Home Phone comparison Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi 12S Ultra - Which is better?

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Xiaomi 12S Ultra

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
74 out 100
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Nothing Phone (3a)
Xiaomi 12S Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Xiaomi 12S Ultra, Manufactured in July, 2022 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. 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
  • Lighter design: 201g vs 225g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4860mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.2
Reasons to choose Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  • Higher pixel density: 521ppi
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi 12S 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
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
Xiaomi 12S Ultra

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.73 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1440x3200 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 20:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 521 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 1000 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 89.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
1064 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.7 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a186 Hz
Response timen/a2 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Xiaomi 12S Ultra]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 163.17 mm (6.42 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 74.92 mm (2.95 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 9.06 mm (0.36 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 225 g (7.94 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Frame n/a Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - Black
- Green
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
89.4 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi 12S Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 3190 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 (Cortex-A510)
- 3/2.75 (Cortex-A710)
- 1/3.2 (Cortex-X2)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Adreno 810 Adreno 730
GPU Cores 256 1024
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 900 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 1843.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
1458
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
3970
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11781458
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32143970
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)], [Xiaomi 12S Ultra]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
1234229
CPU215621331276
GPU197715485862
Memory145649182917
UX149368234174
NanoReview Score7083531234229
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
9860
Max Surface Temp.n/a49.2 °C
Stabilityn/a70 %
Graphics Testn/a59 fps
Graphics Scoren/a9860
Sources: 3DMark [Xiaomi 12S Ultra]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
13365
Writing scoren/a15792
Web scoren/a11773
Video editingn/a7444
Data manipulationn/a9984
NanoReview Scoren/a13365

Memory

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

Software

OS Android 15 Android 12
OS Size n/a 32 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 MIUI 13

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4860 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 67 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (50 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (73% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 0:50 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
21:00
Web Browsing08:06 h08:46 h
Video Playback16:25 h13:01 h
Games05:49 h05:25 h
Standby Mode131 h96 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels n/a
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 5x
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) 3840 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 128 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Depth: 0.3 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.9
Focal length24 mm23 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Sony IMX989
Sensor size1/1.561/1
Pixel size1 μm1.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusLaser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/4.1
Focal length50 mm120 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX586
Sensor size1/2.741/2.0
Pixel size0.64 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX586
Sensor size1/4.01/2.0
Pixel size1.12 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
137
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
129
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
136
Bokehn/a65
Previewn/a63
Zoomn/a136
Sources: DxOMark [Xiaomi 12S Ultra]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution n/a 6528x4896 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.5
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Omnivision OV32C
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.2
Pixel size n/a 0.7 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
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
103
Video quality
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
132

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
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
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900n/a
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19n/a
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)n/a
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
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
83.2 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr July, 2022 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr July, 2022 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 890
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No Yes 67 W
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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