Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Nothing Phone (3a)
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2020with chipsetSamsung Exynos 990. 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)
  • Lighter design: 201g vs 220g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 511ppi
  • Supports newer USB: 3.1 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 12/128 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 16/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S20 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
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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)
vs
Galaxy S20 Ultra

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1440x3200 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 20:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 511 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 90.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
886 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.2 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a6.2 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 166.9 mm (6.57 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 76 mm (2.99 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 8.8 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 220 g (7.76 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - Black
- Gray
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
90.6 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Samsung Exynos 990
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 3020 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))		 - 4/2 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2.5 (Cortex-A76)
- 2/2.73 (Exynos M5)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 7 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Adreno 810 Mali-G77 MP11
GPU Cores 256 704
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 800 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 1126 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
1159
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
3158
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781159
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32143158
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
760316
CPU215621220525
GPU197715225011
Memory145649146451
UX149368168329
NanoReview Score708353760316
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
4320
Max Surface Temp.n/a38.6 °C
Stabilityn/a53 %
Graphics Testn/a25 fps
Graphics Scoren/a4320
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
11163
Writing scoren/a13391
Web scoren/a8714
Video editingn/a6104
Data manipulationn/a9006
NanoReview Scoren/a11163

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 - 12 GB
- 16 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 512 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 3.0
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 15 Android 10.0 (Upgradeable to Android 13)
OS Size n/a 23.7 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 One UI 5.1

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 (61% in 30 min) Yes (100% in 80 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:20 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
18:01
Web Browsing08:06 h06:27 h
Video Playback16:25 h11:23 h
Games05:49 h04:23 h
Standby Mode131 h91 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 108 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 12032x9204 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 4x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Up to 24FPS
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) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 108 MP
Telephoto: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Depth: 0.3 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP108 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung Bright S5KHM1
Sensor size1/1.561/1.33
Pixel size1 μm0.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/3.5
Focal length50 mm103 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX586
Sensor size1/2.741/2
Pixel size0.64 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355Samsung S5K2LA
Sensor size1/4.01/2.55
Pixel size1.12 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 40 MP
Photo resolution n/a 7864x5200 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung S5KGH1
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/2.65
Pixel size n/a 0.7 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 5
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
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoYes
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 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 (B850/B900/B1700/B1900/B2100)
LTE categoryn/a22
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
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
84.4 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr February, 2020 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr March, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 1400
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 n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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