Both Nikon AW110 and Sony NEX-5T have 16.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon AW110's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Sony NEX-5T's sensor is APS-C (23.4 x 15.6 mm ).
Since Sony NEX-5T's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Nikon AW110.
Below you can see the AW110 and NEX-5T sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony NEX-5T has a 13.0x Larger sensor area than Nikon AW110. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.