Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S21 - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Samsung Galaxy S21

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
Nothing Phone (3a)
Samsung Galaxy S21

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S21, Manufactured in February, 2021with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. 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 battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Higher pixel density: 421ppi
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 201g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • 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 Samsung Galaxy S21
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.
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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
Samsung Galaxy S21

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.2 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 20:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 421 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 85.9 %
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 S21
854 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.5 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a5 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 151.7 mm (5.97 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 71.2 mm (2.8 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Plastic
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S21 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))		 - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Adreno 810 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 256 896
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32143593
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
CPU215621253391
GPU197715281676
Memory145649158352
UX149368210361
NanoReview Score708353903780
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Max Surface Temp.n/a38.9 °C
Stabilityn/a66 %
Graphics Testn/a34 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5715
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Writing scoren/a16101
Web scoren/a11909
Video editingn/a7097
Data manipulationn/a10153
NanoReview Scoren/a13123

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 28.1 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 One UI 6.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4000 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 25 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 (55% in 50 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:35 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Web Browsing08:06 h06:01 h
Video Playback16:25 h11:06 h
Games05:49 h04:21 h
Standby Mode131 h95 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 1.1x
Flash LED Dual 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: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/1.561/1.76
Pixel size1 μm1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP64 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/2.0
Focal length50 mm28 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung Bright S5KGW2
Sensor size1/2.741/1.72
Pixel size0.64 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/4.01/2.55
Pixel size1.12 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution n/a 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX374
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.24
Pixel size n/a 1.22 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 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 USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host 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 SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
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/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)
LTE categoryn/a24
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 S21
87 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 800
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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