On July 21, 2020, OnePlus announced its brand new budget phone series, the OnePlus Nord. Prior to the official release, OnePlus had been teasing on social media platforms about how the OnePlus Nord would represent a “New Beginnings” for this relatively young company. Well, the “New Beginnings” may have been promising already with the OnePlus Nord.
The original OnePlus One took the smartphone industry by a storm as it packed flagship specs while undercutting competitors by a significant margin. However, over the years, OnePlus has developed and marketed its devices more towards the premium territory, hence leaving many OnePlus fans doubting where the company is going.
Well, the OnePlus Nord may have just filled the void left by its own predecessors, as it packed decent hardware with one of the best software in the market.
Specification
- CPU: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 765G 5G mobile platform
- GPU: Adreno 620
- RAM: 8GB/12GB LPDDR4X
- Storage: 128GB/256GB UFS2.1
- Battery: 4115 mAh (non-removable)
- Warp Charge 30T fast charging (5V/6A)
- OS: Operating System: OxygenOS based on Android™ 10
- In-display fingerprint sensor
Display
- Size: 6.44 inches Fluid AMOLED
- Resolution: 2400×1080 pixels 408ppi
- Refresh Rate: 90 Hz
- Cover Glass: Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
Camera(rear)
- 48 Megapixels Sony IMX586(main)
- 8 Megapixels Ultra wide-angle lens
- 5 Megapixels Depth lens
- 2 Megapixels Macro lens
Camera(front)
- 32 Megapixels Sony IMX616
- 8 Megapixels Ultra Wide Angle Lens
Why does the OnePlus Nord Matter?
The smartphone industry has matured over the years as manufacturers only bring incremental upgrades to its flag devices. The same “incremental” doesn’t apply to the price though as $1000+ devices have become norms nowadays.
The only device that got so close to being the “budget king” was probably the Google Pixel 3a, but if we take away that crazily good Google camera, where would the device fall? To make things worse, Google has massively delayed the Google Pixel 4a(if it will ever be released), the smartphone industry is desperately in need of a new “budget king”.
The OnePlus Nord delivered, in just the right amount of everything: a fairly capable chipset with even 5G capability; same camera system as the OnePlus 8; 90 Hz AMOLED display; Warp Charge 30T to enable one of the fastest charging time; modern design and finish; Oxygen OS is one of the smoothest, even when compared to Google’s own Android flavor-and, all of these starts at £379(around $480).
Unfortunately, the OnePlus Nord isn’t made available to North America yet, as the company does plan on releasing other budget devices to NA under the Nord lineup.
Buyers who are interested in the OnePlus Nord will have to wait, just for now. However, don’t be surprised if you see some Nord devices popping up on eBay or Aliexpress.
