Redmi Note 15 5G vs Nothing Phone (3a) Lite boot speed test: A small but telling gap

Boot speed tests rarely decide buying choices, but they offer a quick snapshot of how well hardware and software work together. In a head-to-head boot test between the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite and the Redmi Note 15 5G, Xiaomi’s phone finishes first, powering up roughly five seconds quicker than its rival.

Both phones were fresh out of the box and connected to the same Wi-Fi. And while we got our definitive winner in the test, looking at specs alone, the result is not so obvious.

The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite runs on the Dimensity 7300 Pro, which carries a slight clock-speed advantage over the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 inside the Redmi Note 15 5G. Storage is also a non-factor here, with both phones using UFS 2.2, keeping the test relatively even from a hardware standpoint.

Where the difference really comes from

So, where does the difference really come from? It appears to come down to software optimisation. Xiaomi’s HyperOS moves through its startup routine more briskly, reaching the home screen faster despite the Redmi’s marginally lower CPU clocks on paper. Nothing OS, known for its clean design and minimalism, takes a little longer to complete the same process.

In day-to-day use, a five-second difference at boot is unlikely to be a deal-breaker. Still, the test underlines a familiar mid-range reality: specs alone do not tell the full story. How efficiently an OS is tuned can matter just as much as the processor underneath, even in something as simple as turning the phone on.

Which one would you pick: the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite or the newly-launched Redmi Note 15 5G? Drop a comment with your favourite.