Nothing Phone (3a) Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Pro Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Manufactured in February, 2023with chipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
  • Lighter design: 211g vs 233g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.8in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Supports Dolby Atmos

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
- 12/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
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
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.8 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1440x3088 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 19.3:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 850 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 89.5 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
1300 nits
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
1269 nits
sRGB gamutn/a96.9 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a2 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 163.4 mm (6.43 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 78.1 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.39 mm (0.33 in) 8.9 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 211 g (7.44 oz) 233 g (8.22 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - Black
- Gray
- White
- Black
- Gray
- Blue
- Green
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
88 %
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
89.5 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 3360 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))
- 3/2 (Cortex-A510)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A710)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715)
- 1/3.2 (Cortex-X3)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Adreno 810 Adreno 740
GPU Cores 256 1536
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 719 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 2089 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
1182
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
1976
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
3357
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
5221
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11821976
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)33575221
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4459n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
750673
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
1541246
CPU273000371084
GPU192089600732
Memory135075299004
UX150509270462
NanoReview Score7506731541246
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
12160
Max Surface Temp.n/a34.8 °C
Stabilityn/a64 %
Graphics Testn/a72 fps
Graphics Scoren/a12160
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
16130
Writing scoren/a19799
Web scoren/a16101
Video editingn/a7815
Data manipulationn/a13142
NanoReview Scoren/a16130

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB
- 8 GB
- 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB
Storage Typen/aUFS 4.0
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 39.9 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 One UI 6.1

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 45 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (60% in 15 min) Yes (68% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:05 h 0:59 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
24:09
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
26:01
Web Browsing08:09 h09:57 h
Video Playback16:21 h15:38 h
Games05:48 h06:22 h
Standby Mode120 h130 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 10x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) 960 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.7
Focal length24 mm23 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung ISOCELL HP2
Sensor size1/1.561/1.3
Pixel size1 μm0.64 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Laser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP10 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/4.9
Focal length70 mm230 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX754
Sensor size1/1.951/3.52
Pixel size0.8 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX564
Sensor size1/4.01/2.55
Pixel size1.12 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
139
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
137
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
140
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a73
Zoomn/a141

Front camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor n/a Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/2.76 1/3.24
Pixel size n/a 1.12 μm
Autofocus n/a Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
139
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
145

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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 5.4 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 DP 1.2
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
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/a20
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
91.8 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr February, 2023 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr February, 2023 yr
Launch Price ($) 459 1199
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
1 (100%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 1

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below