OnePlus Nord Price and Full phone specifications Review: The OnePlus Nord represents an emphatic return to the combination of style, features and affordability that made the brand stand out when it arrived on the smartphone scene in 2014 with the OnePlus One.
It offers an almost-flagship experience, at a comfortably lower price tag than the OnePlus 8 series, blending premium design, slick performance and great cameras for a heady mix of smartphone satisfaction.
This isn’t the newest OnePlus phone, and it even has a few follow-ups. There’s the Nord N10 5G, a cheaper version of the Nord, and the N100, a really low-cost iteration of the same idea. There’s also the Nord CE and Nord 2, two 2021 smartphones that succeed the original device.
But if you’re still interested in the phone that started the OnePlus Nord range, you’re in the right place.
The difference between 2014, when the OnePlus One was released, and 2020 is that the market has moved on significantly, and OnePlus is no longer the challenger brand looking to upset the apple cart. The OnePlus Nord finds itself in a crowded mid-market filled with equally feature-rich devices, making it tougher for the phone to stand out.
With rival devices such as the Google Pixel 4a, Poco F2 Pro, Realme X50 5G, Moto G 5G Plus and Mi Note 10 Lite, there’s never been a better time to be in the market for an affordable flagship device – and it makes the Nord’s job that much harder.
The OnePlus Nord price is eye-catching though, and the handset offers plenty for your money. OnePlus says the Nord is “pretty much everything you could ask for”, and it’s got a point.
There’s a sizable display offering a smooth user experience, enough power under the hood, and plenty of cameras, all wrapped up in a premium design. It looks good, it feels good in the hand, and it performs superbly.
With so many cameras – OnePlus has possibly gone a little over the top here – you get a wide range of photography options from portrait and macro to ultra-wide and nightscape modes, plus 4K video recording at 30fps with both the front and rear cameras. There’s also up to a 10x zoom, plus slow-motion video recording at 1080p and 240fps.
The negative points on the OnePlus Nord are minor: there’s no headphone jack, no IP rating for dust and water resistance, and no wireless charging on offer.
The battery life is average – it should see you through a day, but this is a phone you’ll need to be charging every night – and there’s not much room for notification icons across the top of the display, thanks to the dual selfie cameras.
The bigger point here is, where does the Nord leave the firm’s top-tier handsets? If the OnePlus Nord really is “pretty much everything you could ask for”, why should anyone (especially OnePlus’ price-conscious fans) fork out considerably more cash for the OnePlus 8 or OnePlus 8 Pro? It’ll be interesting to see how the Nord’s arrival affects future sales of the brand’s flagship devices.
Right now though, if you’re in the market for an affordable smartphone that offers a near-flagship experience, the OnePlus Nord delivers… but so do plenty of others.
Great performance
All the features of this phone are very impressive.