Google Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): A comparison of the two smartphones

If you’re someone who is confused between the Pixel 6a and the Nothing Phone (1), here are some direct comparisons between the phones that will help you make up your mind.

Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): Pricing

The Google Pixel 6a is priced at Rs 43,999 on Flipkart India and comes with a discount of Rs 4,000 for Axis Bank Credit and Debit card users. Add the Rs 29 Flipkart charges for secure packaging and there is no way to get the Pixel 6a under Rs 40,000 without exchanging an older device. This price gets you the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage option, which is the only one that Google has introduced.

Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone (1) starts at Rs 32,999 for the 8GB/128GB variant, and is priced at Rs 35,999 and Rs 37,999 for the 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB variant respectively. There are also a few offers you can use if you pre-booked the phone, which is clearly the more affordable of the two.

Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): Display

The Pixel 6a comes with a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This is a 60Hz panel with no high refresh rate and doesn’t mention any extra certifications like HDR10+. The Nothing phone (1) comes with a larger 6.55-inch FHD+ display panel. This is also an OLED panel but it also comes with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate support. Along with Gorilla Glass 5 protection and HDR10+ support, the phone (1) sports the larger and more capable display here.

Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): Camera

The Google Pixel 6a comes with a 12.2MP main camera sensor and a 12MP secondary ultrawide camera sensor. The primary sensor has OIS support and the ultrawide sensor has a 114-degree FOV. There is also an 8MP front camera. All three cameras can make use of Google’s excellent post-processing that was also present on the Pixel 6 series and previous Pixel phones. The Pixel camera is more than just specifications, though. It comes with software features such as Real Skin Tone (part of the algorithm), Magic Eraser, NightSight, etc.

The Nothing Phone (1) also comes with two cameras on the back, one 50MP main camera and another 50MP ultrawide camera. The main camera also supports OIS here, and the secondary camera gets 114-degree FOV again. There is a 16MP front camera too. The camera experience of the Nothing Phone (1) is still being improved by Nothing via updates.

Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): Performance

The Pixel 6a comes with the new 5nm Tensor chip that also powers the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The chip comes with 2×2.80GHz Cortex-X1, 2×2.25GHz Cortex-A76 and 4×1.80GHz Cortex-A55 cores. This is clubbed by a Mali-G78 GPU.

The Nothing Phone (1) is powered by the 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chipset which comes with 1×2.5 GHz Cortex-A78, 3×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 and 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. There is also an Adreno 642L GPU in here.

Both phones offer UFS 3.1 storage although the Pixel 6a just has a 128GB variant with no expandable memory. The Nothing Phone (1) also gets a 256GB variant, but still has no expandable memory. The Pixel 6a also comes with just 6GB RAM compared to the Nothing Phone (1)’s 8GB or 12GB RAM.  The Pixel, however, has an edge in the USB Type-C port on the bottom (USB 3.1 on the Pixel vs USB 2.0 on the Nothing).

Pixel 6a vs Nothing Phone (1): Battery life, charging and software

There’s a 4410mAh battery on the Pixel 6a with 18W charging and USB PD 3.0 support. The Nothing Phone (1) meanwhile, gets 33W charging support with USB PD 3.0 and Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 support. It also has support for 15W Qi wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging for other devices.

The Pixel 6a comes with completely stock Android 12 straight from Google and will get system updates for 3 years and security updates for 5 years straight from Google. The phone also comes with some unique Pixel only features such as the Recorder app with live transcription, Live translations, Material You interface, etc. The Nothing Phone (1) meanwhile, also comes with Android 12 with a near-stock-like NothingOS skin on top, though there is no bloatware and some extra features. This phone gets 3 years of system updates and 4 years of security updates.

Pixel 6a vs Nothing hone (1): Other features

The Google Pixel 6a features an in-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers and NFC support. It can record videos at up to 4K 60fps and gets an IP67 dust and water resistance rating. The phone also features an aluminium frame with a plastic back.

On the other hand, the Nothing Phone (1) comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers and NFC support as well. The device can, however, only record videos at up to 4K 30fps. There is IP53 dust and water resistance here.