Nothing Phone (3a) vs Honor Magic 8 Lite 5G
66
out of 100
VS
69
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.77-inch Nothing Phone (3a) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3) that was released on March 4, 2025, against the Honor Magic 8 Lite 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 and came out 9 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 (3a)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
Reasons to consider the Honor Magic 8 Lite 5G
- Comes with 2500 mAh larger battery capacity: 7500 vs 5000 mAh
- Shows 27% longer battery life (31:45 vs 25:03 hours)
- Delivers 39% higher peak brightness (1771 against 1273 nits)
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 50W)
- 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 | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.77 inches | 6.79 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2392 pixels | 1200 x 2640 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.9:9 | 19.85:9 |
| PPI | 387 ppi | 427 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 1800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 3000 nits | 6000 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Panda Glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.7% | 90.8% |
| 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 | 163.52 mm (6.44 inches) | 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) |
| Width | 77.5 mm (3.05 inches) | 76.1 mm (3 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.35 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 201 g (7.09 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP64 | IP69 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue | Black, Green, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Average (2.84/5) | Good (3.57/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Excellent (A) · 270 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 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) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520) - 3 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720) - 1 core at 2.3 GHz: Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720) |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 810 | Adreno 810 |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1050 MHz | 1150 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~537.6 GFLOPS | ~588.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4435 | 3980 |
| Single-core score | 1158 | 1092 |
| Multi-core score | 3276 | 3106 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 402549 | 367868 |
| GPU | 179108 | 164059 |
| Memory | 194640 | 214576 |
| UX | 274304 | 248152 |
| Total score | 1050601 | 994655 |
| Samples | [38 tests] | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 98% | - |
| Graphics test | 3 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 379 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11533 | - |
| Video editing | 6290 | - |
| Photo editing | 20294 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10511 | - |
| Writing score | 16899 | - |
Recent User Tests
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 |
Honor Magic 8 Lite 5G
No benchmark results yet
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | Nothing OS 4.0 | MagicOS 10 |
| OS updates | 3 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 3 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 7500 mAh |
| Max charge power | 50 W | 66 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (61% in 30 min) | Yes (49% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:06 hr | 1:10 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1400 cycles | 1200 cycles |
| Web browsing | 08:06 hr | 15:13 hr |
| Watching video | 16:25 hr | 20:32 hr |
| Gaming | 05:49 hr | 08:07 hr |
| Standby | 131 hr | 124 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#31st place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| 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 | 240 FPS (720p) | - |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 108 MP 2) Ultrawide: 5 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 108 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN9 | Samsung HM6 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.67" (≈ 0.6 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 | 5 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 15 mm | 17 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX355 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/5.0" (≈ 0.2 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6560 x 4928 | 3456 x 4608 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.5 |
| Focal length | 22 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.44" (≈ 0.29 inch) | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 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 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 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| 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, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Depends on the region |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 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 2025 | December 2025 |
| Release date | March 2025 | January 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $329 | $460 |
| 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 | Yes, 66 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the battery life and software are more important to you, then choose the Honor Magic 8 Lite 5G. But if the camera and gaming are more of a priority – go for the Nothing Phone (3a).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 6