Nothing Phone (3a) vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 12

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (3a) Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 12, Manufactured in March, 2023with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 685. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Nothing Phone (3a)
  • Larger display: 6.77in
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
  • Higher pixel density: 395ppi
  • Lighter design: 183.5g vs 201g
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 6/64 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

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

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.67 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio n/a 20:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 395 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ No
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 88 % 85.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1272 nits
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
741 nits
sRGB gamutn/a100 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a484 Hz
Response timen/a5 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.52 mm (6.44 in) 165.66 mm (6.52 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 75.96 mm (2.99 in)
Thickness 8.35 mm (0.33 in) 7.85 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 201 g (7.09 oz) 183.5 g (6.47 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP53
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel n/a Plastic
Frame n/a Plastic
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue
- Gray
- Blue
- Green
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Button
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (3a)
88 %
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
85.3 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (3a) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 685
Max Frequency 2500 MHz 2800 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-A520))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-A720))
- 1/2.5 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-A720))
- 4/1.9 (Cortex-A53)
- 4/2.8 (Cortex-A73)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 6 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon 686
Graphics Adreno 810 Adreno 610
GPU Cores 256 128
GPU Frequency 1050 MHz 1260 MHz
FLOPS 537.6 GFLOPS 319.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
1178
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
375
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (3a)
3214
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
1494
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1178375
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32141494
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4435n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (3a)
708353
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
346691
CPU215621117343
GPU19771542979
Memory145649113571
UX14936872798
NanoReview Score708353346691
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
641
Max Surface Temp.n/a40.9 °C
Stabilityn/a99 %
Graphics Testn/a3 fps
Graphics Scoren/a641
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (3a)
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
8890
Writing scoren/a10190
Web scoren/a8571
Video editingn/a4771
Data manipulationn/a7223
NanoReview Scoren/a8890

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB
- 4 GB
- 6 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 2.2
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 15 Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 15)
OS Size n/a 21 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 3.1 HyperOS 2.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 50 W 33 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 (55% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:06 h 1:11 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (3a)
25:03
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
23:06
Web Browsing08:06 h08:20 h
Video Playback16:25 h15:10 h
Games05:49 h05:33 h
Standby Mode131 h113 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 8192x6144 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
Macro: 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 IMX355Omnivision OV08D10
Sensor size1/4.01/4
Pixel size1.12 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 13 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4128x3096 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.5
Focal length 22 mm n/a
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.44 1/3.0
Pixel size n/a 1.12 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

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
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
- 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 SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900GSM 850 900 1800 1900MHz
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/a13
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 Note 12
81.3 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March, 2025 yr March, 2023 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr March, 2023 yr
Launch Price ($) 329 229
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 33 W
* 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.

Survey

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