Not only OnePlus but also fans to this ‘affordable’ OnePlus Nord There are high expectations with and we are also keen to review this phone. So let’s see how much OnePlus Nord meets our expectations? Can it actually provide the same experience as its more expensive siblings? let’s find out.
OnePlus Nord: Design and Display
OnePlus has kept its design separate from the smartphone of the OnePlus 8 series. The design style of OnePlus Nord corresponds to some extent Oppo and Realme’s phones and we are not surprised because all these brands are part of the same family. However, the involvement of alert slider in it and the same old style of button and port gives us the feeling of its onePlus phone.
Quality can be called good for a phone made from polycarbonate. Gorilla Glass 5 protection is available forward and back. We liked the blue marble color on the Nord unit, which is also the color of our review unit. Apart from this, the phone has also been introduced in gray onix color.
Like other OnePlus phones, there is no option to increase storage on OnePlus Nord, as the SIM tray only supports two Nano-SIM cards. It also comes in 128 GB and 256 GB variants, in which you might not miss storage.
OnePlus smartphones are known for their AMOLED display and I am happy to see that OnePlus has not compromised on this low -priced smartphone. Its display panel is also amoled. The edges of the display are not curved such as OnePlus 8, but instead of one it has a cutout for two selfie cameras. The display size is 6.44 inches and comes with a full-HD+ resolution (1080×2400) with a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone comes with HDR10+. Overall, it is a good panel, in which black levels look good and colors also appear in plenty. However, there is some difference in color tone on the white background and it did not recover even after some updates. However, it is noticeable only when it looks very carefully.
With OnePlus Nord you get a silicone bumper case, type-C cable, fast charger and stickers.
OnePlus Nord: Specifications
OnePlus Nord comes in India with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset. The Qualcomm X52 5G modem is found in this chipset and it is made on 7 Nm process. It promises better processing capabilities and up to 30 percent faster graphics rendering than Snapdragon 730g.
In India, three variants of OnePlus Nord have been introduced. 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, which will be available only on Amazon from September. Its price is Rs 24,999. Apart from this, 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variants, priced at Rs 27,999 and 12 GB RAM variants with 256 GB storage, priced at Rs 29,999.
OnePlus Nord has a thickness of 8.2 millimeters and weighs 184 grams. You get support for navigation systems including NFC, Wi-Fi AC, Bluetooth 5.1, and navigation. The phone has a single speaker, in-display fingerprint sensor and face unlock feature. The Nord does not have any official IP certification, so you have to be a little careful with water. You get 4,115mAh battery with Warp Charge 30t fast charging technology.
OnePlus experience is not complete without oxygenos. At the time of the review, the phone was running at the software version 10.5.2, with a July security patch. Its interface and the features available in it are similar to flagship ONEPLUS phone. There are also options to customize Zen mode, built-in screen recorder and ambinte display, fingerprint animation, etc. OnePlus has also promised a two -year software update and a three -year security update for Nord.
OnePlus Nord has had some software changes compared to other OnePlus phones. The biggest one is Google’s inclusion of stock diers and message applications. There was no clear reason for removing Oxygen OS’s dialer and message app, but just said that on its research, the company realized that mid-range smartphone buyers would be able to get better experiences with buyers Google’s app. We have no problem with Google’s stock apps, but it is disappointing that Nord users will not get the experience of India-specific features that OnePlus has added to its dialer and message app for years.
The second change is made in the camera app. In this, you will be able to share your Akiri photo very easily with the app. For this, you have to keep tapping on the preview and you will get the option to choose direct apps.
OnePlus Nord: Performance
According to OnePlus, Nord users will get smooth and fast performance just like a flagship phone in this phone and we have to say that it works very well. With regular use, we did not actually see much difference between OnePlus Nord and OnePlus flagship phone. The interface was very smooth and fast, the apps were faster in loading and closing and switching between apps was also quite simple. The in-display fingerprint sensor works very well. Face unlock is also quite fast and accurate.
Videos in OnePlus display looks great, especially on streaming HDR video on YouTube and Netflix. Dirac’s software enhancement at Nord also gives loud sound experience on single speaker.
We used OnePlus Nord for a week and its battery life was quite solid. We got a backup of one and a half days on one charge easily. Even after playing a lot of games and using the camera, it managed to take the whole day. In our video loop test, OnePlus Nord lasted for about 14.5 hours, which is quite good time. The phone with it was charged up to 93 percent in an hour from the charger coming with it, which is quite fast.
OnePlus Nord: Cameras
OnePlus Nord has a total of six cameras – four back and two in front. The main rear camera is exactly what you will get with OnePlus 8. The company has also kept optical stabilization, which is good to see. The other three cameras are an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens, 2-megapixel macro lens and 5-megapixel depth sensor. For selfie, you get a 32-megapixel primary Sony IMX616 lens and an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens.
The camera app is similar to OnePlus 8-Series’ phone and also works equally. In daylight, the main rear camera on OnePlus Nord captures good photos. We found that details in the shots were generally good, colors also came well and HDR worked well. There was a slight decrease in the dynamic range compared to OnePlus 8. The main camera defaults a photo shoot at 12-megapixels by default, but you can also opt for shooting at the entire resolution.
The camera with wide angle captured comparatively weak details, but it worked well with colors and HDRs. There is no optical zoom on the Nord. Instead, you can digital zoom up to 10X using the main camera, but the quality is compromised. Close-up looked good in daylight, good details came, but sometimes colors increase. The autofocus system was quite fast.
The background blur is well blurred using portrait shots primary camera, although the level of blur cannot be set. The macro camera did its job, but it was not very good, and was only useful when there was good light around our subject.
Low light photos came decent and in very dark scenes, I had to use nitscape. The problem with night mode on Nord is that even though it can be quite effective in bright a picture, it makes the texture flat and shadows, which I did not like. The wide-angle camera is not really able to take the useable shots using in low light, unless you use nitscape.
Talking about the selfie camera, the primary selfie camera used to capture good details in the daylight, the skin tone looked good and HDR was well handled. In low light, details decreased and the total quality was also average.
The default is captured by a default on a 32-megapixel resolution, although if you go on portrait mode, the phone takes 8-megapixel shots. The wide-angle front camera is a good addition, but we want OnePlus to make your color profile a little better. Despite the decrease of details, the photos usually appear light red color. In low-light shots, colors usually look flat, but the camera was successful in bright shots.
Verdict
It seems that OnePlus is going back to its roots with its ‘affordable’ OnePlus Nord. This is not a ‘flagship killer’ like original OnePlus One, but there is no need to happen, as OnePlus itself has a new line of premium flagship. Nord could only be called OnePlus Light or OnePlus 8 Lite, but perhaps doing so could not create that much impact in the market in the name of the new product line. OnePlus Nord looks like an old beginning and if we are lucky, we can see much more in this series, possibly the lower levels of the smartphone market should be targeted. If you have the present OnePlus 6 For example, if there are old OnePlus smartphones, then Nord should be a good upgrade.
We do not think that many people will feel lacking the 800-series processor of Qualcomm in OnePlus Nord, as it performs well in day-to-day use. OnePlus Nord is currently the cheapest 5G smartphone in the Indian market, which gives it a unique advantage. Although the competition is strong, Redmi K20 Pro And Realme X3 Series such as phones come with more powerful processors equipped with 4G and in some cases are not better, they are equipped with the same features. OnePlus Nord may not compete with these smartphones in terms of specification, but when you keep the software in mind and promise to update on time, it becomes an attractive deal for you.