Smartphone Review
OnePlus Nord CE
OnePlus is back with another Nord device, but this time, the company has stripped off a few non-essential features from the more expensive variant to give shape to the Nord CE, or Core Edition. The device now sits comfortably in a range that is expected to see a lot more of action in the coming months.
Design & Build Quality
The Nord CE has a minimalist design with a polycarbonate back instead of glass in the original Nord. The phone has the usual three buttons for power, volume up and volume down. A 3.5 mm headphone jack is provided. The device is available in Silver Ray, Blue Void and Charcoal Ink colours.
Key Features
The CE offers a negligibly smaller version of the 2400 x 1080-pixel Fluid AMOLED display used in the original Nord. The display offers the same 90 Hz refresh rate and supports sRGB and Display P3. It provides extensive customisation options including Dark Mode, Reading Mode and Ambient Display. The Nord CE 5G runs on OxygenOS based on Android 11.
The phone is powered by an 8 nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC, against the 7 nm Snapdragon 765G in the Nord. Apart from the lower price point, the processors offer negligible difference in practical applications according to available data. The processor uses slightly more power and OnePlus has compensated by including a higher capacity (4500 mAh) battery. OnePlus ships the device with the 30W Warp Charge 30T Plus fast charger. The OnePlus Nord CE is available in three variants — 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB. Please note that this review is based on the 12GB/256GB variant we received. The phone accepts dual Nano SIM and does not support memory expansion.
The main camera now has a higher resolution of 64 megapixels, 16 megapixels more than the original Nord. The ultra-wide camera is retained. However, the device loses the macro lens while a monochrome camera replaces the depth sensor. Another casualty is Optical Image Stabilisation. However, EIS is available in the wide-angle lens. On the videos front, the device renders 4K at 30 fps along with Super Slow motion and Timelapse. The phone has a single selfie camera and it is a 16 MP unit. Selfies were of good quality.
Ergonomics
The OnePlus Nord CE is quite comfortable to hold and operate with one hand. The device offers the familiar in-display fingerprint sensor along with face unlock. The interface felt smooth and the UI appeared clean without any bloatware to bug you.
Performance
The phone offers good gaming power, but we noticed some lag in high-speed action during some games. The battery easily lasts about a day even with some intense gaming sessions. The included charger tops up the battery in just over an hour.
The cameras performed well with images showing good details with true-to-life colours. 4K videos, however, exhibited some lag especially while panning. Night mode surely brings out some details in nearzero lighting, but we have seen much better performances from a couple of similarly priced devices. Predictably, portrait mode had some inconsistencies with background blur. Multimedia playback was not something to write home about, except for the loud sound output.
Value for Money
The OnePlus Nord CE carries an MRP tag of Rs. 22,999. At this price, this device is reasonably good value for money, especially if you are a OnePlus fan.