Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) Pro and Honor X9b - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro vs Honor X9b

70 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
VS
60 out 100
Honor X9b
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
Honor X9b

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Pro Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Honor X9b, Manufactured in October, 2023 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.1
  • Built-in eSIM
Reasons to choose Honor X9b
  • Larger display: 6.78in
  • Higher pixel density: 431ppi
  • Lighter design: 185g vs 211g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5800mAh vs 5000mAh
  • Includes charger

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) Pro and Honor X9b
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
vs
Honor X9b

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.78 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1200x2652 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 19.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 431 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ No
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 91.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
1300 nits
Honor X9b
n/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 163.6 mm (6.44 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 75.5 mm (2.97 in)
Thickness 8.39 mm (0.33 in) 7.98 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 211 g (7.44 oz) 185 g (6.53 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP53
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Plastic
Frame n/a Plastic
Colors - Black
- Gray		 - Black
- Green
- Orange
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
88 %
Honor X9b
91.4 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) Pro and Honor X9b In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2200 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))		 - 4/1.8 (Cortex-A55)
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A78)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Adreno 810 Adreno 710
GPU Cores 256 256
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 676 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 346.1 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
1182
Honor X9b
936
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
3357
Honor X9b
2796
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1182936
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)33572796
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4459n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a) Pro], [Honor X9b]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
750673
Honor X9b
510190
CPU273000182475
GPU19208947264
Memory135075145851
UX150509134600
NanoReview Score750673510190

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 - 8 GB
- 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		256 GB
Storage Typen/aUFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 Magic UI 8.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 5800 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 35 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No No
Reverse Charging No Yes
Fast Charging Yes (60% in 15 min) Yes (80% in 60 min)
Full Charge Time 1:05 h 1:57 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
24:09
Honor X9b
n/a
Web Browsing08:09 hn/a
Video Playback16:21 hn/a
Games05:48 hn/a
Standby Mode120 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 108 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 12000x9000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital (lossless), 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 30 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) 240 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° n/a
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 108 MP
Ultra-wide: 5 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP108 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mmn/a
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung HM6
Sensor size1/1.561/1.67
Pixel size1 μm1 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalDigital
Telephoto
Matrix50 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.6n/a
Focal length70 mmn/a
Sensor size1/1.95n/a
Pixel size0.8 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP5 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX355n/a
Sensor size1/4.0n/a
Pixel size1.12 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 50 MP 16 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 3456x4608 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.5
Focal length 24 mm n/a
Sensor n/a CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.76 n/a
Autofocus n/a No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 5.1
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 Varies by region
Infrared Port No n/a
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900n/a
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19n/a
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)n/a
LTE categoryn/a18
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a No

Other

Class Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March, 2025 yr October, 2023 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr October, 2023 yr
Launch Price ($) 459 375
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No Yes 35 W
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Nothing Phone (3a) Pro the clear winner in this comparison.

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