OnePlus Nord Redefines Premium Mid-range Phones

The Chinese tech giant OnePlus, known for its “flagship killer” smartphones which, as of late, are priced the same as most other flagships, has finally launched the OnePlus Nord, one of the most awaited smartphones of the year. Nord is the company’s first serious attempt at a mid-range smartphone after OnePlus X.

Despite being launched at a price considerably lower than other OnePlus smartphones, Nord still carrier a couple of features seen in OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro launched this year.

Design and Display

Although Nord comes as an alternative to the more expensive and maxed-out smartphone, it still poses as an attractive and well-designed handset. Aesthetically, it slightly differs from all the OnePlus smartphones launched to date. The OnePlus Nord comes with a glossy back finish somewhat like the OnePlus 8 Pro with a quad-sensor rear camera on the left.

It features a slightly smaller 6.44-inch AMOLED display with 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 408 PPI pixel density, 86.7% screen-to-body ratio, and 90Hz refresh rate.

Internals and Storage

The main compromise with Nord was made under the hood. It is powered by the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC. However, for day-to-day usage, users will not see any visible difference. As Carl Pei, OnePlus CEO said:

We didn’t take the plunge until now because we felt like the technology wasn’t really ready to deliver a good experience. Now we finally feel like technology, especially the processor, has matured to the level where we can deliver the same experience that consumers have come to associate with OnePlus: [a] fast and smooth experience in a mid-range package.

Memory wise, the smartphone will come in two variants:

• 8 GB RAM + 128 GB onboard storage
• 12 GB RAM + 256 GB onboard storage

The software front is handled by OxygenOS 10.0 flavored Android 10.

Cameras

The OnePlus Nord comes with a quad-sensor camera setup at the back featuring a 48 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide-angle camera, a 2 MP macro camera, and a 5 MP depth sensor. This is technically one more sensor than what we saw in OnePlus 8 yet the main sensor is similar to the OP8, i.e., 48 MP Sony IMX586. The compromise here was made with the wide-angle camera, which has half the resolution of the OnePlus 8’s.

As far as the selfie cam is concerned, OnePlus is breaking ground here. The mid-range smartphone comes with a 32 MP snapper paired with an 8 MP sensor featuring a 105-degree field of view, something OnePlus has never attempted before.

Battery and Pricing

The smartphone packs a 4115 mAh battery which is only a tad bit smaller than the 4,300mAh battery in OP8.

Initially, the OnePlus Nord will be made available for sale in Europe and India by 4^th August. The Chinese tech giant also plans on conducting a limited beta launch in the US. The base variant costs £379 / €399, while the maxed-out variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage costs £469 / €499.

OnePlus Nord Specifications

• CPU: Octa-core (1×2.4 GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1×2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 475 Silver)
• GPU: Adreno 620
• Chipset: Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G (7 nm)
• OS: Android 10.0, OxygenOS 10.0
• Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G
• Display:

• • Fluid AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 6.44 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio, 86.7% screen-to-body ratio, 408 ppi density, 90Hz refresh rate

• Memory:

• • RAM: 8 GB, 12 GB
  • Internal: 128 GB, 256 GB

• Camera:

• • Primary: 48 MP + 8 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP
  • Secondary: 32 MP + 8 MP

• Connectivity: LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Fingerprint scanner: Yes (In-display)
• Battery: 4115 mAh
• Price:

• • 8 GB RAM + 128 GB ~£379 / €399
  • 12 GB RAM + 256 GB ~ £469 / €499