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

Nothing Phone (3a) vs Xiaomi Redmi 12

69 out 100
Nothing Phone (3a)
VS
47 out 100
Xiaomi Redmi 12
Nothing Phone (3a)
Xiaomi Redmi 12

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Xiaomi Redmi 12, Manufactured in June, 2023with chipsetMediaTek Helio G88. 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)
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi 12
  • Larger display: 6.79in
  • Higher pixel density: 396ppi
  • Lighter design: 198.5g vs 201g
  • Infrared port

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB		 - 2/128 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi Redmi 12
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 Redmi 12

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.77 in 6.79 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2460 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 19.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 396 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 550 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ No
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 88 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 n/a
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Xiaomi Redmi 12
539 nits
sRGB gamutn/a96.3 %
Response timen/a26 ms
Contrastn/a898:1
Sources: NotebookCheck [Xiaomi Redmi 12]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 168.6 mm (6.64 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 76.28 mm (3 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 8.17 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 198.5 g (7 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP53
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Plastic
Frame n/a Plastic
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue		 - Black
- Silver
- Blue
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Button
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Xiaomi Redmi 12
88 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi Redmi 12 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 MediaTek Helio G88
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2000 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))		 - 6/1.8 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2 (Cortex-A75)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 12 nm
Neural Processor Yes MediaTek APU
Graphics Adreno 810 Mali-G52 MP2
GPU Cores 256 48
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 1000 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 96 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Xiaomi Redmi 12
434
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Xiaomi Redmi 12
1223
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1178434
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32141223
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Nothing Phone (3a)]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Xiaomi Redmi 12
266658
CPU21562184508
GPU19771539522
Memory14564969688
UX14936872940
NanoReview Score708353266658
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi 12
743
Sources: 3DMark [Xiaomi Redmi 12]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi 12
9150
Writing scoren/a8646
Web scoren/a8615
Video editingn/a6849
Data manipulationn/a6391
NanoReview Scoren/a9150

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB		 - 4 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 1800 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2eMMC 5.1
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 15 Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 15)
OS Size n/a 18 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 HyperOS 2.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No No
Reverse Charging No No
Fast Charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (29% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 2:07 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Xiaomi Redmi 12
22:09
Web Browsing08:06 h07:58 h
Video Playback16:25 h12:45 h
Games05:49 h04:59 h
Standby Mode131 h118 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 8150x6150 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) 120 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Depth: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mmn/a
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung S5KJN1
Sensor size1/1.561/2.76
Pixel size1 μm0.64 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 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length15 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX355Sony IMX355
Sensor size1/4.01/2.8
Pixel size1.12 μm1.14 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 8 MP
Photo resolution n/a 3264x2448 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.1
Focal length 22 mm n/a
Sensor CMOS n/a
Sensor size 1/3.44 n/a
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
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 5.3
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
DisplayPort No n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Varies by region
Infrared Port No Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoNo
Hybrid SlotNoYes
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 2/3/5/8
3G BandsUMTS 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19WCDMA 1/5/8
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/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20/B28/B38/B40/B41)
LTE categoryn/a7
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No Yes
FM Radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos n/a No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi 12
79.4 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Budget
Announced March, 2025 yr June, 2023 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr June, 2023 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 159
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Accelerometer
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No No
* 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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