OnePlus recently reentered the mid-range smartphone market segment with the launch of the OnePlus Nord. It may not be the best phone from the company’s stable, but it definitely packs a punch. The Nord had definitely been the talk of the town during its launch phase. However, it got a bittersweet reception after its specifications and pricing were announced.

Instead of taking a step further in the flagship range competition, OnePlus went with the tried-and-tested formula of returning to the mid-range segment, offering three variants of the Nord. I got a chance to use the top trim with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is what I am going to talk about in this review.

Now, I have been an OnePlus user for over two years. My model, the OnePlus 6 has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Naturally, I was expecting a considerable upgrade when using the Nord. But, the primary difference that I noticed, unfortunately, was the screen size and not the performance. Even in hardcore gaming, the best advantages the Nord offered was a slightly bigger screen, a better 20:9 aspect ratio, and clearer graphics.

Look and Feel:

The Nord is only marginally bigger than my OnePlus 6, though it has much thinner bezels and a better body-to-screen ratio. The phone also feels mediocre to hold. Not that it feels of inferior quality in any way, but it just meets usual OnePlus standards. It does get an all-glass body with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both front and back. However, the downer is the plastic frame, which diminishes sturdiness and makes you feel less confident when handling your device. It also does not have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, further adding to its disadvantages over its competitors. I got to review the Gray Onyx coloured model, which I personally would always prefer over the Blue Marble.

The Nord retains the company’s signature slider button for volume profiles on the right, along with the power/wake button. The overall look and feel of the phone is neat, however, it misses out on the premiumness that OnePlus phones are generally associated with.

Camera:

Having said that, the Nord takes the cake with its camera. OnePlus offers some of the best manual control options in its camera. Even in my OnePlus 6, the Pro mode can be used to click DSLR quality images. Consequently, the Quad Camera setup of the Nord is lightyears ahead. Still sticking to the Pro mode, the OnePlus Nord allowed me to click lifelike images effortlessly. But for the occasions when I felt too lazy to adjust the settings, the Nord had my back with its 48MP Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) camera. It has a Sony IMX586 main sensor, along with three secondary cameras of 8MP, 2MP, and 5MP. All other photo modes (which are a lot by the way) support superzoom and superwide mode, but the 48MP mode takes all control in its own hands. Just focus and click away!

Video options are also ample, with 4K recording at 30 fps, 1080p recording at 30 and 60 fps, and a Time-lapse mode at 4K (30 fps) and 1080p (30 fps). For “Slo-Mo” content creators, the Nord can take super slow-motion videos at 1080p at 240 fps! The media that I captured was further enhanced when displayed on the 6.44” Fluid AMOLED screen. Not to forget its 90Hz refresh rate that offered a decently seamless transition.

Processor:

Honestly, I was quite disappointed by the processor choice. Again comparing with my OnePlus 6, I found its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 to be much more efficient than the Nord’s Snapdragon 765G, which was rather dejecting. While both processors have 8 cores, the Snapdragon 765G has a combined peak CPU speed of 15.4 GHz, while the Snapdragon 845 clocks 18.28 GHz. The Nord does get a higher upload speed of 210 MBits/s, has a 267MHz higher RAM speed, and has a larger maximum memory size, which is why the Nord is available with 12GB of RAM. But apart from that, I missed the feeling of getting a processor upgrade when switching from my OnePlus 6 to the Nord.

Phone Setup:

Talking about switching, OnePlus offers a neat little app called, well, OnePlus Switch. This allowed me to replicate my existing settings and applications from my old OnePlus 6 to the new Nord. The transfer also happened in the time it took me to reach home from the office, which is why I was all set to experience the Nord as soon as I stepped in. To emphasize, the app transferred more than 50 GB of data, along with multiple customization and personalization settings in a span of 15 minutes, without a strong Wi-Fi connection.

Battery:

Being an ardent gamer, I mastered many different genres of games (Challenge me if you dare?). The OnePlus Nord allowed me to play games as intensely as I wanted while offering a decent battery backup with its 4115 mAh battery pack. On the occasional weekend that I played games from morning till night, I only had to leave the Nord on charge for a little over an hour. The WarpCharge 30T charger that comes in the box was wholly responsible for that, no questions asked. Honestly, I needed a bigger break than that so I am not complaining.

Verdict:

Priced at Rs 29,999, the top trim of the OnePlus Nord is the best choice for potential customers. This is because, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, users can experience the fullest potential of the OnePlus Nord. Also, its option with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced just Rs 2000 less, which makes the top trim an even more value for money option. The Nord offers everything that OnePlus is known for, but it leaves something to desire. Probably as OnePlus says, Never Settle?

Just witnessed the much-hyped AR launch by Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox therapy and Carl Lau – CEO of OnePlus and well the product is good but the hype around the launch was a little stretched. The AR presentation though went off smooth, but it was not rocket science or Elon Musk personally ejecting himself to the moon in his capsule. In a nutshell, it was a great work of video editors who have been working on developing games. Now let’s get to the real deal which is the price and it’s quite reasonably priced for the specs it comes packed with.

OnePlus when it started was priced below the 20K mark and let’s be honest they have been able to establish a premium positioning. It’s a brand everyone is comfortable to be seen with, unlike Vivo and Oppo where some might draw their eyebrows and throw in the Chinese comparison. In Spite of it being from the same family of BBK, OnePlus perception has always been disruptive and a community feeling. It uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC and will be offered in Blue Marble and Gray Onyx colours. Other specifications of the phone include a 6.44-inch full-HD+ Fluid AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate which is what Carl harped on for a long time, and is very important for a seamless experience. With specs going up to 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of onboard storage with the RAM being used is – LPDDR4X, and the onboard storage is UFS 2.1.

Now the camera looks like they have taken a clean shot at loads of mid-rangers with its quad-camera setup that is headlined by a 48-MP main camera, along with an 8-megapixel wide-angle shooter, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The front hole-punch cutouts include two selfie cameras – 32-megapixel main camera + 8-megapixel wide-angle camera. All of them look very promising, we are yet to test it though so will reserve the comments on this

Further, there is a 4,115mAh battery onboard that supports Warp Charge 30T fast charging technology, which enables the phone to charge from zero to 70 percent in 30 minutes flat. Of course, an in-display fingerprint sensor, 5G support, and NFC are part of standard features these days.

OnePlus Nord will run on Android 10-based OxygenOS 10.5 which has been making a lot of waves with its UI. Nord gets company at the launch with the OnePlus wireless earbuds which claim to have ten hours of battery life on a 10-minute charge. The runtime increases to 30 hours when recharged using the battery in the case. The case is also confirmed to support Warp Charge. It also includes a 13.4mm dynamic driver as well as 3D stereo support with Dolby Atmos and it weighs 4.6 grams each and the charging case weighs 36 grams and comes dressed in white, Nord Blue and Gray colours.

PRICING

OnePlus Nord will start at Rs. 24,999 in India for the base 6GB + 64GB model. The 8GB + 128GB and 12GB + 256GB models will retail at Rs. 27,999 and Rs. 29,999, respectively. The OnePlus Nord will go on sale via Amazon India and OnePlus.in starting August 4. But very smartly, the Nord buyers will only get to choose from 8GB RAM and 12GB RAM models and the entry-level will drop only in September. No word on the availability of the OnePlus Buds but it has been priced very aggressively at Rs. 4,990 to rock the boat.