Nothing Phone 3a vs Samsung Galaxy A36 5G

Comparing the Nothing Phone 3a vs Samsung Galaxy A36 5G across performance, display, camera, battery, storage, expert reviews and user rating to help determine the better smartphone.

Here is the summary of the results:

Performance: Nothing Phone 3a scores higher on the Geekbench Multi-Core test with 3,311, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G scores 2,690, making Nothing Phone 3a the better performer.

Display: Nothing Phone 3a offers a screen size of 6.77 inches, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G offers 6.7 inches, making Nothing Phone 3a the larger display of the two. Samsung Galaxy A36 5G features a Super AMOLED display compared to Nothing Phone 3a's Flexible AMOLED, making Samsung Galaxy A36 5G the better display of the two.

Rear Camera: Both Nothing Phone 3a and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G feature a 50 MP primary rear camera.

Front Camera: Nothing Phone 3a offers a higher front camera resolution with 32 MP, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G offers 12 MP, making Nothing Phone 3a better for front camera photography.

Battery: Nothing Phone 3a delivers longer battery life with 14h 00m, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G delivers 9h 21m, making Nothing Phone 3a the better pick for all day usage.

Storage: Both Nothing Phone 3a and Samsung Galaxy A36 5G offer the same internal storage of 128 GB.

Expert Review: Nothing Phone 3a receives a higher expert rating of 7.9 from the editorial team, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G is rated 7.5.

User Rating: Nothing Phone 3a receives a higher user rating of 4.5, while Samsung Galaxy A36 5G has a rating of 4.4.

Nothing Phone 3a

₹24,999

@ Flipkart

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G

₹25,999

@ Flipkart

Summary

Release Date

11 Mar, 2025

02 Mar, 2025

16 Jul, 2026

Performance


Snapdragon 7s Gen 3	Snapdragon 6 Gen 3	MediaTek Dimensity 6400
Octa Core (upto 2.5 GHz)	Octa Core (upto 2.4 GHz)	Octa Core (upto 2.5 GHz)
8 GB RAM	8 GB RAM	4 GB RAM

Display


6.77 inches (17.2 cm)	6.7 inches (17.02 cm)	6.67 inches (16.94 cm)
Flexible AMOLED	Super AMOLED	IPS LCD
1080x2392 px (FHD+)	1080x2340 px (FHD+)	720x1604 px (HD+)
120 Hz Refresh Rate	120 Hz Refresh Rate	120 Hz Refresh Rate

Rear Camera


50 MP Wide Angle Primary Camera	50 MP Wide Angle Primary Camera	50 MP Primary Camera
8 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera	8 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera	N/A
50 MP Telephoto Camera (upto 2x Optical Zoom)	5 MP Macro Camera	N/A

Front Camera


32 MP Wide Angle Lens	12 MP Wide Angle Lens	8 MP

Battery


5000 mAh	5000 mAh	7000 mAh
50W Fast Charging	45W Super Fast Charging	30W Turbo Charging
No Wireless Charging	No Wireless Charging	N/A

Storage

128 GB	128 GB	64 GB
UFS 2.2	UFS 2.2	UFS 2.2

Expert Review

7.9/10

Read Expert Review

7.5/10

Read Expert Review

8.1/10

Pros

Vibrant display
Clean OS
Good cameras
Solid battery

Excellent multimedia output
Smooth & capable One UI 7
Reliable camera setup
6 years of software support

Top-class battery life
Comfortable to hold
Loud stereo speakers
Performs well for daily use

Cons

Bulky design
No charger in the box

No expandable storage
Performance could be better

Limited OS upgrades
Primary camera may produce dull tones

User Ratings

4.5/5

(52,548 ratings)

4.4/5

(5,649 ratings)

4.2/5

(21 ratings)

Benchmarks (The higher, the better)

798,022 AnTuTu Score	655,225 AnTuTu Score	570,353 AnTuTu Score
14h 00m Battery Life (PC Mark)	9h 21m Battery Life (PC Mark)	16h 49m Battery Life (PC Mark)

Compare Prices

₹24,999

@ Flipkart

₹25,999

@ Flipkart

₹19,999

@ Flipkart

Video

9 More Videos

1 Video

User Feedback

General

Launch Date

Mar 11, 2025

(Official)

Mar 02, 2025

(Official)

May 19, 2026

(Official)

Operating System

Android v15

Android v16

OS Updates

3 Years

6 Years

1 Year

Security Updates

6 Years

3 Year

Custom UI

Nothing OS

Samsung One UI

N/A

Performance

Performance Rating

Very Good

Good

Chipset

Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3

View Details

Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3

View Details

MediaTek Dimensity 6400 MT6835

View Details

Processor

Octa core

2.5 GHz, Single core, Cortex A720 2.4 GHz, Tri core, Cortex A720 1.8 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A520

Octa core

2.4 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A78 1.8 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A55

Octa core

2.5 GHz, Dual core, Cortex A76 2 GHz, Hexa Core, Cortex A55

Architecture (The higher, the better)

64 bit

Fabrication (The lower, the better)

4 nm

6 nm

Graphics (GPU)

Adreno 710

Mali-G57 MC2

RAM

8 GB

8 GB / 12 GB

4 GB / 8 GB

RAM Type

LPDDR4X

Cooling Technology

Vapor Chamber

N/A

Performance Test Results

AnTuTu Score (The higher, the better) AnTuTu benchmark measures overall performance of a phone by stress-testing CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.

