By Shekhar Vaidya
• Nothing has done unconventional work. The see-through glass panel and the Glyph LEDs with the aluminum frame are flagship levels.
• Google chose the basic design they have been following for the last 3 generations. The metal frame and polycarbonate build are just okay.
• Phone 1's both sides have Gorilla Glass 5 protection, whereas Pixel 6a's display only has Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
• Nothing Phone (1) is equipped with a 6.55" OLED 120Hz display with HDR10+ support.
• Whereas Pixel 6a has a 6.1" OLED 60Hz display.
• Phone (1) has a very small and symmetrical chin on all four edges and a punch hole camera at the left-corner.
• Whereas the 6a has a comparatively larger chin and a punch-hole camera at the top center.
• Phone (1) is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 778G+ 5G SoC, paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 ROM.
• Pixel 6a is powered by Google Tensor SoC, paired with 6GB RAM and 128 GB ROM.
• So, in terms of performance, both the devices are competing neck-to-neck, but sure, Google has a little advantage because of the Titan M2 Security chip.
• Phone (1) is equipped with a 50 MP Sony IMX766, a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor at the rear, and a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor at the front.
• Pixel 6a is equipped with a 12.2MP Sony IMX363, a 12 MP ultra-wide sensor at the rear, and an 8MP camera senor at the front.
• Although Nothing uses more advanced camera sensors, Google's post-processing is more powerful than those advanced sensors.
• Phone (1) is fueled by a 4500mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging, 15W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging.
• Pixel 6a has a 4410mAh battery that can be charged using an 18-watt fast charger.
• In a market where OEMs provide 100W fast charging, Nothing and Google are stuck with 33W & 18W charging, respectively.
• Overall, Nothing dominates in this segment with 33W normal, 15W wireless & 5W reverse wireless charging.
• Pixel 6a runs on stock Android 12, whereas Phone (1) also runs on Android 12 with a few tweaks via Nothing OS.
• Google has promised 5 years of security updates for Pixel 6a.
• Whereas, Nothing has promised 4 years of security updates.
• Both phones have several OS bugs, but if Nothing and Google patch all those bugs, I would personally opt for Nothing OS over stock Android 12 on Pixel 6a.
• Nothing Phone (1) starts with a base price of £399/€469/₹32,999 for the 8GB/128GB variant.
• Google Pixel 6a comes with £399/€449/₹43,999 for the only available variant (6GB/128GB).
• Price is one of the vital decisive factors in markets like India. Although Phone 1's and Pixel 6a's US and UK pricing are almost similar, in India, Pixel 6a costs more than Phone (1) by almost 12OOO INR.
• Nothing Phone (1) has a major advantage in Design, Build, Display, Battery, and Price segment.
• Google Pixel 6a has a major advantage in the Camera and Software segment.
• Both the devices are competing for neck-to-neck in the performance segment.
• Finally, if you are looking for a complete package, opt for Nothing Phone (1), and if you are looking for a camera-centric smartphone, then go with the Pixel 6a.