The Nothing Phone 1 has finally been unveiled and the smartphone will start shipping in India soon. It has been priced above Rs 30,000 and claims to give a one-of-a-kind experience in terms of smartphones. It will have a clean UI experience as well. However, competition in the coming days going to get tougher as Google is prepping up to launch the Pixel 6a in India.
The Pixel 6a is expected to debut on July 28 while the Nothing Phone 1 will go on sale from July 20. Now, the question that going to confuse many is, should they buy the Nothing Phone 1 or wait for the Google Pixel 6a? To tackle this tricky question, we have curated a specs comparison between the two phones to help you make an informed decision:
ALSO READ: What is YouTube Vanced? 7 Best YouTube Vanced alternatives
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Design
If we talk about the design, then there are noticeable differences between the 2 smartphones. Nothing Phone 1 has a semi-translucent back which reveals some of its internals and gives it an unconventional appearance. The back has a glass-like finish and a string of LEDs that form the Glyph interface to customize display notifications.
There are dual camera lenses on the back in the top left corner and the front has a flat display with a fingerprint reader. The edges of the device are smooth and it comes with an IP53 rating for water and dust protection. It will come in white and black colours.
Talking about Google Pixel 6a, it has a design similar to what Google uses for its entire Pixel 6 lineup. The rear camera is housed in a horizontal blackened strip running along the upper half of the phone, while the rest of the back is clean. The front has thick bezels and the edges are slightly curved. The front camera sits in a punch hole at the centre of the display. Google offers the Pixel 6a in 3 colour variants. Here is a comparison table to see the difference in other design specs.
| Design Specs | Nothing Phone 1 | Google Pixel 6a |
| Front side | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Back side | Gorilla Glass | Plastic |
| Body Frame | Aluminium | Aluminium |
| Thickness | 8.1mm | 8.9mm |
| Weight | 193.5 grams | 178 grams |
| Water resistance | IP53 | IP67 |
So, we can easily say that both Nothing Phone 1 and Google Pixel 6a has unique design. Having said that, both these phones create quite pillorizing opinions as some users like them and some really don’t.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Display
Nothing Phone 1 has a display size of 6.55-inch and a Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. It has bezels on all 4 sides and a selfie camera at the top of the front. It has a refresh rate of 120Hz and pixel density of 521ppi. It also has HDR10+ certification and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
Talking about Pixel 6a, Google has put forward this device as a compact phone. Therefore, the phone comes with a 6.1-inch OLED screen. It has a 60Hz of screen refresh rate and a pixel density of 431ppi which is clearly not the best in the business. Having said that, the Pixel 6a display can render HDR content so you can enjoy HDR 10 movies on Prime Videos and Netflix. Google has added Gorilla Glass 3 on top of the screen to protect it from accidental scratches.
In terms of display, I would dare to say that Nothing Phone 1 has an upper hand.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Battery & Camera
Nothing Phone 1 has a larger battery than the Google Pixel 6a. This is because while Nothing Phone 1 packs a 4500mAh battery, Google Pixel 6a has a 4410mAh cell. Also, the Tensor CPU in Pixel 6a is less power efficient than the Snapdragon processor, so Nothing’s battery is expected to last longer.
In terms of charging, Nothing Phone 1 offers 33W fast charging support whereas Google Pixel 6a offers 18W fast charging. Moreover, Nothing Phone 1 supports wireless, reverse wireless charging which Pixel 6a doesn’t. So, Nothing Phone 1 is better in terms of battery and charging.
Coming to cameras, both Nothing Phone 1 and Google Pixel 6a have dual rear cameras and a selfie camera at the front. But this doesn’t mean that both phones have a camera setup that is at par with each other. Google Pixel 6a has a 12.2MP primary lens with OIS and a 12MP ultrawide lens. It can record 4k videos at 60fps and full HD videos at 240fps. The front has an 8MP selfie camera with HDR selfies and FHD videos.
As for Nothing Phone 1, it has 2 50MP lenses at the back. One is a primary lens with OIS, whereas the other is an ultrawide lens. It can record 4K Videos at 30fps. The front sees a 16MP selfie camera that can record full HD Videos. Although in terms of megapixels, one might feel Nothing has better cameras, Google Pixel 6a is a league ahead of Nothing Phone 1. In fact, Pixel phone cameras are right up there with the best in the business.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: RAM/Memory
Nothing Phone comes with 8GB and 12GB of RAM and 128GB and 256GB options for internal storage. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 6a has only 1 storage option 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage capacity.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Performance (Chipset & OS)
The Nothing Phone 1 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset. It is a mid-range chipset from Qualcomm. Google Pixel 6a is powered by the company’s custom Google Tensor 5nm chipset which is expected to perform slightly better than Snapdragon 778 as per data available in the market. Both the devices run Android 12 OS.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Connectivity
Both the phones offer a wide range of connectivity options including WiFi, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, 5G, and more. The Nothing Phone 1 will not have a Face ID, whereas the Pixel 6a does offer a face unlock feature right out of the box. Both these devices have USB Type-C ports but skip on a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a: Price & Colorways
The Nothing Phone 1 has been launched in following storage variants-
- 8GB RAM+128GB storage- Rs. 31,999
- 8GB RAM+256GB storage- Rs. 34,999
- 12GB RAM+256GB storage- Rs. 37,999
The sale will begin on July 21st via Flipkart and Nothing’s own website.
The Google Pixel 6a is priced at 449 dollars in the USA, which makes its price between Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000 in India. The smartphone is expected to be launched on July 28th in India.
The Google Pixel 6a will come in Sage, Chalk, and Charcoal colors whereas Nothing Phone 1 will come in Black and White colors.
ALSO READ: Nothing Phone (1) Vs OnePlus Nord 2T: Which one should you buy?
Nothing Phone 1 Vs Google Pixel 6a Verdict: which one should you get?
Even though Nothing Phone 1 has managed to create a lot of buzz around it I would recommend you to wait for the Google Pixel 6a launch which is just around the corner. If Google price’s it right, Google Pixel 6a will have an edge over Nothing Phone 1 and others in terms of camera and software reliability. If you prefer faster charging and a better-looking device, then you can opt for Nothing Phone 1.
