Nothing Phone (3a) VS TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra

The most consequential difference in this category is water protection. The Nothing Phone (3a) carries an IP64 rating, meaning it resists dust and water splashes from any direction — fine for rain or accidental spills, but not submersion. The TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra steps up to IP68, which means it can withstand full immersion in water (typically 1.5m for 30 minutes). For users who frequently use their phone near pools, sinks, or in heavy rain, this is a meaningful real-world advantage for the TCL.

On physical ergonomics, the two phones trade blows. The Nothing Phone (3a) is noticeably lighter at 201 g versus 227 g for the TCL — a 26g difference that translates to a less fatiguing one-handed experience over long sessions. However, the TCL is slimmer at 7.6 mm thick compared to 8.4 mm, giving it a more premium, pocketable feel despite its larger footprint. The TCL is also taller and wider, making it a bigger-screened device overall, which suits media consumption but reduces one-handed usability.

Neither device offers a rugged build or a foldable form factor, so those are non-factors here. Overall, the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra holds a clear edge in this group primarily due to its superior IP68 waterproofing — a spec that directly impacts durability in everyday scenarios. The Nothing Phone (3a) counters with a more comfortable weight, but for users who prioritize device protection, the TCL's advantage is hard to overlook.

Panel technology is where these two phones diverge most sharply. The Nothing Phone (3a) uses an OLED/AMOLED display, which delivers true blacks, higher contrast, and more vibrant colors by lighting pixels individually. The TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra opts for an LCD IPS panel — a fundamentally different technology that relies on a backlight, resulting in less contrast and no true blacks, but typically offering more consistent brightness uniformity. For anyone who watches a lot of video or values visual richness, the OLED advantage here is substantial. Compounding this, the Nothing Phone (3a) supports HDR10+, enabling dynamic tone mapping for compatible content, while the TCL supports neither HDR10 nor HDR10+.

Screen size and sharpness tell a more nuanced story. The TCL's 7.2″ panel is noticeably larger than the Nothing's 6.77″, making it more comfortable for reading and media consumption. However, because both phones share the same 1080px horizontal resolution, the TCL's larger canvas actually results in a lower pixel density — 358 ppi versus 387 ppi — meaning text and fine detail appear slightly crisper on the Nothing Phone (3a). Both refresh at 120Hz, so scrolling smoothness is a wash. The TCL does counter with branded damage-resistant glass, a protection layer the Nothing Phone (3a) lacks, which matters for long-term screen durability against scratches and drops.

Weighing everything, the Nothing Phone (3a) holds a clear display advantage for quality-focused users: its OLED technology, HDR10+ support, higher pixel density, and Always-On Display capability form a meaningfully stronger package. The TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra's larger screen and protective glass are genuine merits, but they do not offset the fundamental gap in panel quality for most use cases.

At the chipset level, a notable asymmetry exists in the available data: the Nothing Phone (3a) runs on the named Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, a well-documented mid-range platform, while the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra's chipset name is absent from the specs. Both are built on a 4 nm process and share an 8-thread, big.LITTLE CPU architecture, but their core configurations differ. The TCL's CPU leads with four cores at 2.6 GHz compared to the Nothing's peak of 2.5 GHz, suggesting a marginal raw clock advantage for the TCL in CPU-bound tasks — though the gap is small in practice.

Memory tells an interesting story. Both phones pack 12 GB of DDR5 RAM and hit an identical maximum memory bandwidth ceiling of 25.6 GB/s, meaning real-world multitasking headroom is effectively equivalent. The TCL's listed RAM speed of 6400 MHz versus 3200 MHz on the Nothing appears dramatic on paper, but since both converge on the same bandwidth ceiling, the practical difference in everyday use is likely negligible. Where the TCL does score a clear, unambiguous win is storage: 512 GB of internal storage versus 256 GB — double the space for apps, photos, and offline media without any nuance required.

Factoring in what the data actually allows us to conclude, this category is largely a draw on processing power, with the TCL's missing chipset name making a definitive performance verdict impossible from specs alone. The Nothing Phone (3a) benefits from the transparency of a known, benchmarked platform. However, for users who simply need more room to store content, the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra's 512 GB storage is a straightforward and meaningful advantage.

Remarkably, these two phones share an identical camera configuration on paper: a triple-lens rear system of 50 & 50 & 8 MP, OIS on the main shooter, phase-detection autofocus, 4K/30fps video, and a 32 MP front camera. The feature parity extends deep into manual controls as well — both offer manual ISO, manual focus, manual exposure, HDR mode, and slow-motion recording. For most everyday shooting scenarios, users of either phone are working with structurally equivalent hardware on the spec sheet.

Dig into the details, though, and two meaningful separators emerge. On the main lens aperture, the TCL's f/1.8 is slightly wider than the Nothing's f/1.9, which theoretically allows marginally more light in low-light conditions. More decisively, the TCL pulls ahead with 3x optical zoom versus the Nothing Phone (3a)'s 2x — a genuine real-world difference. Optical zoom preserves image quality when shooting distant subjects, whereas pushing past the optical limit forces digital zoom and noticeable quality loss. The Nothing counters on the secondary (ultrawide) lens, where its f/2.0 aperture is meaningfully wider than the TCL's f/2.4, letting in more light for wide-angle shots.

