'Budget' here means it falls under the price bracket of
₹30,000. In this review, I won't delve into technical specifications as you'd likely already know them. We'll discuss the build quality, how the performance holds up after 2 years, the battery life after 2 years, any software changes, and then the display—whether it's up to today's phone standards or not. I'll cover all these aspects in this review and do let me know in the comments which long-term review you'd like to see next.
1. Design & build quality
You all must know how the design is in this, what materials have been used, Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back, a plastic frame in between for cost-cutting purposes. But, even after 2 years, 2.5 years, my phone is still intact because of the lightweight and slight disorganization in this phone due to its plastic build. Yes, this phone is made of plastic, hence it's prone to dents on the frame if it falls. My phone, despite being flat, didn't suffer much damage when it fell on its back. However, a friend of mine also has the
OnePlus Nord; their phone fell from the top of a fridge, about 5 or 6 feet high, and the back panel cracked significantly because of the glass. Glass will break if your phone falls from a normal height of 2-3 feet. My phone has been used for over 2 years, and still, it's fine. The OnePlus Alert slider is present here, a feature that was missing in the budget phones like the ones priced at
₹30,000,
₹35,000,
₹40,000. It seemed as if OnePlus had removed the Alert sliders, as seen in the
OnePlus 10R and
10T. This is a characteristic of OnePlus, and I believe this should be included in their future Nord phones too. One thing was missing here because there were no stereo speakers, only a single main speaker that didn't sound too loud for me the first time, although it has decent quality. The bass is also a bit lacking, so it might not be as enjoyable. If you use wireless devices, it's not much of a problem, but it reminded me that there's no headphone jack here. That was a bit of an issue; you'll have to depend entirely on Bluetooth connections.
2. Display
The display was 6.44 inches, and I quite like the in-hand feel of this phone considering today's standards. Nowadays, all phones are heading towards 6.6 or 6.7 inches, which makes this feel quite compact. I've mentioned that the display of this phone feels compact and good in hand. However, there's an issue – it had a 90Hz refresh rate, which doesn't make the phone as snappy. But, due to the performance of the Snapdragon 765G, the phone still feels smooth. You won't miss the 90Hz much; it's not a big problem as I generally use 120Hz. Surprisingly, I like this 90Hz and find the performance snappy even after two years. This OnePlus Nord can compete well with today's phones, particularly in terms of its display, as it supports HDR10 and doesn't have any issues with outdoor brightness. There's a slight decrease in brightness outdoors, but it's not significant enough to cause problems in bright sunlight; you might just need a slight shade. Another thing I noticed is the auto-brightness; right from the start, a friend's OnePlus Nord had issues, and even now, this phone has slight problems with auto-brightness. In the price bracket of
₹20,000 to
₹25,000, many brands skip providing an in-display fingerprint scanner, but OnePlus did include it, and it works well. It's a snappy phone; there's no major issue except occasional minor ones. Almost all phones these days can compete with its display, as it's HDR10 certified and offers vivid L1 certification for high-quality content. The display quality is quite good due to the use of a high-quality panel, offering deep blacks and proper color calibration for its price. OnePlus did a good job at that time; I don't know if it's still as good with any updates they might have given. OnePlus has been doing this for a while, and I haven't faced these problems with my Nord. The display quality is definitely on par with today's standards. If you're looking to buy a phone in the ₹20,000 price range, you might get a phone with 90Hz but with a TFT or LCD display. If you accidentally get an AMOLED, the chance of getting a high refresh rate is quite low there.
3. Software & O.S
"So, brother, this phone is on Android 12, and Android 13 has been released. This phone initially came with Android 10; OnePlus provided two major updates up to Android 12. However, after reaching Android 12, they left it. Talking about security patches, the latest one received is the January 5, 2022 patch. So, you'll get a total of 3 years of security patches.One advantage of being on Android 12 is that this phone hasn't fully transitioned to ColorOS; it still retains OxygenOS to some extent. Meaning, OnePlus started transitioning to ColorOS towards the end of Android 12. When Android 13 arrives, it will entirely be ColorOS. In Android 12, you'll get some OxygenOS theming, etc. As of now, it seems like in the settings, you're experiencing a mix of OxygenOS and proper OxygenOS.In my opinion, software-wise, it's still a decent phone. I believe it can last for another 1 to 1.5 years. I have the 12/256GB variant, which is still performing quite well.
4. Camera
Did you know that even at that time, the camera of the OnePlus Nord wasn't that great, and even after updates, it's still not that impressive. I can say the camera works but not exceptionally well. If we compare it to phones ranging from
₹20,000 to
₹22,000 today, it has a decent camera but nothing extraordinary. OnePlus didn't aim for such a good camera, even though they had a 48MP sensor on paper. The photos didn't seem that good to me; there were some issues with exposure, mild HDR, and oversaturated colors. Yes, that was a problem, but not a major concern. They also provided an 8MP ultrawide camera where the color shift is noticeable; the photos become soft, and there are quality issues. Let's not talk about the macro sensor; the selfie camera had decent quality. According to me, in this price bracket, OnePlus didn't target the camera well."
5. Battery
Another concern was the battery life of this phone when it was launched. It had a 4115mAh battery back then, but now, after 2 years, the battery has likely degraded. At that time, the phone used to give a maximum of 5 hours of screen-on time, but now it's around 4 hours or so. The battery life isn't as good anymore. However, you get a good 30W Dash Charger in the box, so the phone charges well with Dash Charging, taking about 1 to 1.5 hours for a full charge due to the smaller battery size. The charging speed was decent back then, but the battery life might be a bit reduced, in my opinion. If you're a heavy user, your day might not last, but with light usage, it shouldn't be a major issue. Also, 5G has been introduced. I've conducted speed tests, and the speed is decent, not exceptionally high but good. However, when using 5G, expect higher battery consumption.
Conclusion
So, even after 2 years, this phone is still good. It got a bit of a new color OS, not entirely made because Android 13 hasn't arrived yet. Still, it competes easily with phones in the price range of ₹20,000 to ₹22,000. The performance is quite good for a year, maybe one and a half. It will smoothly last for at least a year, until maybe Android 13 or 14 comes. There are some lags, and the camera is slightly delayed. Some have 90Hz, some 120Hz, but you get a good AMOLED display somewhere. It should last at least a year until a new Android update arrives. Hopefully, OnePlus will provide an update to fix issues like the line on the screen. That would make it even better. Apart from that, let me know in the comments which phone's long-term review I should do. Many suggested Nord, and I did it. If you liked this review, do share. Bye bye!
November 11, 2023
November 11, 2023
