OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G makes lower mid-range segment interesting

OnePlus is having a good year. After delivering a dependable flagship phone a couple of months ago, the company is back with a lower mid-range device, which interestingly takes the fight to Redmi. It’s in a category that Redmi dominates. Many will buy the phone because it’s from OnePlus, which has, over the years, garnered a reputation for being dependable. The company gets it more or less right with OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G.

Feels good in the hand

When you walk into an electronic store, many will show you videos about how this or that company is doing well in the under 20K segment. Ask them for this OnePlus device. It has a big 6.72-inch 120Hz display, stereo speaker setup and a beefy 5,000mah battery with fast charging and a very capable 108MP Samsung HM6 camera sensor.

Perhaps the first reason that will attract you to the phone is the design. The bezels are slender and the back has a glass-like finish even though it’s all plastic, which helps to reduce weight. We have the lime-colour unit for review. The rear panel can collect fingerprints but the colour is such that most of these won’t be visible.

You are getting a display with reasonably slender bezels surrounding it. The phone has a dual camera housing that may remind some of the Minions. Being a lower mid-range device, don’t expect an IP rating. Coming to the software, you get Oxygen OS 13.1 on top of Android 13. Even though it’s a big phone, it won’t feel uncomfortable in the hand.

In case you are used to OnePlus phones, you will be at home with this one and the layout is what you have already seen before. There are some apps that you may not use, like Prime Video, Spotify, YouTube Music and Netflix. But the section that takes points away from the phone is the Hot Free Games folder. It’s unnecessary.

For storage, there are two models —128GB and 256GB (both with 8GB RAM) — and it’s good to see companies move away from 64GB. There is a micro SD slot in case you need more space.

The IPS LCD panel has FHD resolution, so pictures are crispy and the display is bright enough. OnePlus has gone with a stereo speaker setup — it’s helpful for those who stream a lot of movies on the phone. And there is an ultra-volume mode that takes volume to 200 per cent. That’s loud without sacrificing too much clarity. A brownie point for OnePlus — the headphone jack has been retained.

On the performance front

OnePlus has gone with the tried-and-tested Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, which supports most games at high frame rates and graphic settings. You can even play games like Genshin Impact if the graphic settings are kept under check. I had no issues going through apps that we usually use and the 240Hz touch sampling rate helps gamers.

And now the elephant in the phone — the camera. I have mixed views here. The 108 MP camera is very good; you get the Samsung HM6 sensor but there is no ultra-wide mode, something budget and lower mid-range phones are doing away with it. The depth and macro cameras are just about okay. To get the best shots, you can shoot at full 108MP and then crop in. At night, the phone does better than most budget phones with picture-binning technology coming to your rescue. Also, video is capped at 1080p@30fps. For those who don’t capture too many videos, this is acceptable.

Should you buy it?

Anyone looking for a budget phone will be impressed by this device, especially the battery life it offers, thanks to the 5000mAh battery. Also, there is a good charger in the box but the cable is USB-A to USB-C, which should have been USB-C all the way. But the processor is well-tuned and the phone stays cool most of the time. It’s good to see that OnePlus Nord is taking on Redmi. OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G has made the lower mid-range segment interesting once again.