Nikon Coolpix A -vs- Canon Powershot G1X

I'd have to say that very few buyers will compare the two and pick one because its "better in general" than than the other. Both are niche products for people willing to pay a premium for something that fits their specific needs plus extra IQ. Since they appeal to different audiences there's no point in comparing them. For my personal use case I'd want none. One is far too large for not being a DSLR, so I would rarely have it with me, and the other one has a fixed 28 mm lens so I would rarely have it with me. I mean, seriously, the G1x has the volume of two Nikon CP A:s. And with the A I would have to spend my life cropping. For my use case I'd accept lower IQ and do something else for the price difference over getting any of these.

But I would be very happy with a cheaper A that had a 5x zoom, or with a G1X that was half the size.