Nothing Phone (3a) VS TCL 60 NxtPaper

Both the Nothing Phone (3a) and the TCL 60 NxtPaper share the same broad design category — non-folding, non-rugged slabs with water resistance — but their physical dimensions tell meaningfully different stories. The TCL is the more pocketable device in two out of three dimensions: it is 0.55 mm thinner (7.85 mm vs 8.4 mm) and 2 mm narrower (75.5 mm vs 77.5 mm), which translates into a noticeably easier single-handed grip, especially for users with smaller hands. The Nothing Phone (3a) is shorter at 163.5 mm vs the TCL's 167.3 mm, but that height difference is largely offset by the TCL's slimmer profile. Overall displaced volume confirms the TCL's compactness: roughly 99.2 cm³ against the Nothing's 106.4 cm³.

Weight is another practical differentiator. At 190 g, the TCL 60 NxtPaper is 11 g lighter than the Nothing Phone (3a)'s 201 g. That gap is perceptible during extended one-handed use or long reading sessions, making the TCL feel less fatiguing over time. Neither phone qualifies as ultralight, but the TCL sits closer to the comfortable mid-range threshold.

On water resistance, the advantage flips. The Nothing Phone (3a) carries an IP64 rating, while the TCL holds an IP54. The key difference is the first digit — the dust-ingress protection. A rating of 6 means the Nothing is fully dust-tight, whereas a rating of 5 on the TCL means it only resists dust jets, not total infiltration. In real-world terms, the Nothing Phone (3a) is meaningfully better suited for dusty or sandy environments. Both offer equivalent splash and water-jet resistance (the ″4″ in both ratings). Overall, the TCL has the ergonomic edge thanks to its slimmer, lighter, and narrower build, but the Nothing Phone (3a) holds a clear advantage in environmental durability.

The display category is where the gap between these two phones becomes most pronounced. The Nothing Phone (3a) uses an OLED/AMOLED panel, while the TCL 60 NxtPaper relies on an LCD IPS screen. That fundamental technology difference has cascading real-world consequences: OLED delivers true blacks by turning pixels off individually, producing far superior contrast and more vibrant colors, while LCD panels emit a constant backlight that results in washed-out blacks and lower contrast ratios. For media consumption, gaming, or simply browsing in a dark room, the Nothing's display is in a different league.

Resolution reinforces that lead substantially. The Nothing Phone (3a) renders at 1080 x 2392 px — a Full HD+ panel — yielding a pixel density of 387 ppi. The TCL 60 NxtPaper, by contrast, tops out at 720 x 1600 px (HD+), translating to just 262 ppi. A 125 ppi difference is not subtle: text will appear noticeably crisper and images sharper on the Nothing, and individual pixels may actually be distinguishable to the naked eye on the TCL at normal viewing distances. The Nothing also supports HDR10 and HDR10+, enabling richer highlight and shadow detail in compatible content, a feature entirely absent on the TCL.

The one spec both phones share in this group is a 120Hz refresh rate, meaning scrolling and animations will feel equally fluid on either device — a genuine positive for the TCL, given its otherwise limited panel. The Nothing Phone (3a) further adds an Always-On Display, a convenience feature for glancing at notifications without waking the phone, which the TCL lacks. Across nearly every meaningful display dimension, the Nothing Phone (3a) holds a decisive and clear advantage.

Under the hood, the Nothing Phone (3a) holds a substantial and well-rounded advantage. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is built on a 4 nm process node, compared to the 6 nm MediaTek Dimensity 6300 inside the TCL 60 NxtPaper. A smaller semiconductor node generally means greater power efficiency and higher performance headroom — the chip can do more while generating less heat. That advantage materializes directly in benchmarks: the Nothing scores 1162 single-core and 3239 multi-core in Geekbench 6, against the TCL's 782 and 2012 respectively. The single-core gap is particularly telling for everyday responsiveness — app launches, UI animations, and web browsing all lean heavily on single-threaded performance.

