Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Google Pixel 6 - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Google Pixel 6

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
65 out 100
Google Pixel 6
Nothing Phone (3a)
Google Pixel 6

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Google Pixel 6, Manufactured in October, 2021with chipsetGoogle Tensor. 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
  • Lighter design: 201g vs 207g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4614mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.2
Reasons to choose Google Pixel 6
  • Higher pixel density: 411ppi
  • Supports newer USB: 3.1 vs 2
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Google Pixel 6
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
Google Pixel 6

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.77 in 6.4 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 20:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 411 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 83.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Google Pixel 6
843 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.8 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a397 Hz
Response timen/a5 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Google Pixel 6]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 158.6 mm (6.24 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 74.8 mm (2.94 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 8.9 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 207 g (7.3 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - Black
- Blue
- Yellow
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Google Pixel 6
83.3 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Google Pixel 6 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Google Tensor
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2800 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 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 (Cortex A55)
- 2/2.25 (Cortex A76)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Tensor Processing Unit
Graphics Adreno 810 Mali-G78 MP20
GPU Cores 256 1280
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 2170.9 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Google Pixel 6
1363
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Google Pixel 6
3100
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781363
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32143100
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)], [Google Pixel 6]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Google Pixel 6
895119
CPU215621243524
GPU197715308790
Memory145649139643
UX149368203162
NanoReview Score708353895119
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
6379
Max Surface Temp.n/a42.1 °C
Stabilityn/a56 %
Graphics Testn/a38 fps
Graphics Scoren/a6379
Sources: 3DMark [Google Pixel 6]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
10663
Writing scoren/a14383
Web scoren/a7690
Video editingn/a6612
Data manipulationn/a10293
NanoReview Scoren/a10663

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 15)
OS Size n/a 17.6 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 Stock Android

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4614 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 30 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (21 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (41% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:53 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Google Pixel 6
18:55
Web Browsing08:06 h07:07 h
Video Playback16:25 h13:13 h
Games05:49 h05:02 h
Standby Mode131 h85 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash LED Dual 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 ° 114 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.9
Focal length24 mm25 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung GN1
Sensor size1/1.561/1.31
Pixel size1 μm1.2 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusLaser autofocus
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/2.2
Focal length15 mm17 mm
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX386 Exmor RS
Sensor size1/4.01/2.9
Pixel size1.12 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
136
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
133
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
126
Bokehn/a65
Previewn/a65
Zoomn/a79
Sources: DxOMark [Google Pixel 6]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 8 MP
Photo resolution n/a 3840x2160 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 22 mm 24 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.44 n/a
Pixel size n/a 1.12 μm
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
130
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
127

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 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No n/a
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 Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19UMTS/HSPA+ 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19
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/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B46/B48/B66/B71)
LTE categoryn/a20
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Google Pixel 6
86.3 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr October, 2021 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr October, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 600
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint 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

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

Survey

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

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below