798,022

655,225

570,353

Bootup Time (The lower, the better)

17.0 s

24.0 s

26.0 s

Gaming Test Results

Wild Life Extreme (The higher, the better) Wild Life Extreme is a classic mobile benchmark; it renders in 4K to test the peak performance of a wide range of devices.

1,033

N/A

383

Battery Drain* (The lower, the better)

7.0 %

6.0 %

N/A

Heating* (The lower, the better)

25.5 %

28.4 %

N/A

* after 30 mins of gaming

Display

Display Rating

Excellent

Display Type

Flexible AMOLED

Super AMOLED

IPS LCD

Screen Size

6.77 inches (17.2 cm)

6.7 inches (17.02 cm)

6.67 inches (16.94 cm)

Resolution

1080x2392 px (FHD+)

1080x2340 px (FHD+)

720x1604 px (HD+)

Peak Brightness

3000 nits

1900 nits

1050 nits

HBM Brightness

1300 nits

1200 nits

N/A

PWM Dimming

2160 Hz

N/A

Refresh Rate

120 Hz

Touch Sampling Rate

N/A

120 Hz

Aspect Ratio

N/A

19.5:9

20:9

Pixel Density

388 ppi

385 ppi

264 ppi

Screen to Body Ratio (calculated)

87.32 %

86.64 %

84.48 %

Screen Protection

Yes

Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus

Corning Gorilla Glass 7i

Bezel-less Display

Yes with punch-hole display

HDR 10 / HDR+ Support

Yes HDR 10+

N/A

Screen to Body Ratio (claimed by the brand)

91.4 %

87.8 %

84.3 %

Design

Height

163.52 mm

162.7 mm

166.2 mm

Width

77.50 mm

78 mm

76.50 mm

Thickness

8.35 mm

7.4 mm

8.8 mm

Weight

201 grams

195 grams

215 grams

Build Material

N/A

Back: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus

Back: Vegan Leather

Water Resistance

Yes Splash proof IP64

Yes Water resistant IP67 (up to 30 minutes in a depth of 1 meter)

Yes Splash proof IP64

Ruggedness

Dust proof

Rear Camera

Rear Camera Rating

Very Good

Good

Resolution

50 MP
Primary Cameraf/1.88 Wide Angle 84° field-of-view24 mm focal length 1/1.57" sensor size S5KGN9 ISO-CELL 1µm pixel size

50 MP
Primary Camera10x Digital Zoomf/1.8 Wide Angle1/1.96" sensor size

50 MP
Primary Cameraf/1.80.61µm pixel size

8 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera15 mm focal length 1/4.0" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

8 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera1/4.0" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size

N/A

50 MP
f/2.0 Telephoto Camera50 mm focal length 1/2.75" sensor size 0.64µm pixel size

5 MP
f/2.4 Macro Camera

N/A

Autofocus

Yes Phase Detection Autofocus

Yes

Yes Phase Detection Autofocus

OIS

Yes

N/A

Flash

Yes LED Flash

Yes Dual LED Flash

Image Resolution

8150 x 6150 Pixels

N/A

Settings

Exposure compensation ISO control

N/A

Shooting Modes

Continuous Shooting
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)

Continuous Shooting
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
Macro Mode

High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)

Camera Features

Digital Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Touch to focus

10 x Digital Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Filters
Touch to focus

N/A

Video Recording

4k @30 fps
Full HD @120 fps

4k @30 fps
Full HD @60 fps
HD @240 fps

2k @30 fps

Video Recording Features

N/A

Slow Motion
Video Pro Mode

N/A

Front Camera

Front Camera Rating

Very Good

Resolution

32 MP
f/2.2 Wide Angle Primary Camera22 mm focal length 1/3.44" sensor size

12 MP
f/2.2 Wide Angle Primary Camera

8 MP
f/2.0 Primary Camera1.12µm pixel size

Autofocus

N/A

Flash

N/A

Yes Screen flash

Camera Features

N/A

Fixed Focus

N/A

Video Recording

Full HD @60 fps

4k @30 fps
Full HD @30 fps

2k @30 fps

Battery

Battery Rating

Very Good

Capacity

5000 mAh

7000 mAh

Battery Type

Li-ion

N/A

Quick Charging

Yes 50W Fast Charging 50% in 19 minutes

Yes 45W Super Fast Charging 66% in 30 minutes

Yes 30W Turbo Charging

Reverse Charging

Yes 7.5W Reverse Charging

N/A

Yes 6W Reverse Charging

Battery Test Results

Battery Life (PC Mark) (The higher, the better) PCMark Battery benchmark measures battery life of a phone with various activities such as web browsing, photo editing, writing, video editing, etc.

14h 00m

9h 21m

16h 49m

Charging Time (20% to 100%) (The lower, the better)

51m 50s

1h 3m 27s

1h 17m

Storage

Internal Storage

128 GB / 256 GB

64 GB / 128 GB

Storage Type

UFS 2.2

Expandable Storage

Yes Up to 1 TB

Network & Connectivity

SIM Slot(s)

Dual SIM

SIM Type

SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano

Network Support

5G 4G

VoLTE

Yes

SIM 1

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N28
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N66 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N26 / N28
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N20 / N26 / N28 / N71 / N75
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 3500(band 42)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 850(band 26)

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26)

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 3500(band 42)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1500(band 32) / 600(band 71) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 850(band 5) / 800(band 20) / 850(band 26)

SIM 2

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N12 / N20 / N28
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N66 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N26 / N28
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

5G Bands:

FDD N1 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N20 / N26 / N28 / N71 / N75
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N77 / N78

4G Bands:

TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 3500(band 42)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 850(band 5) / 1500(band 32) / 800(band 20) / 600(Band 71) / 850(band 26)