OnePlus Nord 5 evaluate: selfie-centric midranger

The OnePlus Nord 5 does precisely what the corporate’s Nord telephones have at all times performed: ship sturdy specs at a comparatively low value. It’s one of many extra highly effective telephones at this value level and will simply outstrip Samsung and Google’s costlier alternate options.

This can be a function-over-form cellphone, one the place the important thing promoting factors are a robust processor and lengthy battery life, that are the boring mainstays that are inclined to matter essentially the most in midrange fashions like this. The issue for the Nord 5 is that different midrange telephones within the markets the place it’s out there — together with Europe and India, however not the US — provide even quicker chipsets and larger batteries, leaving the brand new OnePlus cellphone somewhat stranded and reliant on an above-average selfie digicam to assist it stand out.

Efficiency sits on the coronary heart of the Nord 5 gross sales pitch. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset was designed for costlier telephones than this, albeit when it launched somewhat over a yr in the past. Mixed with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage within the base £399 / €449 (round $530) mannequin, and 12GB RAM and 512GB storage for £100 / €100 (round $125) extra, it affords potent specs for the worth.

That lends itself effectively to gaming, which explains why OnePlus has opted for a show that’s huge, shiny, and quick: a 6.81-inch OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh fee. I’m nonetheless skeptical about such excessive refresh charges in telephones — few video games are ever going to interrupt previous 120fps anyway. OnePlus says it’s repositioned the antennae to carry out higher when the cellphone’s held in panorama mode for gaming, although producers have been touting that type of work for years.

Battery is the opposite half of the efficiency equation, and the 5,200mAh capability right here is sweet, too. I spent my first week with the cellphone touring (which is how I found one annoyance: there’s no eSIM help), which is at all times demanding on energy, and by no means felt a lot battery anxiousness. It’ll final a day comfortably, and about midway right into a second, however I believe you’d battle to make a full two days and not using a top-up. The 80W wired charging delivers a full cost in 45 minutes, together with bypass charging that powers the cellphone instantly, with out overcharging the battery, in case you needed to maintain it plugged in throughout lengthy gaming periods. The main concession to cost is that there’s no wi-fi charging.

The issue is that for all that energy, this isn’t essentially the most succesful cellphone at this value level. The Poco F7 is barely cheaper than the Nord 5 and comes with a greater chipset, greater battery, and quicker charging. The OnePlus cellphone wins on refresh fee, however that’s hardly sufficient to make up for being comfortably much less highly effective elsewhere, that means the F7 remains to be prone to hit larger body charges throughout demanding video games. Anybody in search of gaming efficiency at the beginning will seemingly be drawn to the F7, so what can the Nord 5 provide elsewhere to make up the distinction?

Probably the most distinctive factor of the {hardware} is the Plus Key, a brand new button that replaces OnePlus’ conventional Alert Slider. This can be a customizable key that, by default, does the identical factor the Alert Slider did — it allows you to cycle between ring, vibrate, and silent modes. Nevertheless it can be set to open the digicam, activate the flashlight, take a screenshot, and extra. It’s not totally customizable, although, so you possibly can’t set it to open any app or set off customized capabilities.

The Plus Key can be used to take a screenshot and add it to Thoughts Area, an AI software that analyzes pictures to summarize them, create reminders, or generate calendar occasions. It’s remarkably much like Nothing’s Important Area, which does virtually the identical factor — additionally utilizing a devoted {hardware} key — however not like Nothing’s model, you possibly can’t add voice notes to provide the AI extra info, get summaries of longer audio recordings, and even open Thoughts Area itself utilizing the Plus Key, so OnePlus’ tackle the software program is extra fundamental.

There’s little else to complain about on the software program facet. The Nord 5 ships working OxygenOS 15, primarily based on Android 15, and can get a decent (however actually not category-leading) 4 years of main OS updates and 6 years of safety help. One additional bonus is simple wi-fi file-sharing between the cellphone and a Home windows PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone, although you’ll want to put in the O Plus Join software program on the opposite machine — and sadly, there’s no help for the complete Mac distant management discovered on the OnePlus Pad 3.

OnePlus has made an uncommon selection by prioritizing the cellphone’s selfie digicam, which includes a 50-megapixel sensor that’s bigger than the common selfie cam. I’m not a pure selfie-taker, however the outcomes are good and full of element. They’re not markedly higher than rivals in regular lighting, however that’s as a result of most cellphone cameras now deal with daylight comfortably. The portrait mode is the one small weak level, struggling to separate the strands of my hair more often than not. However this digicam comes into its personal at night time: the massive sensor and quick f/2.0 aperture serving to the Nord 5 to seize spectacular element at midnight, when most different selfie cameras crumble. If you happen to want a cellphone to seize you and your crew on nights out and at dimly lit dinners, this may be the one.

The principle 50-megapixel rear digicam is sweet however not nice. It struggles with fast-moving topics like pets and children, and also you’ll want a gradual hand to get nice pictures at night time, however that’s all typical for telephones at this value. Colours are typically somewhat oversaturated and synthetic from this lens; the 8-megapixel ultrawide is extra subdued however loses rather more element in shadowy spots.

The Nord 5 faces stiff competitors on each side. You could possibly spend much less for extra energy with the Poco F7 or spend £100 / €100 (round $125) extra for Google’s Pixel 9A for comfortably higher cameras, more durable water resistance, and extra years of software program help.

The Nord 5 isn’t a foul cellphone. Nevertheless it’s unclear what its distinctive promoting level is. OnePlus has leaned into energy and efficiency, but it surely has been outplayed by Poco. The Pixel 9A, whereas costlier, beats it on digicam and design. Even its devoted AI button is finished higher elsewhere, for much less, within the Nothing Cellphone 3A. The Nord 5’s finest hope for locating an viewers is its selfie digicam, which is best than every other cellphone round it, at the very least in low mild. However as promoting factors go, that seems like a minor one.

Pictures by Dominic Preston / The Verge