Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S23 - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Samsung Galaxy S23

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
75 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S23
Nothing Phone (3a)
Samsung Galaxy S23

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S23, Manufactured in February, 2023with chipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. 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 3900mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S23
  • Higher pixel density: 425ppi
  • Lighter design: 168g vs 201g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • 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
- 8/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S23
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
Samsung Galaxy S23

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 19.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 425 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (24-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 88 %
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 S23
1197 nits
sRGB gamutn/a98.9 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a1 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S23]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 146.3 mm (5.76 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 70.9 mm (2.79 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 7.6 mm (0.3 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 168 g (5.93 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - White
- Black
- Gray
- Green
- Purple
- Yellow
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Samsung Galaxy S23
88 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Samsung Galaxy S23 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 3360 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))		 - 3/2 (Cortex-A510)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A710)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715)
- 1/3.2 (Cortex-X3)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Adreno 810 Adreno 740
GPU Cores 256 1536
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 719 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 2089 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Samsung Galaxy S23
1831
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Samsung Galaxy S23
4914
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781831
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32144914
Geekbench Compute (GPU)44359422
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)], [Samsung Galaxy S23]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Samsung Galaxy S23
1522811
CPU215621380535
GPU197715598896
Memory145649273271
UX149368270109
NanoReview Score7083531522811
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23
12039
Max Surface Temp.n/a34.3 °C
Stabilityn/a60 %
Graphics Testn/a72 fps
Graphics Scoren/a12039
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S23]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23
15602
Writing scoren/a19330
Web scoren/a14262
Video editingn/a7840
Data manipulationn/a12674
NanoReview Scoren/a15602

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz n/a
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 4.0
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 29.7 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 One UI 6.1

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 3900 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (10 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:16 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Samsung Galaxy S23
22:02
Web Browsing08:06 h08:12 h
Video Playback16:25 h13:41 h
Games05:49 h05:20 h
Standby Mode131 h109 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 8160x6120 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) 960 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mm23 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung S5KGN3
Sensor size1/1.561/1.57
Pixel size1 μm1 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP10 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/2.4
Focal length50 mm70 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung S5K3K1
Sensor size1/2.741/3.94
Pixel size0.64 μm1 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX564
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 S23
129
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23
137
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S23]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.24
Pixel size n/a 1.12 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 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 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No Yes DP 1.2
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 StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 850/1700/1900/2100Mhz
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19UMTS 6/5/8/34
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)LTE (B/B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B16/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B27/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/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 Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S23
91.5 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr February, 2023 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr February, 2023 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 799
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 No

Note

Samsung Galaxy S23:

The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.

* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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

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