I have to admit, since day one, OnePlus was really good at one thing; and apparently that was marketing and overhyping their products. It was pretty much the same case with the much-anticipated OnePlus Nord as well. It was so much over hyped; people pre-ordered the OnePlus Nord even without seeing it or knowing its specifications. And I thought, everyone learned their lessons after blindly pre-ordering the Fallout 76. Then again, who am I to judge them? But I can clearly judge the OnePlus Nord for all of its flaws; which puts it in a category of smartphones that you should not invest your money in.
The Bend Gate is Back!
One of the main selling points of the OnePlus Nord is clearly the buttery smooth 90Hz AMOLED display, which should be able to provide stunning viewing experience for most. Plus, at this price range, its actually rare to spot an AMOLED display with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz. This made the OnePlus Nord a rather unique smartphone when compared with most of its counter parts in the same price range. But, it seems, with cheaper price comes greater compromises.
90Hz AMOLED IS GREAT AT THIS PRICE POINT, BUT IS IT WORTH THE RISK?
Recently, in JeeryRigsEverything, a YouTube channel dedicated to testing smartphone durability, Jerry found out the OnePlus Nord isn’t that durable and fails the bend test. Not only it fails the bend test, the AMOLED display gets cracked instantly, rendering the whole OnePlus Nord pretty much useless. After seeing that, I would clearly not recommend the OnePlus Nord to anyone.
A Dragon That’s Actually Not Fast as Hell
The newer Snapdragon 765G is a nice chip, but not as fast as hell as OnePlus advertises it. The 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM base variant of the OnePlus Nord should be going on sale for as low as USD 330 in August. But, for the same price range, Xiaomi is already selling its last year’s flagship killer the K20 Pro, with a Snapdragon 855. In terms of performance, the Snapdragon 765G is no where near the Snapdragon 855. And let’s not forget about the cheaper MediaTek which are giving Snapdragon a run for their money these days. So, for anyone in dire need of raw performance or hitting the glorious 60 FPS mark on most games; the Nord might not be the best buy for you.
NORD FORGOT ABOUT MEDIATEK CHIPSETS AND CHEAPER SNAPDRAGON 855 SMARTPHONES
But one might argue about the availability of 5G on the OnePlus Nord and the Snapdragon 765G; and if you are someone deeply concern about getting a futureproof smartphone with 5G connectivity then you might not need to look further. Because Realme X50 5G, another sub brand of Oppo, offers on par spec with the Nord but costs nearly USD 100 cheaper than its cousin. And from the looks of it, you might be able to find the Snapdragon 765G in most sub USD 250 smartphone within few months. Hence, making the OnePlus Nord a really bad choice.
Only One Good Eye in the Back
The camera segment of smartphones has reached a point, where majority of the currently available Quad-Bayer camera sensors are able to capture equally good images during daytime. They do tend to struggle a lot during night, but more and more brands are shipping their smartphones with night mode to address that issue. That being said, the Nord’s primary camera isn’t much special when you line it up with the rest of the 48 MP camera available on other mid-range smartphones. Only thing which sets it apart is the OIS, a rare feature on a mid-range, it surely helps with video stability. But, that’s about it. That’s where the praises for its cameras end.
IF YOU WANT TOP NOTCH CAMERA VERSATILITY AND QUALITY, LOOK ELSE WHERE.
The Nord might have the best pair of selfie cameras you can find on any mid-range smartphone, but on the back it’s a different story. Other than its primary camera, the ultra-wide is a typical one which you can find in almost every single mid-range available. And let’s not go any deeper into the rather useless Macro and Depth sensing cameras. To sum it up, the camera is just average and when compared to few other available choices, will fall short significantly.
I clearly don’t hate the OnePlus Nord. Its actually a nice smartphone on paper. But, when I compare the pros and cons of the smartphone, it’s very hard for me to recommend this to anyone. Every major smartphone maker has a skeleton in their closet and it seems the Nord might be OnePlus’s.