OnePlus Nord Reviews | Digital Musaafir

Latest Mobile OnePlus Nord Review 

• Quad camera, OIS 48 MP Sony IMX586
•  32 MP & ultra wide selfie cameras
•  90 Hz Fluid AMOLED display
•  Snapdragon™ 765G 5G & up to 12 GB RAM

The  OnePlus is returning 6 years after revolutionizing the mid-range segment with the OnePlus Nord. With the company's flagships increasingly out of the reach of its core audience, Nord is meant to bring a number of the OnePlus flagship experience and core values to the more price-conscious segment of the market - the one that made OnePlus what it's today.

This isn't the brand's first rodeo within the mid-range market. OnePlus first took a swipe at this segment with the OnePlus X, which despite being an excellent phone, met with a tepid response from the purchasers and got the series shelved after a year. But things are different now; the OnePlus X was only slightly cheaper than the OnePlus 2, which was the flagship OnePlus phone at the time, so for a few people, it didn't feel necessary. this point around, the OnePlus 8 is significantly costlier, with the 8 Pro even further up the worth ladder, making the Nord that far more relevant.

So Nord is not any longer a fun little experiment for OnePlus just like the OnePlus X was. it is a serious weapon that it intends to wield during this increasingly competitive segment. A segment now dominated by brands like Xiaomi and Realme in certain markets, who took OnePlus' absence as a chance to create their repertoire. And a segment that was recently shaken by the launch of the iPhone SE and caused some to question their loyalties as they made the switch to Apple's perfectly manicured walled-garden.

• Body: Plastic frame, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, 158.3 x 73.3 x 8.2mm, 184g
• Display: 6.44-inch, 2400x1080 20:9 AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10/HDR10+/HLG, DCI-P3
• Rear Cameras: Main: 48MP f1.75 PDAF 6P OIS Ultra-wide: 8MP f2.25 fixed-focus 
• Macro: 2MP f2.4 fixed-focus Depth: 5MP f2.4, dual-LED flash; 4K30, 1080p240 video
• Front cameras: Main: 32MP f2.45 fixed focus Ultra-wide: 8MP f2.45 fixed focus; 4K60 video
• Software: Android 10, OxygenOS 10.5
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G: octa-core CPU (1x2.4 GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1x2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 475 Silver), Adreno 620 GPU
• Memory: 8/12GB LPDDR4X
• Storage: 128/256GB UFS 2.1
• Battery: 4115mAh, 30W Warp Charge 30T
• Connectivity: Dual SIM, 5G, LTE-A, USB-C 2.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou/SBAS/NavIC
• Misc: Under-display fingerprint sensor, single loudspeaker, linear vibration motor, face         unlock,  alert slider

Nord has its work cut out for it then. On one hand is that the OnePlus fanbase, who has gotten increasingly displeased at the company's inflation . On the opposite hand, is competition from rivals who have now gone on to become market leaders during this segment. And in between is people like us, who have gotten mighty want to review great budget phones and are becoming harder to please.

Today, we are only allowed to point out a little bit of this new phone and therefore the full review will need to await a later date. Until then, enjoy this tiny hands-on.

Latest Mobile Design Review 

The OnePlus Nord is a beautiful phone. the foremost striking thing about our particular unit is the color, which OnePlus calls Blue Marble. it is the perfect shade of cyan that we've longed to ascertain on phones again since the times when Nokia dominated the market.

The only thing that this particular reviewer isn't keen on is that the iridescent sheen to the glass. the rear of the phone reflects light during a colored pattern that distracts from the gorgeous shade of blue that we've here and doesn't work alright together. Just the blue with none fancy color patterns would be ideal.

The camera cluster on the rear is now arranged on the left side, very much like has become tradition lately. it is also a large bump, therefore the phone never quite rests flat on a tough surface.

The frame of the phone is formed out of plastic and has been painted during a shiny chrome finish with an identical shade of blue. it's quite nice and feels quite convincingly like metal.

The front of the phone will likely be controversial for a few people. OnePlus has adopted not just the hole-punch design but a pill-shaped cutout for the twin front cameras making their debut on a OnePlus phone. OnePlus hides this cleverly with all the new stock wallpaper that the phone comes with but there is no hiding it outside the home screen. we do not mind it personally from an aesthetic perspective but the 2 cameras do take up valuable space on the status bar, which now looks cramped and busy.

