It has been a year since Onplus Nord was released; the phone was critically acclaimed and received fairly good reviews. The Nord series is Oneplus’s attempt to take back the mid-range market again, which seems to be coming true with the release of OnePlus Nord CE. CE stands for Core Edition and according to Oneplus all the core aspects that make Oneplus phones are put together into this series at a much affordable price. So the only question that is left now is whether this smartphone is lost in the midrange crowd or it stands out. In this OnePlus Nord CE review, you will get everything that you must know about this phone.

oneplus nord ce

Brand NameOnePlus
Model NameNord CE 5G
Release DateJune 11, 2021

OnePlus Nord CE: What Core Experience Do You Get?

Oneplus Nord CE is a phone that targets the user experience on a day to day usage. It is a phone that promises to deliver you more than your expectations at a comfortable price. The mid-range segment of the smartphone market is the most competitive segment. There are numerous devices from a lot of known brands. So what makes OnePlus Nord CE your pick and what are those Core Experiences that this phone brings. Let’s find out.

oneplus nord ce

1. Design and Build

Dimensions159.2 x 73.5 x 7.9 mm (6.27 x 2.89 x 0.31 in)
Weight173 g
BuildGlass front, Plastic frame, Plastic back
Color AvailabilitySilver Ray, Blue Void, Charcol Ink

As soon as you lay the phone in your hand you will find that the phone is quite light, slim, and compact as compared to Nord. The phone features a minimalistic and elegant soft matte back design. The reason why the phone is light is because of its Plastic build, but do not worry it is very high-quality plastic and feels very premium. The phone is round around the corners and curved around the back. All in all the phone gives you a very premium-like feel.

oneplus nord ce

Talking of the buttons and ports, at the bottom of the phone, you get a speaker grill, microphone, and thankfully a 3.5mm and a Type C charging port. On the right, you get a power button, on the top noise-canceling microphone. On the left, you get a sim card tray and volume buttons. One sad thing to know is that you will not get an alert slider like all the other Oneplus smartphones.

2. Display Build

Refresh RateFluid AMOLED, 90Hz (1080p)
Display Size6.43 inches, 99.3 cm2 (~84.9% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution and Density1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~410 PPI density)

When you turn on the screen you will instantly find that the colors are bright, punchy, and colorful; which certainly means that it is an OLED display. The size of the display is 6.43 inches which are pretty satisfying considering the compact size of the phone. The screen-to-body ratio is again very impressive; the side and top bezels do not take any extra space.

oneplus nord ce

Furthermore, this OLED display also features a 90 HZ Fluid refresh rate, and combined with the Oneplus Oxygen OS the smoothness of the software is top-notch. So in the Display department, the phone will not let you down in any way.

3. Performance and Gaming

SOCQualcomm SM7225 Snapdragon 750G 5G (8 nm)
CPUOcta-core (2×2.2 GHz Kryo 570 & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 570)
GPUAdreno 619
Storage TypeUFS 2.1
RAM TypeLPDDR4X

Most of the smartphones around this budget price range have Snapdragon 732G processors. But thankfully OnePlus Nord CE at its heart runs Qualcomm SM7225 Snapdragon 750G processor which is superior to all the smartphones at its price range. Furthermore, the processor is coupled with the Adreno 619 GPU so you get a very nice gaming experience. As compared to all the other smartphones that have SD 732G processors you get a 20% faster CPU and 10% more powerful GPU.

oneplus nord ce

Talking of scores Antutu gives you a score of 393167 which is the best considering the budget range. Games like PUBG can be easily played at very high settings. The next thing to take about is the Storage and Ram type the device comes the UFS 2.1 which is good and the RAM is LPDDR4X RAM to keep all your apps running while multitasking

4. Camera Quality

Back Camera Setup64 MP, f/1.79
8 MP, f/2.25, 119˚ (ultrawide)
2 MP, f/2.4, (monochrome)
FeaturesLED flash, HDR, panorama
Video4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS
Front Camera Setup16 MP, f/2.45
FeaturesHDR
Video1080p@30/60fps

Now let’s talk about the camera this is one of the most important areas when we talk about today’s smartphones. With OnePlus Nord CE at the back, you get a triple camera setup that has a main sensor of 64MP and it is not a Sony sensor like Nord. The sensor has an aperture of f/1.79. The second Camera is an Ultrawide sensor of 119-degree angle view. The sensor is 8MP and has an f/2.25 aperture. The Setup also includes a 2MP Monochrome sensor with an f/2.4 aperture.

