Head to head
Nothing Phone (4a) ProvsGoogle Pixel 9a
The short answer
Choose the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro for the larger screen, peak brightness, battery life per charge, battery lifespan and faster charging. Choose the Pixel 9a for typical brightness. The Pixel 9a is £120 cheaper at UK RRP (£399 against £519). The Pixel 9a gets security updates for longer: until April 2032, against March 2032 for the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.
- Released
- 2026-03-05GSMArena — Nothing Phone (4a) Pro specifications, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Price
- £519Nothing UK store — Phone (4a) Pro, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Security updates until
- 2032-03-05Nothing UK — Phone (4a) Pro, retrieved 2026-08-21
- Released
- 2025-04-10endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £399Google Store UK, retrieved 2026-09-11
- Security updates until
- 2032-04-01endoflife.date — Pixel, retrieved 2026-08-20
5 wins for Nothing Phone (4a) Pro1 win for Pixel 9a1 gap borderline1 difference you won’t notice£120 apart at RRP
Verdict: Nothing Phone (4a) Pro ahead on 5 rows, Pixel 9a on 1 row
On the makers’ figures and the named third-party sources, the Phone (4a) Pro wins on display size (6.83 in against 6.3 in), peak brightness (5,000 nits against 2,700 nits), battery per charge (63.4 h against 52.32 h), battery lifespan (1,400 cycles against 1,000 cycles) and fast charging (50 W from the maker against 23 W from GSMArena); the Pixel 9a wins on typical brightness (1,800 nits against 800 nits). One gap is borderline, a difference most people would not notice: weight (185.9 g against 210 g) for the Pixel 9a. The difference in battery capacity is below the threshold you would notice. Both state the same storage (base) and RAM. The other 36 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
5 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Claimed video playback · AnTuTu benchmark · 3DMark Wild Life Extreme. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.
Questions
Is the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro better than the Pixel 9a?
On the figures, neither is better overall: the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro wins on display size, 6.83 in (Nothing UK) against 6.3 in (Google), peak brightness, 5,000 nits (Nothing UK) against 2,700 nits (Google), battery per charge, 63.4 h against 52.32 h (both EU energy label), battery lifespan, 1,400 cycles against 1,000 cycles (both EU energy label) and fast charging, 50 W (Nothing UK) against 23 W (GSMArena); the Pixel 9a 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 (4a) Pro, by a gap you’d notice: battery per charge, 63.4 h against 52.32 h (both EU energy label). The Pixel 9a is ahead on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: battery capacity, 5,100 mAh (Google) against 5,080 mAh (Nothing UK).
Which is lighter?
The Pixel 9a is lighter, narrowly: weight, 185.9 g (Google) against 210 g (Nothing UK), a borderline gap most people would not notice.
Which has the brighter screen?
The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 5,000 nits (Nothing UK) against 2,700 nits (Google). The Pixel 9a, by a gap you’d notice: typical brightness, 1,800 nits (Google) against 800 nits (Nothing UK).
Which gets updates for longer?
The Pixel 9a gets security updates for longer: until April 2032, against March 2032 for the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro. Sources: dates from Nothing UK and endoflife.date.
Which is cheaper?
The Pixel 9a is £120 cheaper at UK RRP (£399 against £519). Prices from Nothing Phone (4a) Pro: Nothing UK store; Pixel 9a: 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.