OnePlus Nord Review: It Gets The Basics Right Without Hurting Your Wallet

When we hear the brand OnePlus, two things primarily come to our mind -- flagship killer and OxygenOS. These two things -- not the cameras, not the gimmicky features -- these two things come to our mind and we know how important these two things truly are. And of course Warp charging, as well.

This year, instead of being a flagship killer, OnePlus decided to be a flagship instead, with the OnePlus 8 series. That surely disappointed many fans, despite what it was offering on the table was a phone that could put even Galaxy S20 to shame.

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However, to make its budget-focused fans happy, it has now released the OnePlus Nord -- a new series of phones by OnePlus which would be their entry-level offering which is the spiritual successor to the OnePlus X, if you remember.

I finally got my hands on the OnePlus Nord smartphone and spent some time using it over the past week or so. Here's my observation on the OnePlus Nord and whether you should buy it or not.

OnePlus Nord is a good looker

The moment I got my hands on the device, the first thing that popped in my mind was like this is one good looking phone with a lot of flaunt value. The light blue/teal colour on the back looks really neat and is a welcomed inclusion as opposed to the gradient blue that we¡¯ve seen on phones in this price point. OnePlus Nord keeps it simple, subtle and classy.

The device is a glass sandwich, with a Gorilla Glass 5 front and back. But instead of a metal body, it¡¯s using polycarbonate with a metallic finish. The Nord definitely doesn¡¯t look or feel like plastic, but yea, that¡¯s something you should definitely know.

A smooth display on a budget

OnePlus Nord features a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2400x1800 pixels. This is a 90Hz flat OLED display.

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The OLED panel is good and the colours are bright and poppy, but it¡¯s nowhere close to what you see on OnePlus 8 series, or even on OnePlus 7T. I noticed weird colour fringing at odd viewing angles. This didn¡¯t bother me much though. The screen did get decently bright in daylight, which was nice to see.

Second best hardware on offer

OnePlus Nord surely isn¡¯t a flagship killer, but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s a slouch when it comes to performance. We¡¯re getting Qualcomm¡¯s second-best Snapdragon 765G octa-core processor paired with12GB of RAM (there are 6GB and 8GB variants of the device available too). This along with Adreno 620 GPU and Oxygen OS, the phone performs no less than a flagship.

Playing Fortnite, PUBG, Asphalt and other graphics-intensive games was a breeze with minimal heating after hour-long sessions. Oxygen OS made sure that switching between apps remained as butter-smooth as on the OnePlus 8 series or the previous OnePlus devices.

Camera that gets the job done

OnePlus hasn¡¯t skimped on the camera hardware, despite it being a mid-range smartphone. We¡¯re seeing an identical camera setup as the OnePlus 8 with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 primary shooter with 1.75 aperture and OIS, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide shooter, a 2-megapixel macro shooter and a 5-megapixel depth sensor.

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Are these the best cameras on a smartphone? Nope, but are these cameras enough for taking good photographs? Absolutely.

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The software is still the same you get on OnePlus, which means similar image processing and it often delivers really good shots, perfect for social media posts. The primary sensor is the star of the camera setup that clicks nice shots during daytime as well as decent shots in low-light.

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Wide-angle allows shooting creative images, without compromising too much on image quality (but it¡¯s not as sharp).

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The macro shooter, however, tends to deliver really soft images, and it doesn¡¯t really work that well in low light.

The front camera(s) on the other hand are really the perfect combo. You get a 32-megapixel primary shooter along with a second 8-megapixel ultrawide shooter.

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The second camera here is perfect for taking group selfies. Both cameras don¡¯t perform as well as you¡¯d want them to in low-light though.

Marathon battery that doesn¡¯t quit

Powering the device is a massive 4115mAh battery with support for 30T Warp Charging -- same as the flagship OnePlus 8s. The phone was easily able to give around a day and a half of battery life with 90Hz refresh-rate on, all the time. My usage involved texting, emailing, watching YouTube videos and a little gaming. Your mileage surely may vary, but Warp Charging was always there to save the day.

Should you buy OnePlus Nord?

OnePlus Nord isn¡¯t the OnePlus 8 or OnePlus 8 Pro, but it's a great successor to the legacy of OnePlus X. The Nord strikes a very good balance with a blend of features for an attractive phone at the price. The OnePlus Nord has hardware that doesn¡¯t break a sweat, it has beautifully optimised software, cameras that manage to take good shots most of the time and a 90Hz display that makes a difference in day-to-day use -- all these things combine to make a really good device.

Sure, at a price of Rs 24,999 (for the Nord's entry-level 6GB/64GB variant), other brands may try to grab your attention, with better specs here and there. But here's the thing -- the OnePlus Nord isn¡¯t just about the specs, it¡¯s about the experience as well -- the software, the UI, the regular security and performance updates OnePlus offers and Warp Charging right out of the box that really saves the day at times.

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OnePlus Nord isn¡¯t the flagship killer OnePlus is known for. It is, in fact, a phone that gets the basics right. It is like Dal Khichdi -- you know it¡¯s not fancy, but at the end of a tiring day, it is the sort of comfort food that feels just right, every single time. It gets the basics right, offers better experience than more expensive phones without hurting your wallet. And that¡¯s what makes it a phone worth going for at that price point.