Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
36 out 100
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
Nothing Phone (3a)
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018), Manufactured in January, 2018 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 7 Octa 7885. 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 3000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  • Higher pixel density: 441ppi
  • Lighter design: 172g vs 201g
  • Supports Dolby Atmos

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 4/32 GB
- 4/64 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
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
Galaxy A8 (2018)

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 5.6 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2220 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 18.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 441 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 390 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ No
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 75.5 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 n/a
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
586 nits
PWM (Flicker)n/a242 Hz
Response timen/a4.6 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 149.2 mm (5.87 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 70.6 mm (2.78 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 8.4 mm (0.33 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 172 g (6.07 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
- Gold
- Blue
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
75.5 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7885
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2200 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))		 - 6/1.6 (Cortex-A53)
- 2/2.2 (Cortex-A73)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 14 nm
Neural Processor Yes No
Graphics Adreno 810 Mali-G71 MP2
GPU Cores 256 32
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 770 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 70.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
n/a
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
n/a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1178n/a
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)3214n/a
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
202681
CPU21562173673
GPU19771526657
Memory14564950080
UX14936852271
NanoReview Score708353202681

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 1333 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 32 GB
- 64 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2eMMC 5.1
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 15 Android 7.1.1 (Upgradeable to Android 9)
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 One UI 2.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 3000 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No No
Reverse Charging No No
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:35 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
17:10
Web Browsing08:06 h06:38 h
Video Playback16:25 h11:19 h
Games05:49 h04:20 h
Standby Mode131 h80 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 16 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4920x3264 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 30 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) No
Wide-angle lens 120 ° n/a
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 16 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP16 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.7
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung S5K2P6SX
Sensor size1/1.561/2.8
Pixel size1 μm1.12 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalDigital
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 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.2n/a
Focal length15 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX355n/a
Sensor size1/4.0n/a
Pixel size1.12 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitaln/a
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
82
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
74
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
79

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 16 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4608x3456 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 22 mm 27 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung S5K3P8SP
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.1
Pixel size n/a 1 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

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
Bluetooth version 5.4 5
Bluetooth features LE PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
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 n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19HSDPA 850, HSDPA 900, HSDPA 1900, HSDPA 2100
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)LTE (B800/B850/B900/B1700/B1800/B1900/B2100/B2300/B2500)
LTE categoryn/a11
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No Yes
FM Radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
85 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March, 2025 yr December, 2017 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr January, 2018 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 480
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 n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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

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