 years | 3 years |
| Security updates | 6 years | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 33 W | 50 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (61% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:07 hr | 1:06 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1400 cycles | 1400 cycles |
| Web browsing | 10:31 hr | 08:06 hr |
| Watching video | 18:14 hr | 16:25 hr |
| Gaming | 06:14 hr | 05:49 hr |
| Standby | 124 hr | 131 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#104th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 50 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.6 |
| Focal length | - | 50 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung ISOCELL |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 0.64 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 15 mm | 15 mm |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC08A8 | Sony IMX355 |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC02M1 | - |
| Stabilization | No | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4640 x 3488 | 6560 x 4928 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 22 mm |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC16B3 | Samsung ISOCELL |
| Sensor size | 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.44" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
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 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 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | 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 | October 2025 | March 2025 |
| Release date | October 2025 | March 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $249 | $329 |
| Successor | - | - Nothing Phone (4a) |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- 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
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Nothing Phone (3a). It has a better camera, performance, gaming, software, and sound.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 112
