Nothing Phone (3) vs Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

Nothing Phone (3)

A bright, fluid 6.67-inch AMOLED that's excellent in practice, even if the 4,500-nit headline figure is HDR-only and it lacks full LTPO.

• The 2800×1260 30–120Hz AMOLED cranks to a claimed 4,500-nit peak (1,600 nits full-screen outdoors), great for outdoor visibility.
• Despite being FHD+, the display is excellent both indoors and in bright summer daylight, with a delightful tap-origin light-up animation.
• Independent measurement found real-world brightness around 700 nits SDR and ~1,550–1,600 nits HDR despite the 4,500-nit HDR headline.
• It switches only between 60 and 120Hz rather than true LTPO, so static content drains more battery — a downside at this price.
• The screen is crisp and vibrant and holds up really well both indoors and in direct sunlight.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

A 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz — vibrant and the highlight of the experience, but caps at ~1,000 nits, below flagship brightness.

• 6.6-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED at 120Hz, the same bright, smooth panel class as the A35.
• The viewing experience is basically what makes this phone 100% worth the money.
• It can't match the S24's 2,600-nit peak, maxing at 1,000 nits in High Brightness Mode.
• The AMOLED gets very dark at night, which photophobic users particularly appreciate.

Nothing Phone (3)

A well-equipped quad 50MP system with a 3x periscope and strong video specs, but image quality is solid-not-spectacular and still trails the Pixel 9.

• It runs a quad 50MP setup — f/1.68 main, f/2.2 114° ultrawide, f/2.68 3x periscope and a 50MP selfie.
• The main camera captures solid binned 12.5MP photos in good lighting; 4K bitrate is a bit low but overall video quality looks excellent.
• It's a shame the camera doesn't stack up against the Pixel 9 series — solid but not class-leading.
• It's not the best camera on the market, but it's consistent, quick to launch and takes great everyday pictures — and produces amazing results edited in Lightroom.
• Unlike its cheaper siblings, all four cameras shoot 4K60 (and 4K60 HDR), plus 4K60 selfie video and 240fps slow-mo — a genuine video step up.
• Low-light processing in early hands-on seemed pretty close to Google's Pixel, and the camera app is faster than past Nothing devices.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

A 50MP f/1.8 OIS main, 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro, plus a 32MP selfie. Dependable with strong low-light for the class, weaker against true flagships at night.

• Triple rear: 50MP f/1.8 OIS main (1/1.56"), 12MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro.
• Dependable camera performance with excellent videos, per the GSMArena review.
• Versus the iPhone 13 it holds its own in almost every scenario, and clearly wins in low light with less noise.
• Night mode isn't on par with the iPhone 15 or Pixel 8 Pro, but it's a clear improvement and competitive at the price.
• Video records up to 4K 30fps on the main, ultrawide and front cameras, with smoother FHD 60fps available.

Nothing Phone (3)

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is fast and butter-smooth in daily use and gaming, but it's flagship-lite — the most-repeated criticism at a $799 flagship price — and it runs warm under sustained load.

• It runs a 4nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 — on paper underwhelming for a flagship, but in practice everything is absolutely butter.
• 8s Gen 4 is not the 8 Elite — at $799 the manufacturer arguably should have offered the flagship chip.
• Geekbench scores well — better than 86–96% of devices on the market depending on the test — and it beats Google's Tensor G5 in multi-core and every 3DMark graphics benchmark.
• Gaming is strong — BGMI holds a stable 120fps and Genshin runs at 60fps on max settings — but Genshin pushes the surface past 45°C.
• It doesn't do a particularly good job of cooling the chip under sustained load.
• With 16GB RAM (on the $899 model) it keeps everything open and launches apps faster than an iPhone 16 in lab tests.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

Exynos 1480 with up to 8/12GB RAM — solidly midrange. Smooth for daily use thanks to 120Hz, but with occasional micro-stutter under load.

• The A55 ups the ante with more memory (8GB), a faster Exynos 1480 and a superior camera setup over its predecessor.
• There's occasional lag or micro-stutter when launching the camera in social apps or switching between apps.
• 120Hz is well optimised and the UI stays smooth, with the camera even opening slightly faster than on the A56.
• It runs cooler than a Galaxy S24 in sustained tests (A55 ~31–34°C vs S24 ~37–38°C) and beat the A35 on AnTuTu.
• An owner found it ran cooler/better than an S23 FE, which heats up faster even just browsing social media.

Nothing Phone (3)

A reliable all-day 5,150mAh silicon-carbon cell (5,500mAh in India) with fast 65W wired plus 15W wireless and reverse charging — strong in tests, though one heavy user found it disappointing.

• The 5,150mAh silicon-carbon cell easily lasts all day — a typical day dips only into the upper-60s/low-70s%, one of the most reliable batteries in recent phones.
• Battery beat any Pixel tested and even the Galaxy S25 Ultra — heavy 5G days still ended as high as 45%.
• In an extreme drain test it ran 9h34m of screen-on time before dying — impressive even though it was first to die against 6,000mAh+ rivals, with a cool 53°C peak.
• 65W wired charging takes it 1–50% in about 19–20 minutes; there's also 15W wireless and reverse wireless charging (India gets a larger 5,500mAh cell).
• Despite the largest battery in any Nothing phone, one long-term reviewer calls it the worst battery life he's experienced on a Nothing Phone.
• The new silicon-carbon battery doesn't pack as big a capacity boost as expected from the technology.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

A 5,000mAh battery with very strong endurance, undercut by slow 25W wired charging and no wireless charging.

• The 5,000mAh battery can stretch toward two days if you're sensible with gaming and camera use.
• It uses only ~2% battery over 8 hours of 5G standby — far better than a Galaxy S24's ~5%.
• Around 8 hours of screen-on-time means it easily lasts a full day; the battery 'just goes on and on.'
• It does not support wireless charging at all; charging is 25W wired over USB-C only.
• The lack of fast charging is the one thing owners really miss in a rush versus 90W rivals.

Nothing Phone (3)

At $799 it goes head-to-head with the Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 — winning on design, software and support, losing on chip and camera, and frequently discounted.

• At $799 (16GB option $899) it costs exactly the same as a Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16.
• It's a fantastic, one of the most eye-catching devices on the market — and has already scored a major discount at Best Buy.
• This phone should battle the best Android phones and iPhones rather than the best cheap phones — early signs are good.
• The second you charge $799 you compete directly with Samsung's Galaxy S25 and Apple's iPhone 16 — companies with practically unlimited budgets.
• It still feels like a flagship while cutting costs to undercut the competition a little, and gets 5 years of updates.
• If you like the design and the vibe it's giving off, this could be your next phone and you won't be disappointed.

Samsung Galaxy A55 5G

A 'boring but solid' midranger that becomes an excellent value at its frequent discounts — though it's not officially sold in the US.

• A boring update, but still a solid mid-ranger for its price.
• It once again seems to be one of the best mid-tier Android devices of the year for the rest of the world.
• It packs a lot of premium features into a midrange smartphone.
• It's half the price of its flagship counterpart, but the gap between the two isn't nearly as large as you'd expect.
• It has dropped to as low as £249 in price-cut deals — exceptional value at that level.