Some of you'll have already noticed the similarities to the Realme X50 Pro design. Indeed, even the size of the 2 phones and therefore the display specs are quite similar. is that the Nord just a reskinned X50 Pro? OnePlus would probably deny that but it's quite possible the sister companies shared a number of the R&D load and therefore the Nord is even manufactured in Oppo's manufacturing facility in India.

Latest Mobile Camera Review 

The Nord comes with a complete of six cameras, the foremost for any OnePlus phone. Four of them are on the rear while two are embeded within the display.

The rear camera array consists of a 48MP f/1.75 Sony IMX586 main camera with a 6P lens and OIS, an 8MP f2/.25 fixed-focus ultrawide camera, 2MP f2.4 fixed-focus macro unit, and eventually a depth sensor. If you wanted to be realistic, you'll say the phone only really has three cameras on the rear , because the depth sensor doesn't take any pictures. And you would be correct, but that does not look nearly as good on the spec sheet.

In case you're interested by the order of the cameras, on the rear , the top-most lens is that the ultra wide, followed by the most wide camera, the depth sensor, and eventually the macro camera at rock bottom . The portrait mode effect worked even with the depth sensor covered, which further suggests that it had been mostly included to form the numbers.

You can record video at up to 4K at 30fps from the most because of the ultrawide camera. Mind you, the later lacks the resolution for true 4K recording, particularly after the heavy crop applied, so there is a lot of interpolation happening . There's also a choice to record cropped 21:9 videos for a more cinematic look but there is no 24fps mode to finish the effect. There's also no 60fps option in 4K and you'll only record 60fps at 1080p on the rear cameras.

On the front is the dual-camera setup, consisting of a 32MP f/2.45 fixed-focus Sony IMX616 camera on the proper alongside an 8MP f/2.45 fixed-focus ultrawide camera on the left. The ultrawide camera is merely available for normal shots. you can't record videos or take portrait images from the ultra-wide camera. Neither of the 2 cameras can use Nightlight, which remains limited to the rear cameras.

Interestingly, the front camera can record video in 60fps in both 1080p also as 4K. 

We can't show any sample images for now but it should be relatively easy to seek out how the Nord camera performs. OnePlus has reused the most and macro cameras from the OnePlus 8. However, the ultrawide on the rear and both the front cameras are new for an OnePlus phone, and that we will need to await the review before showing you ways they perform.

OnePlus Nord A Flat 90Hz Screen

The OnePlus Nord features a 6.44-inch, 2400x1080 resolution AMOLED display. Like the OnePlus 8, this panel refreshes at 90Hz. However, unlike the two flagship models, the Nord has a flat panel, which doesn't look as fancy but is better for image quality and usability.

We can also confirm that the Nord has a hardware proximity sensor, similar to the OnePlus 8 series, so you won't have the screen wake issue during calls found on the OnePlus 7 series that utilized a software solution for sensing proximity.

A single speaker and a linear vibration motor

The Nord features a single loudspeaker at rock bottom . Not ideal for videos or games but it gets reasonably loud and sounds decently. There's no headphone jack nor is there any adapter or headset (except France) provided in the box. OnePlus will, however, happily sell you those separately, alongside the new OnePlus Buds.

The USB-C port on the Nord is only USB 2.0 compatible, which means data transfers aren't as fast as with USB 3.1 devices.

OnePlus Nord OxygenOS 10.5

Our OnePlus Nord was running OxygenOS 10.5 at the time of writing. The software seemed identical at first to the OnePlus 8 but it has some minor differences. The one that piqued our curiosity the most was the inclusion of Google's Phone and Messages app instead of the OxygenOS versions of those apps. We are not sure why OnePlus chose to include these apps on the Nord and we couldn't get an explanation from OnePlus at the time of publishing.

The Nord also lacks the Dolby Atmos feature found on the OnePlus 8 series. Instead, it has Dirac Audio, which is implemented similarly to Atmos on the OnePlus 8 series. The EQ is more elaborate on the Nord and we are not sure if this is coming to the OnePlus 8 devices as well.

Nord comes with a whole new set of clock styles for its ambient display mode. This includes our favorite Text clock, which displays the time as text. There are seven additional clock faces. Again, none of these are present on the OnePlus 8 series and we are not sure when they will be coming, if at all. (Update: The clock faces have now been added to the OnePlus 8 series in the latest update.)

Lastly, the Nord has a 4,115mAh battery. The phone come with the same 30W Warp Charge 30T charger as the OnePlus 8 series, but it has no wireless charging support.