OnePlus has been known to deliver flagship-level phones sans the high price.
Its latest offering—the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is no different, and more.
Design
Our Misty Green unit (the other one available is the Tempest Gray) looks stunning with its mirror-like and very glossy Gorilla Glass back, that is nice to hold, although may be too slippery for some.
The Nord 3 5G is 16.20 cm long, 8.15 mm thick and weighs 193.5 gms, which, to me, is just right, not too big, nor too small.
As is typical for OnePlus phones, there is three-position slider on the side control for notification alerts.
The Nord 3 5G comes with a USB-type C port at the bottom with a dual-speaker setup, 2 microphones and a dual-SIM functionality. It also packs a power button on the right, and an optical fingerprint scanner that is swift to unlock.
Display
The Nord 3 5G has a 6.74-inch, 1.5K super AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate and 1,450 nits of peak brightness, which means you can somehow still manage to see the screen even under the sun.
The thin bezels give the phone a more premium look, to go with its 450 pixels for every inch of screen that is sharp, and with good contrast.
Its screen also boasts of a 10-bit color depth and 100 percent of DCI-P3 and sRGB, making viewing multimedia content a nice experience. OTT apps also look vivid on the phone, as it supports Widevine L1 and is HDR-10+ capable for amazing color accuracy.
Performance
Now we’ve come to the exciting part.
Powering the Nord 3 5G is the high-end octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 9000, a huge upgrade from the Dimensity 12, 1300 in previous models, making this OnePlus gem one of the best performing phones in its price bracket, if not the best.
Daily tasks such as emails, video and music streaming, calls and other multi-tasking chores are a breeze, while gamers will be extremely happy as heavy gaming is not a problem, without any major lags or frame drops.
The phone supports dual-5G with Wi-Fi calling, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6, while also boasting of a top-of-the-line 16GB RAM to go with 256 GB internal memory, with UFS 3.1 storage speed that transfers data more than 75 percent faster. There is, however, no no option for memory extension.
The phone’s dual-speaker system, which are High-Res and Dolby Atmos compatible, can be loud, but still clear, with a nice bass for a great immersive experience.
Software
The Nord 3 5G is powered by OxygenOS 13.1, making app installations faster and reducing app lag and loading time. One feature exclusive to OnePlus is swiping down on the home screen provides you not only with a global search, but also more space for widgets. There are also some specific clock-style widgets for the home screen, too.
Battery
Battery life is excelleny with the Nord 3 5G’s 5000 mAh juice as our unit lasted more than a day. Charging time is swift, too, as it took only 16 minutes from zero to 60 percent and 32 minutes from zero to 100, thanks to the 80-watt SuperVOOC fast charger.
Camera
The camera is also a strength of the Nord 3 5G, which has a flagship-worthy 50 megapixel main camera that shoots hi-res photos, with plenty of detail, no noise, high contrast, balance and image range. This is due to its Sony IMX890 Main Sensor shooter with a large 1/1.56” sensor that allows more light and optical image stabilization. It’s the same sensor used in the flagship OnePlus 11 launched earlier this year.
The main camera is paired with an 8MP ultra wide shooter and a 16 MP selfie cam—all of which supports a 4K 60fps video quality that works great for vlogging, content creation and documentation, producing videos with good clarity, dynamic range, exposure and vivid colors that millennials and Gen Z users will love.
In low-light conditions, the Nord 3 automatically applies night mode to photos.
Verdict
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G does a little bit of everything nicely—a powerful processor, high-end display with accurate and vivid colours, excellent battery life with superfast charging and a camera that can go toe-to-toe against flagship biggies. The dual-speaker setup also is a plus.
By giving users a smartphone with a premium performance that won’t burn holes in your pocket, the Nord 3 5G is a solid mid-range titan that should be high on the list of even the most discriminating.