As you know, Nothing released their new device, Nothing Phone (2) just a month ago. Nothing Phone (2) is an interesting device with an unusual design. It has powerful specs, such as Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. But in this article, we will find the answer to this question: Which Xiaomi device rivals Nothing Phone (2)?
Well, if you compare the specs, the closest one is Xiaomi 12T Pro, a device released in October 6, 2022. It has the same SoC as Nothing Phone (2), the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Let’s compare them in more detail. Nothing Phone (2) is newer than Xiaomi 12T Pro. It was released in July 17, 2023 while Xiaomi 12T Pro was released in October 6, 2022.
Design & Display
The devices are almost the same in weight, Nothing Phone (2) weighs 201.2 grams, and Xiaomi 12T Pro weighs 205 grams. The display sizes of the devices are similar too, Nothing Phone (2) has a 6.7-inch screen and Xiaomi 12T Pro has a 6.67-inch screen.
Talking of displays, Nothing Phone (2) has a 120Hz LTPO OLED display with HDR10+ support and has a peak brightness of 1600 nits. Xiaomi 12T Pro has a 120Hz AMOLED screen with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, and its peak brightness is 900 nits. So as you can see, aside the higher peak brightness and LTPO in Nothing Phone (2)’s display, the specs are similar.
Both devices have IP ratings, Nothing Phone (2) has an IP54 rating (splash and dust resistance) and Xiaomi 12T Pro has an IP53 rating (dust and splash resistance)
The difference is, Nothing Phone (2) is protected against water splashing from any angle while Xiaomi 12T Pro is protected against water spray at a 60-degree angle.
The materials used in devices designs are similar too, Nothing Phone (2) has a glass front and back protected with Gorilla Glass, and an aluminum frame. Xiaomi 12T Pro has a glass front and back too, but its body is made of plastic. Nothing Phone (2) comes in 2 colors, White and Dark Gray. But Xiaomi 12T Pro comes in 3 colors: Black, Silver, and Blue, which is a plus for the Xiaomi side.
Camera
Moving on to the cameras, Nothing Phone (2) has two 50MP cameras on the back. The primary camera on Nothing Phone (2) uses the 50MP Sony IMX890 1/1.56 imager, with 1.0µm pixels. It is coupled with a 23mm f/1.88 optically stabilized lens with PDAF support, the camera shoots in 12.5MP by default. The second 50MP camera (ultrawide) has an Samsung JN1 sensor. This sensor is smaller than the primary 50MP imager, 1/2.76″ type with 0.64µm.
The sensor sits behind a 14mm f/2.2 lens. This camera supports PDAF too, and it can focus as close as 4 cm away which means you can shoot macro photos with it, an dedicated macro mode is available. Its front camera relies on either a 32MP sensor coupled with a wide-angle 19mm f/2.45 lens. The focus is fixed, and the sensor has a Quad-Bayer color filter. The device can record videos at 4k@60fps.
Xiaomi 12T Pro has 3 cameras on the back, the main camera uses the Samsung HP1 sensor that shoots in 200MP. The ultrawide camera uses the 8MP Samsung S5K4H7 ISOCELL Slim 1/4″ sensor. The lens has a fixed focus, an f/2.2 aperture, and it has 120 degrees field of view.
The macro camera uses a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02 sensor behind an f/2.4 lens. The focus is fixed at about 4cm away. The thing is, compared to the previous generation, Xiaomi downgraded the macro lens to 2MP from 5MP, so that’s a bad thing too. The device has a 20MP Sony IMX596 sensor for the front camera.
Xiaomi says it has a 1/3.47″ optical format and a 0.8µm pixel size. The fixed-focus lens has an f/2.2 aperture. Also, Xiaomi 12T Pro can record videos at 8k@24fps. So, in terms of camera, except not being able to capture 8K videos, Nothing Phone (2) takes the win.
Sound
Xiaomi 12T Pro beats Nothing Phone (2) in audio quality, it has stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, which supports 24-bit/192kHz audio. Both devices don’t have a 3.5mm jack, so that’s a downside.
Performance
In terms of performance, the devices’ performances are similar because they’re using the same chipset (Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1), but the 12T Pro is a little bit ahead. Nothing Phone (2) scores 972126 in AnTuTu v10, while the 12T Pro scores 1032185. The thing is, Xiaomi’s MIUI is more optimized for the chipset compared to Nothing OS 2, so this slight difference in performance might be related to that. Though, the average user probably will not see a difference in terms of performance.
The devices have different configurations. Nothing Phone (2) has 128GB – 8GB RAM, 256GB – 12GB RAM, 512GB – 12GB RAM options, and Xiaomi 12T Pro has 128GB – 8GB RAM, 256GB – 8GB RAM, 256GB – 12GB RAM. The Nothing Phone (2) has the 512GB option while Xiaomi 12T Pro only can go up to 256GB, so that’s an plus. Both devices support Wi-Fi 6, but Nothing Phone (2) has Bluetooth 5.3 support while Xiaomi 12T Pro has Bluetooth 5.2.
Battery
Both devices have big battery capacities, but Xiaomi 12T Pro has more battery capacity compared to Nothing Phone (2). It has an 5000mAh battery that supports 120W wired charging while Nothing Phone (2) has an 4700mAh battery with 45W wired charging, so Xiaomi 12T Pro wins here too.
Software
Nothing Phone (2) comes with Android 13 Nothing OS 2 out of the box, while Xiaomi 12T Pro comes with Android 12 MIUI 13 (Upgradeable to Android 13 MIUI 14), which is an downside because it already got one of its Android and MIUI updates, leaving 2 Android and 3 MIUI updates.
Prices
Lastly, the prices. Nothing Phone (2) is a little bit pricey compared to Xiaomi 12T Pro. It starts from $695, while Xiaomi 12T Pro starts from $589. So, in terms of performance per price, Xiaomi 12T Pro wins here, and it makes sense because you get similar specs while paying $100 less. That’s all, thanks for reading. What is your opinion, which device is better?