Camera Quality

Talking of the front camera you get a 16 MP Sony IMX 471 senor that has an f/2.45 aperture.

oneplus nord ce

All in all the main sensor captures a very stunning dynamic range and photos in daylight. Most other smartphone cameras in this price range capture very saturated photos but OnePlus Nord CE captures very natural and realistic photos. Every time you take a shot from the main sensor it takes 8 photos at different exposure and combines them to give you some true-to-life and accurate colors.

oneplus nord ce

The same photo quality goes for the Ultrawide too, you get amazing shots with accurate colors. The only small issue is that the pictures come out a little soft if you look closely.

oneplus nord ce

Talking of the front camera Oneplus follows the tradition like all of its other models OnePlus Nord CE has the same camera sensor. That means you get very beautiful selfies without having to worry.

In the Video department, the camera performs very decently also one thing to notice is that there is no OIS with this phone.

5. Software Experience

OSAndroid 11, OxygenOS 11.0.4.4

Now let’s talk about the Software experience. Since it is a Oneplus phone you will get the Oxygen OS based on Android 11. Oxygen OS has a very good reputation and is considered as one of the lightest android UI. The combination of Oxygen OS, 90HZ refresh rate, and an OLED display is unbeatable.

Software Experience

Talking of bloatware applications Netflix is the only application that you get as bloatware, apart from that the phone comes with no bloatware apps. Furthermore, the UI is optimized impressively there are no lags, stutters, or freezes. Ram management is also fantastic.

6. Battery Consumption

Battery4500 mAh

Although OnePlus Nord CE is not a successor to Nord by any means. But when it comes to battery consumption the phone has a larger battery than Oneplus Nord. Since the phone has snapdragon 750G inside it is consumes less power.

Battery Consumption

On day-to-day standard usage, you will be left with more than 25 percent of the battery. If you want to gain more battery life then all you need to do is to put the refresh rate to 60 HZ. With the phone, you get a 30W charger called a Warp charge 30T Plus. The phone can easily be changed from 0-70 percent in 30 minutes.

7. Connectivity and Sensors

NetworkGSM/HSPA/4G/5G
FingerPrintYes, In-display
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
GPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, NavIC
NFCYes
RadioNo
USBUSB Type-C 2.0, USB OTG Support

One of the main highlights of the OnePlus Nord CE is that it supports 5G so you can expect superior signal and call quality. Furthermore, the phone also has an in-display fingerprint sensor. The Fingerprint works accurately and fast. Some other connectivity sensors include Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, and six satellite navigation systems. The phone supports dual 4G VoLTE, along with the 5G connectivity.

Connectivity and Sensors

Comparison With Some Other Brands

The mid-range segment has always been a place for some tough competition. Brands like Samsung and Xiaomi nowadays are leading this particular segment. With the Nord series, Oneplus is creating its own space in the midrange market. Below is a comparison table of some very close competitors of Oneplus Nord CE.

Oneplus Nord ce

Pricing and Offers

By now you have gone through all the important aspects and features of OnePlus Nord CE. Now one of the things that make and sets it apart from the competition is its price. It is truly unbeatable for its price with all the Core features.

If you buy the phone you will get it for $349 for its (8GB+128GB) variant and  $399 for its (12GB+256GB) variant. However, if you buy from Oneplusglobal you get them at an amazing discounted price.

CouponOriginal PricePrice after Coupon
Apply Through Website$349 (8GB+128GB)
$399 (12GB+256GB)
$299 (8GB+128GB)
$349 (12GB+256GB)
NORDCE169 ($300-160)$349 (8GB+128GB)
$399 (12GB+256GB)
50pcs Half-price OnePlus Nord CE

OneplusGlobal is a Oneplus authorized official seller which is known for providing smartphones at discounted prices. The seller even claims that if any of their devices is found fake you will get 5 times the compensation. Below are all the exciting offerings from Oneplusglobal.

  1. 50pcs Half-price OnePlus Nord CE, Use Half Code(NORDCE169 ($300-160))during
    summer sale(6.21 0:00PST)
  2. The first 500 orders of smartphones during the summer sale will get a Oneplus Blind box
    gift (Oneplus Nord CE / Oneplus Watch / Oneplus Buds Z / Oneplus gaming
    trigger )
  3. Win free Oneplus Nord CE and Oneplus Emoji box
Final Words:

Oneplus Nord CE is a phone designed to give you a better day-to-day experience. Considering all the aspects of this phone it is a well-rounded phone. This phone might not have a standout feature but surely it does not cut the corners in features as well.

Hopefully, by now you should have a clear idea of what the OnePlus Nord CE is about and is this phone is for you or not. But one thing is sure that as of now in this price range the phone has no competition.

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