OnePlus is set to launch two new Nord-branded smartphones in India on May 7. These new smartphones, that is, the OnePlus Nord CE 6 and the OnePlus Nord CE 6 Lite, will be a part of the OnePlus Nord 6 series, which so far includes one smartphone — the OnePlus Nord 6 that arrived in India earlier this month. But why are we talking about the OnePlus Nord 6 now? That’s because it sets a tone for what lies ahead for the buyers this year. It also raises competition in the price sensitive and intensely competitive smartphone market. At a starting price of ₹38,999, the OnePlus Nord 6 competes with the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro that arrived in the country last month at a starting price of ₹39,999.
Essentially, both the phones compete for the same chunk of the market, at least as far as the pricing is concerned. What sets them apart besides the obvious difference in specifications and features is their use-case. While the OnePlus Nord 6 targets performance hungry gamers, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is for users who focus on aesthetics and social media. If you have a budget of around ₹40,000 and you’re planning to buy a new smartphone, here’s a detailed comparison of specs for you to help you make a decision.
OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing 4a Pro: How do these mid-rangers compare?
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing 4a Pro design: The OnePlus Nord 6 measures 162.5 x 77.5 x 8.5mm and weighs 217g. It comes with military grade MIL-STD-810H standard and it comes with IP66, IP68, IP69, IP69K dust and water resistance. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro measures 163.6 x 76.6 x 7.9mm and weighs 210g. It comes with IP65 dust and water resistance. Simply put, while the Nord 6 is heavier than the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, it’s also better prepared to handle the wear and tear of everyday usage.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing 4a Pro display: The OnePlus Nord 6 comes with 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 165Hz screen refresh rate, a peak brightness of 3,600 nits. The Nothing 4a Pro, on the other hand, sports 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 144Hz screen refresh rate and a peak brightness of 5,000 nits and Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection. This means that the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro’s display is better equipped to handle the bright sun and occasional drop compared to the Nord 6.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing 4a Pro performance and storage: The OnePlus Nord 6 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip that is coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip that is coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. What that translates to is that the Nord 6 is better designed for heavy tasks like gaming and video editing, while Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is a solid performer, at least in terms of processor performance but not suitable for heavy duty work.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing 4a Pro operating system: The Nord 6 runs OxygenOS 16.0 based on Android 16 and it will get 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security updates. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro runs Android 16-based Nothing OS 4.1. Nothing has promised to provide 3 years of OS and 6 years of security updates. While both the smartphones run Android 16, OnePlus is offering a slightly better support compared to Nothing.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing (4a) Pro camera: On the camera front, the OnePlus Nord 6 has a 50MP primary lens with Sony LYTIA-600 CMOS sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens with OmniVision OV08F sensor and 112-degree field of view. It also gets a 32MP front facing camera. The Nothing (4a) Pro, on the other hand, gets a triple rear camera setup which includes a 50MP primary lens with 2x in-sensor zoom + 50MP periscope lens with OIS, EIS, 3.5x optical zoom and 7x in-sensor zoom + an ultra-wide-angle lens with 120-degree field of view. It also gets a 32MP selfie camera. Simply put, Nothing’s phone is a better choice for photo buffs.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing (4a) Pro battery: The OnePlus Nord 6 is backed by a 9,000mAh battery with 80W SuperVOOC charging, and 27W reverse wired charging. On the other hand, the Nothing (4a) Pro is backed by a 5,400mAh battery with support for 50W charging and 7.5W reverse wired charging. This means that OnePlus’s phone not only gets charged faster but it also lasts longer.
> OnePlus Nord 6 vs Nothing (4a) Pro verdict: Both these phones, that is, the OnePlus Nord 6 and the Nothing (4a) Pro are power performers. However, Nord 6 is suitable for gaming and performance intensive workloads while Nothing’s smartphone is meant more for photo buffs.
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