OnePlus Nord CE review

The OnePlus Nord CE is the company’s new mid-range smartphone that brings decent specifications and a great software experience at an affordable price. The cameras are not the best and it even misses out on a few staples — but if you’ve been waiting for an affordable offering from the company, the OnePlus Nord CE is your calling.With the launch of the OnePlus 9 series earlier this year, the company reached new heights in terms of its pricing, leaving many loyalists disappointed and waiting for a return to the budget segment. PriceDesignDisplayPerformanceCamerasSoftwareBatteryAudioVerdictEven with an affordable price tag, the OnePlus Nord CE continues to offer the classic OnePlus experience we’ve all grown to love — a clean software skin that is always responsive, a minimalist design with some personality, and adequate hardware to keep the phone running smooth. Running atop Android 11 this time, it is fast and fluid as ever, without skimping on the features and customizations that fans enjoy.The Nord CE lowers the entry point for users into the OnePlus ecosystem.Staying true to the theme, we also get a 90Hz AMOLED display that makes every interaction look smooth. With 5G support, the OnePlus Nord CE will be ready for the next generation of connectivity when the networks are.Of course, it isn’t a perfect phone, and OnePlus had to cut a few corners to achieve this price tag. Warp Charging is also present, taking the phone from zero to 65% in just about 30 minutes.The OnePlus Nord CE might not be the best smartphone under Rs 30,000 / £400, but it is the easiest one to recommend to most users, thanks to an enjoyable overall experience and far fewer cons to be mindful of. OnePlus doesn’t seem to be intending for this phone to come to the US, and OnePlus phones aren’t available in Australia either.It has a starting price tag of Rs 22,999 for the 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage model, which is exclusive to those who live in India.The 8GB and 128GB model will cost you Rs 24,999/£299 (around $420, AU$550) and the top of the line 12GB and 256GB model will cost Rs 27,999/£369 (around $520, AU$680).Those who live in the UK are able to pre-order the OnePlus Nord CE now, and the official website says it will be shipping from June 14, 2021. The OnePlus Nord CE feels extremely comfortable and light in the hand and thanks to the matte design, you also get a good grip on the phone.While it might not be as compact as the Asus 8Z, the OnePlus Nord CE will be a welcome change for those who are coming from bulkier phones. For those who are unaware, the alert slider is a quick hardware key that's on most OnePlus phones on the side, that switches between silent, vibrate, and ring modes.The OnePlus Nord CE offers a great in-hand feelOnePlus said that it wants to give the trademark OnePlus features such as the alert slider to its more premium OnePlus devices. The OnePlus Nord CE sports a 6.43-inch AMOLED display, making it the handiest phone in the OnePlus Nord and N series lineup. However, the colors on the OnePlus Nord CE aren't quite as eye-catching as we’d see on some other mid-range phones like the Poco F3 or Xiaomi Mi 11X. The OnePlus Nord CE brings the Oxygen OS experience to a new lower price point. We had a bug-free experience.The OnePlus Switch features come in handy if you are coming from any Android smartphone to the Nord CE - it transfers all the data including apps, call/text logs, and apps including data. Overall, OnePlus, as always, has done a pretty good job in the software department and the Nord CE passes with flying colors when it comes to software experience with a no-nonsense approach and bloat-free experience. Although the OnePlus Nord CE doesn’t offer the best in class hardware specs, we’d recommend this phone purely for the software experience. You want a phone that feels great in the handThe OnePlus Nord CE might not be the most compact phone of the season, but it weighs just 170 grams and measures 7.9mm thick which gives it a great in-hand feel. The OnePlus Nord CE offers excellent battery life clocking up to 8 hours of screen on time regularly. You want the best camerasThe camera on the OnePlus Nord CE is a good one, but you get better options in the segment such as the Google Pixel 4a, Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, Realme 8 Pro, It also misses out on optical image stabilization and a macro camera. While it’s fine for average use, devices such as the Poco X3 Pro, iQoo Z3 or even last-gen flagships will provide better performance.You want water-resistanceUnlike some mid-range or flagship phones, the OnePlus Nord CE does not come with any IP rating which means there are no guarantees as to its dust- or water-resistance abilities.