ONEPULS NORDCE3 REVIEW

 

ONEPLUS NORD CE 3 5G DETAILED REVIEW

The OnePlus Nord CE series of smartphones has been a popular choice for users since its launch. It benefits from the trust in OnePlus as an OEM, it is always a cheaper option when compared to the Nord series, and these smartphones often don’t sacrifice too many features to cut down costs. The OnePlus Nord CE3 5G is priced at ₹26,999, a sweet spot in the price-conscious Indian market, servicing users who want a performance champ without breaking the bank. However, competition in this price segment is rife. 

So, even though the OnePlus Nord CE3 brings numerous improvements compared to its predecessor, fierce competition in the mid-range segment may diminish its popularity. It competes with options such as the Realme 11 Pro+ (review), Samsung Galaxy F54 (review), Moto Edge 40 (review), POCO F5 (review), and iQOO Neo 7 (review) – all of which inhabit the ₹25K-₹30K price segment. Does the Nord CE3 shine amongst these competitors, or does it fade out

 of view? Let’s find out

ONEPLUS NORD CE3 5G REVIEW: BUILD AND DESIGN

All of the 2023 lineup of OnePlus Nord phones look strikingly similar. From the ₹19,999 OnePlus Nord CE3 Lite (review) to the ₹33,999 OnePlus Nord 3 (review) – one would find it difficult to distinguish between these phones at first glance. While all three look similar, do not mistake this for a glass rear panel like the Nord 3. The Nord CE3 Lite comes with a polycarbonate back panel in two colourways – Aqua Surge and Gray Shimmer. The former is a glossy design while the latter sports a more metallic look. I got the former for review.

The glossy back picks up a lot of fingerprints and smudges and just looks cheap when compared to the likes of the gorgeous Motorola Moto Edge 40 and the Realme 11 Pro+ with their premium leather backs. The buttons on the sides are nice and tactile and the flat display has slim bezels, but overall, this doesn’t compete against the new grain of mid-range smartphones that come with elevated build and design for the price..

The phone’s rear panel has rounded edges which is comfortable to hold, but the back panel is a bit too slippery. Thankfully, OnePlus has provided a stellar-looking case in the retail box. Alongside an 80 W SUPERVOOC charger with the iconic red cable. The Nord CE3 is heavier than the CE2 at 184 g, but the weight is well-distributed. There’s even an optical under-display fingerprint sensor included that works decently well. The phone is rated IP54 but once again, the Moto Edge 40 has it beat with an IP68 rating

there’s no fatal flaw in the build of the OnePlus Nord CE3 5G, but there’s nothing that stands out as well. 

ONEPLUS NORD CE3 5G REVIEW: DISPLAY

If I had to applaud some aspects of the OnePlus Nord CE3, the display would definitely be one of them alongside the battery (which I will talk about later). The phone houses a 6.7-inch Fluid AMOLED panel with a Full HD+ resolution and a 20.1:9 aspect ratio. There’s 120 Hz refresh rate, 2160 Hz PWM dimming, 10-bit colour depth, and HDR10+ support, making this a very capable display.

The display looks stunning with good colour reproduction, solid levels of detail, and fantastic viewing angles. HDR content on YouTube looks stellar, but unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t identify the screen as being HDR-capable. The phone’s display is also very bright; I recorded 948 nits of peak brightness outdoors on Auto-Brightness. So, you shouldn’t face any sunlight screen legibility issues as the display is plenty bright for outdoor viewing. .

The 120 Hz refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling when you’re searching for apps or settings. Oddly, apps such as YouTube and Chrome default to 60 Hz when scrolling which can appear rather janky after the smooth scrolling experience in the UI. I hope OnePlus can fix this issue via an OTA update, but I am not keeping my hopes high since the same issue was present in the Nord 3.

Nevertheless, the content consumption experience is great coupled with the Dolby Atmos-enabled stereo speakers. These speakers sounded full, warm and got pretty loud, which is definitely an above-average performance at this price.

ONEPLUS NORD CE3 5G REVIEW: PERFORMANCE

Mid-range smartphones in 2023 are giving flagships a run for their money, so the OnePlus Nord CE3 has a lot to prove in that regard. Long story short, it performed well, but it is nothing exceptional. The OnePlus Nord CE3 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 782G chipset (which is a slightly improved Snapdragon 778G+ SoC). My review unit came packing 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage, with an option to expand it via microSD card. There’s also the RAM Expansion feature that sets aside a predetermined portion of your internal storage as Virtual RAM, allowing for slightly better multitasking abilities.

In benchmarks, the OnePlus Nord CE3 performed admirably well, but it never astounded us as some of the latest mid-rangers did. We’re talking about the likes of the iQOO Neo 7 and the POCO F5 which only cost a few thousand bucks more, but offer performance that’s truly a class apart. The OnePlus Nord CE3, on the other hand, offers reliable performance across the board. In AnTuTu, the phone scored 6,50,000+ but it was soundly beaten by the iQOO Neo 7 and POCO F5. In GeekBench, we saw the POCO F5 beat the OnePlus Nord CE3 in both Single Core and Multi-Core tests. The performance was comparable to that of the Realme 11 Pro+ and Samsung Galaxy F54.