Head to head
Motorola moto g87vsNothing Phone (4a)
The short answer
Choose the Motorola moto g87 for peak brightness and more base storage. The Nothing Phone (4a) wins no row by a gap you’d notice. The Motorola moto g87 is £30 cheaper at UK RRP (£349 against £379). The Nothing Phone (4a) gets security updates for longer: until March 2032, against June 2030 for the Motorola moto g87.
- Released
- 2026-05-15GSMArena — Motorola Moto G87 specifications, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Price
- £349Motorola UK store, retrieved 2026-09-12
- Security updates until
- 2030-06-30Motorola Support UK — moto g87 specifications, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Released
- 2026-03-05GSMArena — Nothing Phone (4a) specifications, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Price
- £379Nothing UK store — Phone (4a), retrieved 2026-08-21
- Security updates until
- 2032-03-05Nothing UK — Phone (4a), retrieved 2026-08-21
2 wins for Motorola moto g870 wins for Nothing Phone (4a)2 gaps borderline1 difference you won’t notice£30 apart at RRP
Verdict: Motorola moto g87 ahead on 2 rows, Nothing Phone (4a) on none
On the makers’ published figures, the moto g87 wins on peak brightness (5,000 nits against 4,500 nits) and storage (base) (256 GB against 128 GB). 2 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: weight (183 g against 205 g) for the moto g87 and fast charging (50 W against 30 W) for the Phone (4a). The difference in battery capacity is below the threshold you would notice. Both state the same display size, refresh rate and RAM. The other 33 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.
True to scale
Outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice. A row the site has no threshold for says whether the two differ, and that it is not ranking them. = marks the same figure on both, ≠ not ranked a difference with no ranking. Every figure carries its source.
Body
Display
Platform
Motorola Support UK — moto g87 specifications claims 2.5GHz octa-core · GSMArena — Motorola Moto G87 specifications reports Octa-core (2x2.5 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
Memory
Camera
Battery
10 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
HDR peak brightness · OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Claimed video playback · Wireless charging · Geekbench 6 (CPU, multi-core) · AnTuTu benchmark · 3DMark Wild Life Extreme · DXOMARK camera score · SAR (EU, head). Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.
Questions
Is the Motorola moto g87 better than the Nothing Phone (4a)?
On the figures, the Motorola moto g87 is ahead wherever there is a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 5,000 nits (Motorola Support UK) against 4,500 nits (Nothing UK) and storage (base), 256 GB (Motorola Support UK) against 128 GB (Nothing UK). The Nothing Phone (4a) wins no row by such a gap. That is a count of rows, not an overall score.
Which has the better battery?
The Motorola moto g87 is ahead on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: battery capacity, 5,200 mAh (Motorola Support UK) against 5,080 mAh (Nothing UK).
Which is lighter?
The Motorola moto g87 is lighter, narrowly: weight, 183 g (Motorola Support UK) against 205 g (Nothing UK), a borderline gap most people would not notice.
Which has the brighter screen?
The Motorola moto g87, by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 5,000 nits (Motorola Support UK) against 4,500 nits (Nothing UK).
Which gets updates for longer?
The Nothing Phone (4a) gets security updates for longer: until March 2032, against June 2030 for the Motorola moto g87. Sources: dates from Motorola Support UK and Nothing UK.
Which is cheaper?
The Motorola moto g87 is £30 cheaper at UK RRP (£349 against £379). Prices from Motorola moto g87: Motorola UK store; Nothing Phone (4a): Nothing UK store.
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either phone would also weigh. Any two phones in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.