OnePlus Nord hands-on: An affordable 5G phone that packs a hell of a punch – CNET

A OnePlus phone with 5G, high-end specs and an affordable price tag? Say hello to the OnePlus Nord. OnePlus has always been known for doing more affordable handsets, but its phones have been getting increasingly expensive, with the top-end OnePlus 8 Pro ($999 at OnePlus) sitting almost exactly at that $1,000 threshold. The company’s new phone, called the Nord, aims to change that. 

OnePlus Nord price and availability

OnePlus hasn’t given exact pricing details at the time of writing, but it has said that the Nord will cost under 500 euros. That converts to about $570, £450 or AU$820, so this is a much more affordable device than its top-end 8 Pro sibling. It’ll go on sale in the UK and wider Europe later this month, although the company has said that it won’t be available in the US.

Whether the company decides to give the phone a US launch — or creates a variant of it for US customers — remains to be seen.

A beautiful blue design

Despite that lower price tag, the Nord still packs a hell of a punch. I love its bold blue color with the metallic edging and its screen that stretches all the way to the edges. The display measures 6.4-inches which for me felt comfortable to use in one hand. There’s a fingerprint scanner built into the display too, so there’s been no need to take up space with a dedicated scanner somewhere else. 

What you don’t get is any IP rating for waterproofing, which means it’s probably best if you don’t intentionally drop your phone down the toilet. But then, I can’t think of a phone I’d want to intentionally drop down the toilet. It’s a shame, as the OnePlus 8 ($699 at Amazon) has IP68 waterproofing which helps keep it safe from spilled drinks, but that waterproofing is likely one of the compromises OnePlus had to make to keep the cost down.

The screen’s 2,400×1,080-pixel resolution is lower than the 8 Pro’s, but it still looked perfectly crisp and clear in my hands on time, so I don’t think you’ll notice much difference. Even when watching high-definition videos on YouTube, I didn’t think for even a moment that this thing was lacking detail. 

Under the hood is Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 765G processor, which brings 5G connectivity to the Nord and actually makes it among the most affordable 5G phones around. Of course you’ll need to be on a service plan that supports 5G and you’ll need to be in an area where 5G is available. 5G is in its infancy so coverage is still quite patchy in many areas of the US and the UK, but it’s smart to buy a 5G phone now so you’ll be ready to take advantage of those speeds when they’re more easily accessible.

The processor itself has eight cores and it’s backed up by either 8 or 12GB of RAM, depending on the variant you go for. Either option should be powerful enough for anything you’re likely to throw at it, while the various tweaks OnePlus has made to its Android 10-based Oxygen software, has resulted in a smooth and lag-free experience.

I really like OnePlus’s software actually. It’s neat and simple and there’s no unnecessary clutter or preinstalled bloatware which just makes it a much more pleasant experience in use.

OnePlus Nord cameras

There are three main lenses on the back. There’s the standard zoom camera, which is a 48-megapixel Sony sensor — the same one found on the OnePlus 8 in fact. That’s joined by a 12-megapixel super-wide angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro camera that lets you focus close-up on tiny details. 

I’ve only done some quick tests with the camera but the results look decent, especially considering the more affordable price of the thing. Shots look well-exposed, nice and sharp and with vibrant, accurate colors. 

There’s also a portrait mode which uses the 5-megapixel depth sensor to give some attractive out-of-focus backgrounds to your portrait shots as well as other features like 4K video, slow motion and a night mode for capturing brighter shots in low light. 

On the front is the first dual-lens selfie camera we’ve seen from OnePlus. The main front lens offers a huge 32-megapixel resolution, to let you see every excruciating detail on your face, while the other is a wide-angle lens, which OnePlus says is designed to let you fit more of your friends into the scene. Or if social distancing has left you all alone, you can take a big wide lonely selfie and then badly Photoshop some new friends in. 

There’s a 4,115-mAh battery inside the Nord which should be able to provide enough juice to keep you going for a whole day. As always, that’ll depend on how you use it — if you spend all morning streaming videos then you’ll probably need to give the Nord a boost in the afternoon. 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the name “Nord” — sadly it has nothing to do with the race of people in the Elder Scrolls games. It’s so named because “Nord” means “North” in some European languages. OnePlus says that North on a compass “points towards growth and success,” which it doesn’t; it’s just a direction. But who am I to argue? 

Misunderstanding of compasses aside though, I’m impressed with this phone so far. It looks great, has solid specs, 5G and it’s certainly more affordable then the rest of the OnePlus range.