Review: OnePlus Nord 3 5G – A Mid-Range Smartphone with Flagship Features

With the Nord, OnePlus has had an interesting mid-range smartphone for a few years. That certainly goes for the Nord 3, a 5G device with a starting price of 449 euros. For that amount, you get various features usually reserved for flagship phones twice as expensive.

The phone makes a strong impression right out of the box. The Nord 3 displays a remarkably “premium” character, with an elegant design, an imposing camera island and undeniably attractive and solid materials. Clever camouflage. Indeed, while the back of the device appears to be made of metal (finished in Tempest Gray) or glass (Misty Green), it is in fact a simple plastic with a glossy coating, whereas the high-end models range often feature a real glass back.

In this price range, it’s hard to do better, provided of course that your phone remains in one piece when it falls to the ground. Even if, ultimately, it is often a matter of luck. Recently, the glass back of one of our flagship phones found itself through deep cracks after a first (impressive) fall, while the device was wearing a cover… True! Moreover, it is clear that the Nord 3 5G also owes its high-end appearance to its similarities with the iPhone 14. Take a good look at the contours, the frame of the same color as the back, the thin button on the side …

Infrared emitter

Another high-end feature of this Android device is the Alert Slider on the right side, a handy slider that allows you to quickly switch between silent mode, vibrate mode, and ringtone. Absent from OnePlus devices for a while, it recently made its return, by popular demand, to the flagship OnePlus 11 and is therefore now also found on this Nord 3. On the upper part of the device, we also distinguish an infrared sensor. Combined with the IR Remote app, it also allows this smartphone to be used as an additional remote control for your television, projector, DVD player or any other suitable device. We were able to easily add our Samsung television and our Apple TV decoder. A little more appreciable than we would rather expect from a more upscale smartphone.

The device is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip, which can also be found in the OnePlus Pad (tablet) we recently tested. Compared to the Nord 2T 5G, the Dimensity chip, equipped with a 3.05 GHz octa-core CPU, delivers over 40% improvement in CPU performance and 58.6% increase in GPU performance ( in other words, better and faster graphics), according to the manufacturer. A feat made possible by an Arm Mali G710 MC10, for the most curious.

OnePlus says the chip’s performance falls between that of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Gen 2 mobile platform. In practice, the Nord 3 is very smooth in every way. Note that the device we tested was equipped with a working memory of 16 GB, a first on a Nord phone. The entry-level model, 100 euros cheaper (449 euros), must be satisfied with 8 GB of RAM and a storage capacity reduced by half: 128 GB against 256 GB.

The impression of speed is also linked to the 6.74-inch screen, which offers a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz (compared to “only” 90Hz on the Nord 2T). For less demanding applications, the phone switches back to 40 Hz thanks to a special algorithm. This helps to increase battery life. For the screen, OnePlus has also opted for a Super Fluid AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2,772 x 1,240 pixels, a density of 450 pixels per inch and support for the HDR10 + standard.

Quick charge

Today, most smartphone (batteries) easily last a whole day. One thing that devices can still tell the difference is how fast the battery charges. OnePlus has definitely not skimped on this point with the Nord 3. The device is therefore accompanied by an 80 W fast charger which can recharge the 5,000 mAh battery from 1 to 60% in just 15 minutes. Charging the battery fully, from 1 to 100%, also takes only 32 minutes.

OnePlus also claims that users can fully charge this device’s battery up to 1,600 times without affecting battery life. Performance will then start to deteriorate but, in practice, that’s four years of daily charging/discharging. Also good to know: bought separately, the 80 W fast charger would cost around 50 euros. This once again shows that the OnePlus Nord 3 offers excellent value for money.

As far as the cameras are concerned, this device is still flawless. Indeed, the main sensor incorporates the same Sony IMX890 chip, with a capacity of 50 megapixels, as the OnePlus 11 5G, currently the brand’s flagship device. The optical image stabilization of this smartphone has also been completely taken over. We no longer had the OnePlus 11 during the test, but we were able to compare the shots with those of a 10T. We immediately notice that the Nord 3 takes better lit (and therefore clearer) photos in darker conditions, without annoying interference.

TurboRAW

Also, when it’s very dark, TurboRAW, an algorithm developed by OnePlus, kicks into action. Basically, the camera takes multiple photos at quick intervals, in different lighting. TurboRAW then combines the best elements of those images into a single shot, which is therefore clearer than a traditional shot.

But what the Nord 3 lacks compared to, say, the OnePlus 11 are filters from Hasselblad, the maker of legendary, and often very expensive, SLR cameras like the Hasselblad 500C and 1600F. It’s about sharp camera setups and color calibrations so that photos, especially portraits, look more professional. Anyone wishing to obtain similar results on the Nord 3 will have to rework their photos with software such as Adobe Lightroom.

Along with the main camera, the Nord 3’s camera island includes an ultra-wide-angle lens (8 megapixels, 112°) for those much-needed panoramic shots, ranging from the skyline to two football teams side by side. side, and a 2 megapixel macro sensor for very close-ups, for example to immortalize flowers or insects. These lenses didn’t make a strong impression on us in the end: the macros are a bit bland and don’t offer the precision that one would expect from such a distinctive lens. This is not surprising, however, when you consider that a high-end device like the OnePlus 11 5G incorporates a 32-megapixel f/2.0 portrait telephoto lens.

The macro photos taken with the OnePlus Nord 3 are not particularly spectacular. To get more detailed shots, you will obviously have to opt for a more expensive smartphone.

Film a 4K

Optically, the Nord 3 appears to have only two cameras, but the wide-angle and macro lenses are brought together in the lower ‘protuberance’ of the island. The protrusions are quite noticeable, but they almost completely disappear when the device is slipped into the correct case. Let’s not forget the two light elements located next to the optics: an LED flash and an “ambient light sensor”, which measures the intensity of the ambient light. As for selfies, this Android phone takes them with a 16 MP front camera.

For video enthusiasts, we’ll also mention that the Nord 3 5G can shoot movies in 4K quality at 60 frames per second, using AI (artificial intelligence) to minimize digital noise as much as possible.

Other notable features of the latest OnePlus phone include an in-display fingerprint reader, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3, and an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance. The Android 13 operating system is enhanced with OnePlus’ in-house iteration, OxygenOS 13.1. Bottom line: On paper, the Nord 3 promises “dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos”, but we found the performance of the built-in speakers disappointing overall.

Conclusion

OnePlus offers a particularly interesting 5G device with the Nord 3 5G. At an average price (not cheap, admittedly, but certainly not prohibitively expensive), the device offers many features that more expensive devices generally have. This is evidenced by the generous memory of the “most expensive” model, the excellent main camera, the included fast charger, the premium design and some handy extras like the infrared sensor that allows the device to be used as a remote control. The few disadvantages (mediocre macros, average speakers), acceptable in this price range, are compensated by the many strengths of the new Nord.

Price and availability

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is available in Misty Green and Tempest Gray. The price of the entry-level model with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage memory amounts to 449 euros. The top model (16 GB/256 GB) has a target price of 549 euros.

2023-08-04 06:12:42
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