Head to head
Nothing Phone (3)vsGoogle Pixel 9
The short answer
Choose the Nothing Phone (3) for peak brightness, more base storage, battery life per charge and battery lifespan. Choose the Pixel 9 for typical brightness. The Nothing Phone (3) is £100 cheaper at UK RRP (£699 against £799). The Nothing Phone (3) gets security updates for longer: until July 2032, against August 2031 for the Pixel 9.
- Released
- 2025-07-15GSMArena — Nothing Phone (3) specifications, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £699Nothing UK store — Phone (3), retrieved 2026-08-20
- Security updates until
- 2032-07-15Nothing UK — Phone (3), retrieved 2026-08-20
- Released
- 2024-08-22endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £799Google Store UK, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Security updates until
- 2031-08-01endoflife.date — Pixel, retrieved 2026-08-20
4 wins for Nothing Phone (3)1 win for Pixel 94 gaps borderline0 differences you won’t notice£100 apart at RRP
Verdict: Nothing Phone (3) ahead on 4 rows, Pixel 9 on 1 row
On the makers’ published figures, the Phone (3) wins on peak brightness (4,500 nits against 2,700 nits), storage (base) (256 GB against 128 GB), battery per charge (56.38 h against 49.2 h) and battery lifespan (1,400 cycles against 1,000 cycles); the Pixel 9 wins on typical brightness (1,800 nits against 800 nits). 4 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: weight (198 g against 218 g) for the Pixel 9, display size (6.67 in against 6.3 in) for the Phone (3), battery capacity (5,150 mAh against 4,700 mAh) for the Phone (3) and fast charging (65 W against 45 W) for the Phone (3). Both state the same refresh rate, RAM and wireless charging. The other 35 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
Memory
Camera
Battery
Connectivity
Benchmarks
4 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Claimed video playback · AnTuTu benchmark. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.
Questions
Is the Nothing Phone (3) better than the Pixel 9?
On the figures, neither is better overall: the Nothing Phone (3) wins on peak brightness, 4,500 nits (Nothing UK) against 2,700 nits (Google), storage (base), 256 GB (Nothing UK) against 128 GB (Google), battery per charge, 56.38 h against 49.2 h (both EU energy label) and battery lifespan, 1,400 cycles against 1,000 cycles (both EU energy label); the Pixel 9 wins on typical brightness, 1,800 nits (Google) against 800 nits (Nothing UK). Every other row is borderline, too close to notice, or not ranked.
Which has the better battery?
The Nothing Phone (3), by a gap you’d notice: battery per charge, 56.38 h against 49.2 h (both EU energy label). The Nothing Phone (3) is ahead, narrowly: battery capacity, 5,150 mAh (Nothing UK) against 4,700 mAh (Google), a borderline gap most people would not notice.
Which is lighter?
The Pixel 9 is lighter, narrowly: weight, 198 g (Google) against 218 g (Nothing UK), a borderline gap most people would not notice.
Which has the brighter screen?
The Nothing Phone (3), by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 4,500 nits (Nothing UK) against 2,700 nits (Google). The Pixel 9, by a gap you’d notice: typical brightness, 1,800 nits (Google) against 800 nits (Nothing UK).
Which gets updates for longer?
The Nothing Phone (3) gets security updates for longer: until July 2032, against August 2031 for the Pixel 9. Sources: dates from Nothing UK and endoflife.date.
Which is cheaper?
The Nothing Phone (3) is £100 cheaper at UK RRP (£699 against £799). Prices from Nothing Phone (3): Nothing UK store; Pixel 9: Google Store UK.
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either phone would also weigh. Any two phones in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.