The Realme 15 Pro is the latest addition to the brand’s popular number series, and, as always, there’s a lot of excitement around it.
But it faces some tough competition from the Nord CE 5, a straight-up performance beast, and the Nothing Phone 3a a phone that oozes style.
I’ve been using all three for a while now, and I’ve got thoughts.
Performance
Let’s talk performance, because on the surface, all three of these phones sound solid.
The Realme 15 Pro rocks the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, the Nord CE 5 is on the Dimensity 8350 Apex and the Nothing Phone 3a, runs on the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3.
But, the Realme & Nothing get LPDDR4X RAM, while the Nord CE 5 steps it up with LPDDR5X RAM. For storage, Realme and Nord bring UFS 3.1, whereas Nothing, sticks to UFS 2.2. Not exactly a wise choice.
Also, only the OnePlus supports expandable storage, and I am all for it.
In Antutu, the Nord CE 5 absolutely smoked the other two with a score of over 1.4 million. Realme wasn’t bad, it scored about 1.09 million, but Nothing didn’t even hit a million.
3DMark’s Wildlife Extreme Stress test was wild. The Nord had the highest loop score of 3035, but its stability was just 33.2%. Both Realme and Nothing had a stability of over 99%, but their loop scores were way lower. In fact, Nothing’s score was a third of what OnePlus’ score, which is insane.
In the CPU throttle test however, the Nothing Phone 3a impressed. It dropped to just 92% and had solid scores. Realme dropped to 89%, but had the highest peak performance. The Nord kinda fell apart here. It throttled to 69%, and had the lowest average.
But like I've always said, benchmarks are just numbers. Gaming tells you way more.
Both Realme and OnePlus support 90fps in BGMI, but OnePlus has some clever, frame-boosting tricks. In a 10-minute match, it averaged 118.4fps, dipping to just 112.5 fps for 5% lows. It also ran cooler at 37.4°C.
Realme also did well, averaging 89.5 fps. But the 5% lows dropped to 86.1, and it ran warm at 40.1°C.
The Phone 3a supports 120fps in BGMI, but we never crossed 90. It averaged 89.8fps with max temps at 34°C.
I mean, sure, it's stable, but what’s the point if it can’t deliver what it should?
Also, shoutout to OnePlus and Realme for including bypass charging. That’s a lifesaver during long gaming sessions.
So if gaming’s a big deal for you, this is pretty much a two-horse race. But what about cameras?
Cameras
Well, the Nothing Phone 3a packs a solid setup—a 50MP main sensor with OIS, a 50MP 2x telephoto, and an 8MP ultrawide.
The Realme looks like it comes with three cameras, but actually, it’s just a 50MP main with OIS and a 50MP ultrawide. On the front though, it flexes with a 50MP selfie shooter.
The Nord CE 5 keeps it simple with a 50MP main and an 8MP ultrawide, and a 16MP selfie cam.
All three main cameras are solid, but each has its quirks. Realme usually nails shots but fumbles white balance here and there.
Nothing Phone 3a sometimes underexposes in bright light, and the Nord CE 5 plays it safe—consistent, but not exciting.
That said, I’d still pick the Phone 3a. Its colours pop, and the detail is just a bit sharper.
In low light Realme takes the crown. It grabs the most detail and nails exposure.
Nothing tends to over-brighten, and the Nord often ends up too dark.
Ultrawide is another win for Realme —great detail, even if a bit dim. Nothing and Nord are fine, but Nord’s output feels the flattest.
Video is a mixed bag. Nothing maxes out at 4K30, while the other two go up to 4K60. All three of them have pretty good stabilisation. But I’d still go with Nothing—it looks better, and has better colours.
Realme nails selfies with sharp detail and solid edge detection, while the Phone 3a also holds up well. Nord’s photos feel flat and occasionally off in colour.
For me, the Nothing Phone 3a is the best overall camera pick, thanks to its versatile setup. Realme comes in a close second with strong low-light and ultrawide performance.
Now, let's quickly take a look at the other stuff.
Design
The Nord CE 5 also looks great, especially in this blue finish, but still misses out on the alert slider and even the new plus key.
Realme 15 Pro has a mostly plastic body. Ours came in Silky Purple, which looks nice, but I don’t like how cheap the plastic back feels. However, Realme does feel the lightest and slimmest in the hand.
Nothing of course, has its glyph lights, but the Realme too has a cool, colour-changing pulse ring around one of the cameras to alert you about notifications.
You can also shake the Realme 15 Pro to launch the camera or turn on the torch — a trick borrowed from Moto phones. It’s just as gimmicky, but I have to admit, I kind of like it.
Realme also wins big on durability with its IP66, 68, and 69 ratings, along with Gorilla Glass 7i on the front.
Nord has IP65, and Nothing settles for IP64 with Panda Glass.
Display
Realme also crushes it on display—6.8-inch, 10-bit AMOLED panel, 1800 nits HBM, 6500 nits peak brightness—it has all the impressive numbers. To me, it looks brighter and better than the other two, in every way, though I am not a fan of the quad-curved panel.
Weirdly though, it is a 144Hz panel that only works in some system apps, not in games. Maybe a software update will fix that…
Now, both the Realme and Nothing come with stereo speakers, but the Nord only packs a mono set-up, which was a massive red flag for me
Software
When it comes to software, Nothing OS is clean and minimal with 3+6 years of updates, but OnePlus edges ahead with 4+6 years and a smoother OxygenOS 15 experience. Realme UI is more cluttered but loaded with AI tools like voice editing and glare removal in photos, though it only offers 2+3 years of software support.
OnePlus has its own AI tools, but it’s not as stacked as Realme. So if you care about AI features, Realme easily offers the most to play with.
Verdict
Now, the big question. How do you pick one between the three…
If cameras and killer design are your top priorities, the Nothing Phone 3a is the one that turns heads and delivers.
The Nord CE 5 is your no-nonsense workhorse; fast, tough, and reliable that just drives everything with brute force.
But the Realme 15 Pro is the all-rounder here. It may not top every chart, but it consistently holds its ground across the board, be it cameras or performance.