On balance, the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra has a narrow but tangible edge in this group, driven primarily by its superior 3x optical zoom — a practical advantage that directly affects shot quality in telephoto situations. The Nothing Phone (3a) reclaims some ground with its brighter ultrawide lens, making the gap closer than the zoom figure alone suggests, but for users who frequently shoot at a distance, the TCL's reach is the deciding factor here.

This is one of the rare spec groups where the data leaves no room for debate: every single listed attribute is identical between the two phones. Both run Android 15, support split-screen multitasking, dynamic theming, Picture-in-Picture, widgets, offline voice recognition, and on-device machine learning. Their privacy toolsets match precisely — location controls, camera and microphone permissions, clipboard warnings, and app tracking blockers are all present on both devices.

Neither phone receives direct OS updates from Google, meaning both rely on their respective manufacturers for software patches and version upgrades — a shared limitation worth keeping in mind for long-term software support. Equally, neither supports Wi-Fi password sharing, focus modes, or cross-site tracking blocking, which are notable absences for users who value those features. But again, these gaps apply equally to both.

The verdict here is an unambiguous tie. Based strictly on the provided specifications, there is no differentiator — not a single feature where one product leads or trails the other. Users should look to other spec groups to inform their decision, as the operating system category offers no basis for choosing one phone over the other.

Both phones land in large-battery territory, but the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra edges ahead with 5200 mAh versus the Nothing Phone (3a)'s 5000 mAh. A 200 mAh difference is modest in absolute terms and unlikely to translate into dramatically longer screen-on time, but it does give the TCL a marginal endurance advantage — particularly relevant given its larger, more power-hungry display.

Charging speed is where the gap becomes more tangible and cuts the other way. The Nothing Phone (3a) supports 50W fast charging, while the TCL is capped at 33W. In practice, a higher wattage means significantly less time tethered to a cable to recover a meaningful charge — an everyday convenience that frequent travelers or heavy users will notice. Neither phone offers wireless charging, so that is a shared limitation for users in that ecosystem.

There is also a practical out-of-box consideration: the TCL comes with a charger included, while the Nothing Phone (3a) does not — an added cost to factor in at purchase. Ultimately, this group is a trade-off rather than a clean win: the Nothing Phone (3a) holds the edge for users who prioritize faster top-ups, while the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra marginally wins on raw capacity and adds the convenience of a bundled charger.

Audio is another category where the two phones are largely in lockstep. Both drop the 3.5mm headphone jack — a shared omission that pushes users toward Bluetooth or USB-C audio — and both feature stereo speakers, which deliver a noticeably wider and more immersive soundstage than a single mono speaker for media playback and calls. Neither device supports any high-resolution Bluetooth audio codec such as aptX, aptX HD, or LDAC, meaning wireless audio quality is constrained to standard Bluetooth transmission for both.

The only differentiator the data reveals is microphone count. The Nothing Phone (3a) is equipped with 3 microphones compared to 2 on the TCL. An additional microphone generally improves noise cancellation and spatial audio capture — useful for cleaner call quality in noisy environments and more accurate voice recording. It is a subtle hardware advantage, but one that has real-world relevance for users who take frequent calls or record video with on-device audio.

Overall, this group is close to a tie with a narrow edge to the Nothing Phone (3a) on the strength of its extra microphone. For most users the difference will be minor, but the TCL offers nothing in this category to offset it. Both phones represent a similar baseline audio experience, and neither stands out for audiophiles or power users with demanding wireless audio needs.

Across the core connectivity stack, these two phones are virtually identical. Both support 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, dual SIM, and USB Type-C — a well-rounded modern foundation that covers fast wireless, contactless payments, and simultaneous carrier use. GPS with Galileo support is present on both, ensuring solid satellite positioning across global networks. Neither phone offers an external memory slot, which is a shared constraint for users who like to expand storage affordably.

Scanning the full list, two sensors stand out as exclusive to the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra: an infrared sensor and a barometer. The infrared sensor allows the TCL to function as a universal remote control for TVs and home appliances — a niche but genuinely useful feature that requires no additional hardware. The barometer enables accurate atmospheric pressure readings, which improves altitude estimation for navigation and is a staple in fitness and outdoor-oriented devices. The Nothing Phone (3a) carries neither, making these clean additions for the TCL with no equivalent counterpart.

Given the otherwise complete parity across wireless, biometric, and location features, the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra takes a modest but clear edge in this group. Its infrared blaster and barometer are real functional additions rather than marketing checkboxes, and they come at no cost to any shared connectivity feature. Users who have no need for either sensor will find both phones equally capable here, but the TCL undeniably offers more hardware versatility.

This is a compact spec group with limited data points, but one stands out as genuinely significant. Both phones share a video light and neither features sapphire glass or a curved display — all non-factors for differentiation. The sole differentiator is that the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra carries an e-paper display mode, while the Nothing Phone (3a) does not.

An e-paper mode allows the screen to render content using a low-power, paper-like visual format that dramatically reduces eye strain during prolonged reading and slashes display power consumption. For users who read extensively on their phone — books, articles, documents — this is a meaningful quality-of-life feature that no software update can replicate on a device that lacks it. It is also the namesake capability of the NxtPaper line, signaling that TCL has deliberately positioned this phone for reading-centric use cases.

With only one differentiator in this group, the verdict is straightforward: the TCL NxtPaper 60 Ultra wins outright. The e-paper capability is a distinctive and functional feature that directly serves a real user need, and it has no equivalent on the Nothing Phone (3a). For users to whom this matters, it is a compelling and unique selling point; for those who never read long-form content on their phone, it simply becomes a neutral extra.