Recording summary · March 2025
Nothing Phone 3a performance and speed tests - very disappointing
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Overview
Daniel benchmarked the newly released £360 Nothing Phone 3a, which runs on a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor with an ARMv8 CPU, against an older iPhone 12 Mini powered by an A14 Bionic chip.
The Nothing Phone 3a achieved benchmark scores of 1160 in single-core, 3256 in multi-core, and 3307 in GPU performance, but was outperformed across all tests by the iPhone 12 Mini, which scored 1874 single-core, 3898 multi-core, and 16,500 GPU.
Daniel bought the Nothing Phone 3a to replace a broken Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus for non-gaming work tasks, keeping two devices due to the iPhone's poor battery life and Android-specific needs, but questioned the value of the purchase compared to cheaper refurbished phones with superior performance.
Themes
Performance benchmark comparisons between the Nothing Phone 3a and the iPhone 12 Mini.
Hardware specifications and RAM configuration of the Nothing Phone 3a.
Device replacement reasons, multi-phone workflows, and the price-to-performance value of the Nothing Phone 3a compared to refurbished alternatives.
Developments
Daniel executed a CPU benchmark test on the Nothing Phone 3a between approximately 12:41 and 12:48.
Daniel ran a GPU benchmark test on the Nothing Phone 3a.
Daniel recorded video with the Nothing Phone 3a camera while executing benchmarks on the iPhone 12 Mini.
Uncertainties & gaps
Daniel was unsure whether the 7.28 gigabytes listed under memory represented system RAM, having previously believed the Nothing Phone 3a came with 16 gigabytes.
Daniel questioned whether the iPhone 12 Mini GPU score of 16,500 was accurate and what the metal score classification indicated.