OnePlus Nord 3 5G is just that good; best of Nord-series so far [review]

OnePlus Nord collection was began as a method to get smartphone customers onboard the OnePlus ship whilst its flagships bought increasingly more premium, price-wise. After many iterations, the Nord has advanced right into a model of its personal as shoppers discover many worthy choices whereas buying smartphones on a finances. Continuing the streak of success, the newly-launched Nord 3 makes fairly a splash within the mid-range phase, making it arduous to disregard in 2023.

OnePlus Nord 3 builds on the OnePlus’ success formulae of strong design, nice battery, clean efficiency and dependable cameras. Touching base on all of the necessities, the Nord 3 provides extra as competitors grows from rivals like Xiaomi, Poco, iQoo, Samsung and even Apple to an extent. But the query stays, is the OnePlus Nord 3 5G worthy of being your subsequent selection for a main smartphone. We have the reply.

Before we get to that, here is a have a look at the important thing specs of the OnePlus Nord 3 5G:

1. Display: 6.74-inch 1.5K SuperAMOLED show, HDR10+, 120Hz, 1450 nits
2. Camera: 50MP IMX890 OIS sensor with 8MP 112-degree wide-angle and 2MP macro sensors
3. Selfiedigital camera: 16MP
4. CPU: 4nm Dimensity 9000 octa-core chipset
5. RAM: 8GB/ 16GB LPDDR5X
6. Storage: 128GB/ 256GB UFS 3.1
7. OS: OxygenOS 13.1
8. Battery: 5,000mAh with 80W SuperVOOC
9. Add-ons: IP54, HyperBoost engine, GPA Frame Stabiliser, Zen Space, Zen Mode, O-Relax
10. Weight: 193.5 grams

Price: Rs 34,999/ Rs 37,999

Design and show

OnePlus is aware of remarkably nicely the right way to impress with design. The Nord 3 does just that. It’s fairly a premium design for a mid-range telephone, mild on eyes, nonetheless very sensible. The materials design feels nice in hand, the flat body provides the aesthetics. OnePlus despatched us the Misty Green variant, which has a shiny glass again, protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Yes, it is a fingerprint magnet, however nothing a case would not repair. If that’s nonetheless a priority, OnePlus provides Tempest Gray shade – that ought to repair it.

OnePlus Nord 3 will get every part OnePlus is good for, all the best way all the way down to the Alert Slider. The energy button is on the best, quantity controls on the left, the USB Type-C port sits between SIM card tray and stereo speaker grille, which is one other aesthetic pleaser. The whole bundle is sealed tight to get IP54 certification for mud and water resistance.

OnePlus Nord 3’s digital camera module on the again is streamlined, with two equal-sized digital camera modules holding three sensors and two LED flash modules in addition to every module. The uniformity that OnePlus has given right here is visually pleasing, just like the remaining of the telephone.

Turn over the telephone and we see a 6.74-inch show, which is brighter and smoother than what we have seen in different Nords. It will get as vivid as 1450 nits and the refresh charge peaks at 120Hz, superb for these clean animations all the best way. But that’s not all. The bezels have been additional trimmed, they’re barely there. The show helps HDR10+ assist for these high quality streaming in your favorite OTT. From gaming to multimedia, the Nord 3’s show is crisp, vibrant, and vivid, even for a sunny Sunday afternoon. The digital camera cutout would not get in the best way of any content material.

What’s stunning is that the Nord 3 show makes use of a Asahi Dragontrail Star and never Gorilla Glass 5 just like the rear panel. Rest assured, the Nord 3’s design and show is a beneficial one.

Camera

It’s not usually we get to see main upgrades within the cameras of mid-range telephones. We like what we see within the Nord 3 although. A triple digital camera setup, however the weight is carried by the first 50MP IMX890 sensor. Though the 8MP ultra-wide sensor is a welcome, the macro sensor is not as helpful. A monochrome or a depth sensor would’ve made extra sense.

As the primary sensor does the heavy lifting, the outcomes are spectacular. The 50MP fundamental digital camera shoots very well in daylight and within the night time as nicely, capturing good mild, pure colors with a contact of vibrancy in colors. Shooting in low mild additionally produced good outcomes. The images did not lose the depth of the colors, but in addition picked up some noise, which is not noticeable at a look. In excessive low mild circumstances with ultra-wide mode, the noise is evident. But the software program optimisation is arduous at work to enhance the tip outcomes. The portraits got here out very nice, compensating for any shortcomings with the midnight photographs taken in ultra-wide mode. The outlining is correct with a superb depth impact, even with no devoted sensor. There are some filters and we discovered the B&W filters helpful, so a lot so, we did not miss the third sensor. In truth, we would not have missed the macro sensor if OnePlus just went with two sensors. But it is the outlook and fairly comprehensible.

The selfies taken with the 16MP sensor had been crisp and vibrant, somewhat too sharpened to present a way of readability.

Check out some unedited digital camera samples beneath:

Performance

OnePlus Nord 3 is powered by Dimensity 9000 chipset, which additionally powers the OnePlus Pad – a mean machine. We had little reservations concerning the efficiency after utilizing the OnePlus pill. The Nord 3 comes with 16GB RAM, which might be expanded by one other 12GB from the storage as Virtual RAM – a function which has grown fairly standard and works nicely.

OnePlus Nord 3 upholds the OnePlus fame in phrases of efficiency. The telephone performs very nicely, be it gaming or every day utilization. The clean efficiency mixed with 120Hz refresh charge makes it a super mixture. Playing video games is additionally a delight. Don’t anticipate flagship-grade expertise, however for a mid-range telephone, the Nord 3 does fairly nicely. We tried out Undawn and BGMI and each video games labored easily with out lags or body drops. On a every day foundation, the telephone did not run into any points, no lags or stutters so far as nicely.

OnePlus Nord 3 runs OxygenOS 13.1 out of the field, which is primarily based on Android 13. The best half, amongst different issues, is the zero bloatware. The customisation choices are all there – break up display, good sidebar, themes, digital wellbeing and parental controls, and so on. The software program assist on Nord 3 ensures consumers get until Android 16 whereas safety updates might be offered for 4 years.

OnePlus has under-display fingerprint sensor, which works as supposed. The face unlock is additionally swift to unlock, however we select fingerprint sensor for higher safety. The stereo speaker is fairly loud, appropriate for gaming and even streaming. But that’s the Nord-USP anyway.

Battery

OnePlus Nord 3 packs a sizeable 5,000mAh battery and there is 80W charger within the field. The improved battery dimension does add some further life. For every day utilization, the telephone can final an entire day. This is with reasonable use, with 5G, GPS, 120Hz refresh charge. But with high-performance utilization, the telephone can not maintain up that lengthy. But the 80W charging velocity is a boon. It can cost the telephone in beneath one hour. There’s sensible charging function, which is a should for many who depart their telephones plugged in in a single day.

Verdict

OnePlus Nord 3 5G is a strong bundle. This is the telephone that will get the fundamentals proper in a grand trend. It provides every part you may ask for in a mid-range telephone – good efficiency, nice design, first rate cameras, dependable battery with tremendous quick charging and vivid show. If we’ve to nitpick, OnePlus might get some enhancements within the digital camera and software program areas, however nothing an excessive amount of to complain about. For the worth, OnePlus Nord 3 is actually a superb telephone.