Memory further separates the two. The Nothing Phone (3a) ships with 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM running at 3200 MHz, versus the TCL's 8 GB of LPDDR4 at 2133 MHz. More RAM means more apps stay resident in the background without needing to reload, and the faster memory standard compounds that with better data throughput — the Nothing's maximum memory bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s dwarfs the TCL's 17.07 GB/s. In practice, this translates to smoother multitasking, faster asset loading in games, and greater longevity as apps grow more demanding over time.

On the GPU side, the Nothing's Adreno 710 at 1050 MHz outclocks the TCL's Mali-G57 MC2 at 950 MHz, and Adreno GPUs in this tier typically deliver stronger gaming performance than Mali equivalents. Both phones share the same storage capacity at 256 GB and identical CPU thread counts, so those are genuine ties. Everything else points firmly in one direction: the Nothing Phone (3a) is the clear performance winner across CPU, GPU, memory bandwidth, and thermal efficiency.

Camera hardware tells a sharply differentiated story here. The Nothing Phone (3a) fields a triple-lens rear system — 50 MP + 50 MP + 8 MP — while the TCL 60 NxtPaper manages a dual-lens setup at 50 MP + 5 MP. The Nothing's second 50 MP sensor almost certainly serves as a dedicated telephoto, supported by its stated 2x optical zoom, whereas the TCL reports 0x optical zoom, meaning any zooming it does is purely digital and therefore subject to quality loss. For users who frequently photograph subjects at a distance, this is a meaningful practical gap. Optical image stabilization — present on the Nothing, absent on the TCL — further compounds the advantage, reducing motion blur in handheld shots and low-light video.

Video capability is another area of clear separation. The Nothing Phone (3a) records at up to 2160p (4K) at 30 fps, while the TCL tops out at 1080p at 30 fps. For anyone who wants to capture footage with future-proof detail or plans to crop or reframe clips in post, 4K recording is a substantive advantage. The Nothing also supports slow-motion video, which the TCL does not — a feature valued for sports, action, or creative content. Selfie quality similarly diverges: the Nothing carries a 32 MP front camera against the TCL's 8 MP, a fourfold resolution advantage that enables far more detailed self-portraits and more flexibility for cropping.

Shared features — phase-detection autofocus, continuous autofocus during recording, HDR mode, manual exposure and ISO, and panorama — mean both phones cover the fundamentals competently. But the cumulative weight of optical zoom, OIS, 4K video, slow motion, and a high-resolution selfie camera gives the Nothing Phone (3a) a decisive and comprehensive advantage across nearly every camera dimension that matters to an active photographer or video creator.

Rarely in a comparison does a spec group yield a result this clear-cut: every single data point provided for the Operating System category is identical across both phones. Both run Android 15, and their feature sets — spanning privacy controls, productivity tools, and customization options — match one another exactly as specified. That includes camera and microphone privacy toggles, location permissions, on-device machine learning, dynamic theming, split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, and offline voice recognition, among others.

The practical implication is that neither phone offers a software-level advantage over the other based on the provided data. Users of either device will have access to the same core Android feature set, the same privacy tooling, and the same general-purpose productivity capabilities. Neither receives direct OS updates, and neither supports Quick Start — constraints that apply equally to both.

This is a straightforward tie. The software experience, as defined by these specs, is effectively indistinguishable between the Nothing Phone (3a) and the TCL 60 NxtPaper. Any real-world software differentiation between them — such as custom launchers, bloatware, or vendor-specific AI features — falls outside the provided data and cannot be assessed here.

Battery capacity between these two phones is close but not identical. The TCL 60 NxtPaper edges ahead with a 5200 mAh cell versus the Nothing Phone (3a)'s 5000 mAh. A 200 mAh difference is marginal in practice — it is unlikely to translate into a perceptible gap in daily endurance under equivalent usage conditions. Where things get more interesting is charging speed, and here the advantage flips decisively: the Nothing Phone (3a) supports 50W fast charging, nearly three times the 18W ceiling of the TCL. In real-world terms, the Nothing can recover a significant portion of its battery in a short window — useful for users with busy schedules who rely on top-up charges throughout the day.

One practical footnote worth noting: the TCL 60 NxtPaper includes a charger in the box, while the Nothing Phone (3a) does not. For buyers who do not already own a compatible fast charger, that omission adds an implicit cost to the Nothing's purchase. Neither phone supports wireless charging, so that feature is off the table for both.

