A new year brings opportunities for phones to improve, and with the case of the Pixel 8a, Google has certainly delivered in making a top contender for one of the best cheap phones around. In order to cement its position as the undisputed champ, a Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a is necessary to see how these budget phones compare in the camera department.
That’s why I took over 200 photos with the Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a, in order to really uncover how their respective cameras handle different scenes. Similar to my other photo shootouts, like the Pixel 8a vs. iPhone SE, I’m grading this photo shootout based on the ten categories I’ll judge below. I’ll mainly focus on the first set of images to explain how they differ, but the rest of the shots will give you more detail on how they’re handled differently.
Just earlier this year, my Nothing Phone 2a vs. Pixel 7a photo shootout proved that Google’s budget phone was still the better one for photography — and that’s despite it technically being the older phone. Knowing that, one would presume that the Pixel 8a would cruise to victory against the Nothing Phone 2a. Although, our Pixel 8a vs. Pixel 7a photo shootout came out a lot closer than what my colleagues and I initially expected.
Both phones definitely have the hardware to capture photos under different conditions. The Pixel 8a features a 64MP main camera paired with a 13MP ultrawide, along with 13MP camera around the front. Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone 2a is accompanied by dual 50MP main and ultrawide cameras with a 32MP selfie camera.
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: main camera
Kicking things off with these shots of a giant billboard sign in Times Square promoting the action-packed film "Furiosa," my eyes instantly gravitate towards the brighter image of the Nothing Phone 2a. However, there’s a little more detail out of the Pixel 8a’s shot, as evidenced by the parking sign near the left side.
In all the other comparison photos I shot with their cameras, it’s clear that the Nothing Phone 2a has a habit of increasing the exposure throughout the scene, but I can tell in other high-contrast scenes that the highlights tend to suffer the most because of the over-exposure. For this reason, as well as the sharper details it captures, I’m giving it to the Pixel 8a.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: ultrawide
On paper, the Pixel 8a has an advantage in the ultrawide department thanks to its wider 120-degree field of view — versus the Nothing Phone 2a’s narrower 114 degrees. This difference lets me capture more of the scene with the Pixel 8a, which is more ideal when I’m taking group photos or a landscape scene.
This is evident in the first set of photos above that I captured of a corner skyscraper near Times Square. Again, the Nothing Phone 2a has a penchant for brightening up the image more than the Pixel 8a, which instantly draws my attention right away. But similar to its main camera’s performance, this hurts the highlights in high-contrast scenes because they often become over-exposed — whereas the Pixel 8a paints a more realistic picture of what I see with my eyes.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: dynamic range
In the shots of Bryant Park’s sprawling summertime lawn, the Nothing Phone 2a’s aggressive brightening again impacts brighter areas of the scene — like the brighter clouds in the sky. While this inherently makes the shadows appear brighter, the Pixel 8a’s dynamic range performance is still able to draw out details in the shadowed areas in the trees.
The Nothing Phone 2a’s shots definitely look appealing at first glance, but the Pixel 8a casts the truer to life look. Frankly, the Nothing Phone 2a’s shots look way too over-processed.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: color reproduction
I will say that both phones produce vibrant color tones, with both leaning on the saturated side. That’s not a bad quality to have because it helps to draw attention, but it doesn’t replicate what it actually looks like in real life.
There’s clearly more saturation going on with the Nothing Phone 2a, particularly with the red peppers I shot inside of Whole Foods. It’s also worth pointing out how the Nothing Phone 2a repeatedly increases the exposure of its shots, which again impacts the highlights to the point that they look over-exposed.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: closeup
Neither phone offers a dedicated macro mode, so part of the challenge with shooting closeups is finding that minimum focal distance. In my experience, I find it much easier focusing with closeups on the Pixel 8a than the Nothing Phone 2a.
Before inspecting the details, I’m again drawn to the Nothing Phone 2a’s brighter pictures and over-saturated color tones of the red flower shot — they’re definitely attention-grabbing, but without its flaws. Meanwhile, the Pixel 8a offers a more balanced exposure and finer details when I zoom into the photos. Since it casts more of that realistic look, I prefer the Pixel 8a.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: zoom
Getting a little help from pixel binning, both the Pixel 8a and Nothing Phone 2a can deliver optical-like quality from their main cameras. Using the same Furiosa billboard in Times Square as my zoom test shot, the Pixel 8a is hands down doing a better job of processing the shot.
At 8x zoom, the Pixel 8a clearly wins in each and every one of the zoom photos I captured — including how I can better make out the fine print details in the billboard. With the Pixel 8a’s zoom photo, I can instantly see it reads ‘MAX is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation’ in the shot. Alternatively, I can read the ‘DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION’ caption under the W 41st Street sign with the Pixel 8a.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: selfie
Stopping by in a shaded area next to the New York Public Library, the selfies above are largely differentiated by how they handle dynamic range. Details are nearly identical with both phones, but I like how the Pixel 8a has a wider field of view — which comes in handy for group photos.
Additionally, the Nothing Phone 2a’s aggressive brightening impacts the highlights in the shot yet again because the light hitting the leaves in the background look too blown out. In contrast, the Pixel 8a evens out the exposure throughout the scene.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: portrait
The only advantage of taking portrait photos with the Nothing Phone 2a is that it can do it at 1x zoom, whereas the Pixel 8a has a 1.7x crop. This means you’ll need to take several steps back in order to match the Nothing Phone 2a’s framing.
Despite that, the Pixel 8a has far more favorable qualities to make it the better one for portraits. Not only does it pull in more detail, but it does a better job of producing skin tones more accurately — along with isolating me from the background. There are instances where the Nothing Phone 2a inaccurately doesn’t soften the edges around my shoulder.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: panorama
Oddly enough, shooting panoramas is the only time when the Nothing Phone 2a isn’t as aggressive with the exposure. In fact, it matches the Pixel 8a’s uniform exposure with the shots of the New York Public Library above. I’m also surprised by the amount of definition I can make out from the Nothing Phone 2a’s shot, which better captures the building’s stonework and carvings.
Winner: Nothing Phone 2a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: low light
Considering how I saw the biggest disparity with low light performance between the Pixel 7a and Nothing Phone 2a, I’m not shocked that the Pixel 8a continues to prove it’s simply much better than the Nothing Phone 2a in this area.
In the pitch-dark setting of my backyard, my detached garage is better illuminated by the Pixel 8a — allowing me to visibly make out the driveway and surrounding grass. In the tree photo in my backyard, the Pixel 8a again casts a bright picture that lets me see details in the tree’s branches and barks.
However, the Nothing Phone 2a does well with high-contrast low-light conditions — like in the shots with ambient light sources in the scene. For example, it makes the pear tree in between the two homes look brighter, but at the expense of softer details than the Pixel 8a.
Winner: Pixel 8a
Pixel 8a vs. Nothing Phone 2a: verdict
After tallying in the results, it’s a landslide win for the Pixel 8a in this photo shootout. But to be fair, the Nothing Phone 2a is still an exceptional camera phone based on my experience. Its main camera does well to brighten up scenes and produce vibrant colors, but it clearly can’t match the Pixel 8a when it comes to zooming and low-light photography.
Part of the Pixel 8a’s appeal is how it produces images that are truer to life. There’s not an obnoxious level of overprocessing like the Nothing Phone 2a, resulting in photos that look more natural. And since it does better at low light and zooming, it simply adds to its value.
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