In the mid-range segment, it is very hard to beat the most important Chinese giants. But this year there are two mid-rangers released by two different manufacturers which are way more interesting than the traditional Chinese mid-rangers. A few days ago, the brand created by the OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei released its first phone in the global market: the Nothing Phone (1). Yesterday, Google launched the Pixel 6a in several regions and it is offering it with a launch promo providing the Pixel Buds A as a gift with a discounted price. Given that the price range of these two phones is exactly the same, a lot of people are wondering which one to buy. This is a comparison between the specifications of the Nothing phone (1) and the Google Pixel 6a which will let you find out, at least if you are trying to make a choice.

Nothing phone (1) vs Google Pixel 6a

Nothing phone (1) Google Pixel 6a
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 159.2 x 75.8 x 8.3 mm,
193.5 g		 152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm,
178 g
DISPLAY 6.55 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels (Full HD+), OLED 6.1 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels (Full HD+), OLED
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+, octa-core 2.5 GHz Google Tensor, octa-core 2.8 GHz
MEMORY 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB 6 GB RAM, 128 GB
SOFTWARE Android 12, Nothing OS Android 12
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS
CAMERA Dual 50 + 50 MP, f/1.9 + f/2.2
16 MP f/2.5 front camera		 Dual 12.2 + 12 MP, f/1.7 + f/2.2
8 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY 4500 mAh, fast charging 33W, fast wireless charging 15W 4410 mAh, Fast Charging 18W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES 5G, dual SIM, reverse wireless charging, rear LEDs, IP53 certification 5G, dual SIM, IP67 water resistant

Design

The Nothing phone (1) and the Google Pixel 6a have very original designs, but the former wins the comparison because it is much more innovative. The Nothing phone (1) comes with an aluminum frame and a transparent glass back protected by Gorilla Glass 5 just like the front glass. Under the transparent cover, there is a total of 160 LEDs you can use as notifications LEDs and customize through the software. These LEDs are called the Glyph interface. This phone also comes with the IP53 certification making it dust resistant and splash resistant. However, the Google Pixel 6a has its pros: its design with an aluminum frame and a plastic back is very compact thanks to the presence of a small display with narrow bezels. Further, it is water resistant with the IP67 certification.

 

 

Display

Judging from the specs on the paper, the Nothing phone (1) has a superior display. It is an OLED panel with a diagonal of 6.55 inches able to show up to one billion colors with a 120 Hz refresh rate, a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, and the HDR10+ certification. This amazing screen also comes with an in-display fingerprint reader. Unfortunately, the OLED display of the Google Pixel 6a is not able to show one billion colors and it has a standard 60 Hz refresh rate, but it is still a great panel with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, and the HDR technology. The display is very compact with a diagonal of 6.1 inches, but it still includes an in-display fingerprint reader. Both the phones come with stereo speakers, but they do not feature audio jacks for wired earphones, so you need either an adapter or true wireless earbuds if you want to use earphones.

 

Specs & Software

Despite being a mid-range phone, the Google Pixel 6a is powered by a flagship-class chipset: the Google Tensor, which is also the first proprietary chipset by Google. It is an SoC built at 5 nm and composed of two Cortex X1 cores running at a max frequency of 2.8 GHz, two Cortex A76 cores running at 2.25 GHz, and four Cortex A55 cores running at 1.8 GHz, as well as a Mali G78 MP20 GPU. The chipset is paired with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 native storage. With the Nothing phone (1) you get an inferior Snapdragon 778G mobile platform, but you also get a better memory configuration, with up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. The Snapdragon 778G is a chipset built at 6 nm with an octa-core architecture composed of a Cortex A78 CPU running at 2.5 GHz, three Cortex A78 running at 2.4 GHz, and four Cortex A55 running at 1.8 GHz, as well as an Adreno 642L GPU. Both the handsets run Android 12, with a user experience close to stock Android.

 

Camera

Even though the Google Pixel 6a is a good camera phone, the Nothing phone (1) is equipped with better cameras. It has two sensors on the rear side: a 50 MP main camera with OIS and a 50 MP ultrawide sensor. Definitely better than the 12.2 MP main camera and the 12 MP ultrawide lens of the Google Pixel 6a.

 

Battery

The Nothing phone (1) and the Google Pixel 6a do not differ very much in terms of battery capacity: 4500 mAh and 4410 mAh, respectively. Buth the charging technologies are very different: the former supports 33W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging, while the latter only supports 18W fast charging.

 

Price

The Google Pixel 6a can be purchased for about $450/€450, while you need about €500 or $500 to grab a unit of the Nothing phone (1). At the end of the day, the Nothing phone has a better design, better display, superior cameras, better charging technologies. The Google Pixel 6a has software supported by Google, better water resistance, and a more compact design. Which one would you pick?

 

Nothing phone (1) vs Google Pixel 6a: PRO and CONS

Nothing phone (1)

PRO

  • Rear LEDs
  • More RAM
  • Faster charging
  • Better cameras
  • Wireless charging

CONS

  • Nothing

 

Google Pixel 6a

PRO

  • Superior chipset
  • Supported by Google
  • IP67 certification
  • More compact

CONS

  • Inferior display

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