On balance, this category is a split. The TCL holds a negligible capacity lead and the convenience of a bundled charger, but the Nothing Phone (3a)'s 50W charging is the more impactful differentiator for most users — faster refueling windows have a tangible daily quality-of-life benefit that the slim mAh advantage of the TCL cannot match. Users who prioritize rapid recharging will find the Nothing more practical; those who want everything in the box at the point of purchase may lean toward the TCL.

Audio is a category where these two phones diverge in opposite directions, each holding one meaningful advantage over the other. The Nothing Phone (3a) features stereo speakers, while the TCL 60 NxtPaper does not. For media consumption — streaming video, gaming, or listening to music without headphones — stereo output creates a noticeably wider and more immersive soundstage compared to a single mono speaker. This is a genuine everyday quality-of-life difference for anyone who regularly uses their phone's built-in speakers.

The TCL counters with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a built-in FM radio, both absent on the Nothing. The headphone jack remains a practical feature for users with wired headphones or earphones — it eliminates the need for a dongle or Bluetooth pairing and typically delivers lower-latency, reliable audio output. The FM radio, while niche, offers offline, data-free audio reception, which can be genuinely useful in areas with poor connectivity or during emergencies. Neither phone supports high-resolution Bluetooth codecs such as aptX or LDAC, so wireless audio quality is on equal footing for both.

This group is a context-dependent split with no outright winner. The Nothing Phone (3a) serves users who prioritize loudspeaker quality for shared listening, while the TCL 60 NxtPaper caters to those who value wired headphone compatibility and offline radio access. The decision comes down to personal listening habits rather than one phone being categorically superior.

Across the broad connectivity landscape, these two phones are remarkably well-matched — both support 5G, dual SIM, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, USB Type-C, and the same suite of core sensors including GPS, gyroscope, and compass. The most consequential wireless differentiator is Wi-Fi generation: the Nothing Phone (3a) supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) in addition to Wi-Fi 4 and 5, while the TCL 60 NxtPaper tops out at Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Wi-Fi 6 delivers better performance in congested environments — such as homes with many connected devices or busy public networks — through improved channel efficiency and reduced latency, not just raw speed alone.

Interestingly, despite its older Wi-Fi standard, the TCL reports a higher stated peak download speed of 3300 Mbits/s versus the Nothing's 2900 Mbits/s — a difference attributable to cellular modem capabilities rather than Wi-Fi. In practice, both figures far exceed what real-world 5G networks typically deliver, so this gap is largely theoretical for most users. More tangibly, the TCL includes a microSD card slot for expandable storage, which the Nothing lacks entirely. For users who need to store large media libraries or want a cost-effective way to expand capacity beyond the built-in 256 GB, that slot is a genuine practical advantage.

The TCL also adds a barometer — useful for weather apps, altitude tracking, and certain fitness use cases — which the Nothing does not include. Taken together, this category lands as a narrow edge for the TCL 60 NxtPaper: its expandable storage and barometer offer real utility, and its download speed lead, while largely academic, does not hurt. The Nothing's Wi-Fi 6 support is a meaningful counter, but for the majority of users, storage flexibility is the more impactful day-to-day differentiator.

Most of this group's specs are shared — neither phone has a sapphire glass display or a curved screen, and both include a video light. The single differentiating data point is also the most distinctive feature the TCL 60 NxtPaper brings to this entire comparison: an e-paper display capability, which the Nothing Phone (3a) does not have.

An e-paper display mode is engineered to reduce eye strain during extended reading sessions by mimicking the low-reflectivity, high-contrast appearance of printed paper. It is a feature with a specific and deliberate audience — users who read long-form content on their phones regularly and want a more comfortable alternative to a standard backlit panel. In bright outdoor environments, e-paper-style rendering can also improve legibility. This is the defining characteristic implied by the TCL's ″NxtPaper″ branding and represents a genuinely unique use-case proposition.

For this group, the TCL 60 NxtPaper holds the only meaningful advantage. The e-paper display feature is a niche but purposeful differentiator that adds real value for readers and eye-strain-sensitive users — something the Nothing Phone (3a) simply does not offer at all.