Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Apple iPhone 12 - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Apple iPhone 12

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
65 out 100
Apple iPhone 12
Nothing Phone (3a)
Apple iPhone 12

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Apple iPhone 12, Manufactured in October, 2020with chipsetApple A14 Bionic. 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)
  • Larger display: 6.77in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 2815mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 12
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Lighter design: 164g vs 201g
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 4/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Apple iPhone 12
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
Smartphones:
Nothing Phone (3a)
vs
Apple iPhone 12

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.77 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1170x2532 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 19.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 87.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Apple iPhone 12
646 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.4 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a226 Hz
Response timen/a16 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Apple iPhone 12]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 146.7 mm (5.78 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 7.4 mm (0.29 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 164 g (5.78 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - White
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Red
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Apple iPhone 12
87.1 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Apple iPhone 12 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Apple A14 Bionic
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 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 (Icestorm)
- 2/3.1 (Firestorm)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Apple Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 810 Apple A14 GPU
GPU Cores 256 256
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 654.3 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Apple iPhone 12
1941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Apple iPhone 12
5008
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781941
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32145008
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Apple iPhone 12
1095315
CPU215621310050
GPU197715323143
Memory145649173777
UX149368288345
NanoReview Score7083531095315
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
7601
Max Surface Temp.n/a41.2 °C
Stabilityn/a77 %
Graphics Testn/a45 fps
Graphics Scoren/a7601
Sources: 3DMark [Apple iPhone 12]

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz n/a
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 iOS 14.1 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.3.2)
OS Size n/a 7 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 n/a

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 2815 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse Charging No No
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:30 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Apple iPhone 12
21:15
Web Browsing08:06 h08:00 h
Video Playback16:25 h12:09 h
Games05:49 h04:35 h
Standby Mode131 h112 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.6
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Sony IMX372
Sensor size1/1.561/3.4
Pixel size1 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.6n/a
Focal length50 mmn/a
Sensor size1/2.74n/a
Pixel size0.64 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.4
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355n/a
Sensor size1/4.01/3.6
Pixel size1.12 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
130
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
117
Bokehn/a55
Previewn/a74
Zoomn/a60
Sources: DxOMark [Apple iPhone 12]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX514
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.6
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
127
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
140

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 2 n/a
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
DisplayPort No n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19UMTS/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B46/B48/B66)
LTE categoryn/a18
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)
n/a
Apple iPhone 12
81.1 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr October, 2020 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr October, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 800
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included No n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

No clear favorite identified yet; updates may follow as new data arrives.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
2 (100%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 2

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