OnePlus Nord CE 3 Review: A Promising Mid-Range Phone

OnePlus debuted its highly anticipated OnePlus Nord CE 3 smartphone in India last month, alongside the Nord 3. It significantly increases over the previous year’s Nord CE 2, since it features a better display, quicker SoC, better camera, a larger battery, and faster charging. Is it worth the price? Let’s go into the review to find out.

The Nord CE3 5G is the latest addition to OnePlus Nord series. The Nord CE3, which was announced alongside the Nord 3 in India, has some substantial advancements over last year’s Nord CE2. For example, it includes a new and enhanced display, a faster CPU, a better camera, a larger battery, and faster charging.

ONEPLUS NORD CE 3 KEY FEATURES

The Nord CE3 is OnePlus’ third and likely last Nord phone for 2023. Following the Nord 3 and the Nord CE 3 Lite, the Nord CE3 falls somewhere in the middle, combining features from both and arguably offering the best value.

The Nord CE3 is closer to the Nord 3 than the CE 3 Lite. It uses the same camera technology, battery, and charging method as the more expensive model. Even the dimensions are largely similar. The display is also AMOLED rather than LCD, albeit with a somewhat lower resolution. However, like the Lite model, the Nord CE3 has a plastic casing and, regrettably, no alert slider.

The chipset is the most important differentiator between the three phones. The Nord CE3 is powered by a Snapdragon 782G processor, which is not as powerful as the Nord 3’s Dimensity 9000 but is an improvement over the Lite’s Snapdragon 695.

Priced about in the center of the two other Nord phones, the Nord CE3 could be the best of the bunch. Let us see how it performs.

ONEPLUS NORD CE 3 UNBOXING

The Nord CE3 comes in the normal OnePlus Nord black packaging, which distinguishes it from the red boxes of regular OnePlus phones.

The 80W SUPERVOOC fast charger comes with a suitable red charging cable that supports USB 2.0 data transfer speeds. The packaging also includes a matching blue silicone case and some Nord stickers.

CAMERA

The phone features the same camera configuration as the Nord 3. The camera interface in OxygenOS 13.1 is familiar. The pro mode includes RAW support, Extra HD, Panorama, Macro, Flim, Slo-mo, Time-Lapse, and Dual-View video. There is a Bokeh Flare portrait option for photographs, but no filters for videos. The back camera outputs 12.5MP after pixel binning, while the front camera photos are 16MP in size.

Daylight photographs turned very great thanks to the 50MP sensor, and the dynamic range improved with auto HDR. There is an AI mode that recognizes various photo scenarios and automatically adjusts camera settings to enhance the colors. 2X is fine, however as you zoom in, you lose detail, even though you can zoom up to 20X. The portrait mode is adequate, but the 2MP macro camera is ineffective, so it is recommended to utilize 2X with the standard camera.

Low-light images are excellent, with plenty of detail and minimal noise. The night mode is useful, although it takes a few seconds to operate. There’s also a tripod mode. The front camera also performs well in daylight. The bokeh images are good, with decent edge detection.

It can capture films at up to 4K 60 fps, slow motion 1080p at 120 fps, 720p at up to 240 fps, and 1080p at 30 fps via the front camera. The main camera’s ultra-wide camera shooting, Portrait video mode, and HDR / AI Highlight video are all limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second.

There are two options: OIS and EIS, both of which perform well, however, EIS is limited to 1080p. There is an ultra-steady mode, which is limited to 1080p at 60fps.

It comes preloaded with OxygenOS 13.1, which is based on Android 13. It includes the Android security patch for June 2023. The phone will receive two Android updates and three years of security patches, comparable to prior CE series phones. OxygenOS 13 introduces Aquamorphic design, intuitive iconography, a new card-style layout for the UI, Smart AOD, Large Folders, dynamic home screen widgets, and more.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

The Nord CE3 has the same design as the Nord 3, with a few minor modifications. The phone has a simple design on the back that looks like any other smartphone in this price range—it isn’t the fanciest one on the block that shimmers or changes color at different angles.

OnePlus provides the Nord CE3 in two color options: Aqua Surge and Gray Shimmer. My unit is in the former. While I don’t mind if the pattern is dull, I’d choose the Gray Shimmer colorway over the Aqua Surge any day because it’s more subtle, complements the material, and looks nicer in my opinion.

Speaking of materials, this is where the Nord CE3 differs from the ordinary Nord 3. It is entirely constructed of plastic, unlike the Nord 3, which has a glass back. The phone’s shiny back makes it a touch slippery in your hand, but you can use the supplied case to improve grip. It’s a high-quality case that’s color-matched, well-made, and features lips around the front to protect the phone’s screen. Congratulations to OnePlus for this move.

The Nord CE 3 features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display on the front. OnePlus did an excellent job of keeping the bezels on the Nord CE3 to a minimum; while the chin is marginally larger, it is scarcely apparent.

The Nord CE3 display features an FHD+ (2412 x 1080 pixel) screen resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 240Hz touch sampling rate. It’s a 10-bit display that supports the P3 color gamut. The PWM dimming feature is particularly useful for reducing screen flicker in low light conditions, which helps to lessen eye strain.

I appreciate the pricing display on the Nord CE3. It’s sharp, colorful, and easy to read outside. It is set to utilize the Vivid color profile by default, but if you prefer delicate colors, you can modify the screen color mode and temperature. Unfortunately, you do not receive the Pro mode option that is available on other OnePlus devices.

Additionally, the display supports HDR10+. It works well with YouTube without overpowering the brightness. OnePlus also has HDR boost, which converts SDR films to HDR, although I found it unpolished.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

This is one of the first phones to be powered by the Snapdragon 782G 6nm Mobile Platform, which improves GPU and CPU performance over the 778G and 778G+. This has a Qualcomm Kryo 670 CPU, which boosts speed up to 2.7 GHz compared to 2.5 GHz in the 778G+. Adreno 642L GPU claims up to 10% quicker graphics rendering than 778G+. The other parameters stay the same.

It includes four A78-based Kryo 670 Performance CPUs clocked at 2.7GHz and four A55-based Kryo 670 Efficiency CPUs rated at up to 1.80GHz. The Adreno 642L GPU provides seamless gaming performance, even in graphically heavy games. The phone gets a little warm during active gaming or when capturing 4K films for an extended period, but it does not get too hot.

The phone features a 4129mm² vapor chamber cooling space and uses materials like graphite to keep it cool.

We saw no problems or frame drops while playing graphically taxing games such as COD, BGMI, and Genshin Impact. Indoor Wi-Fi testing yielded a maximum of 40º, however outdoor 4G performance may differ. That being said, check out the synthetic benchmark scores below.

]In terms of battery life, the phone has a 5000mAh (typical) built-in battery, which is up from 4500mAh in the Nord CE 2. It lasted me more than a day with a mix of Wi-Fi and 5G connectivity and twin SIM cards. I received more than 4 and a half hours of screen time after nearly two days of use, largely on Wi-Fi and at 120Hz. The phone supports 80W SuperVOOC Charge, as opposed to 65W on the CE 2. With the included 80W charger, it can charge up to 50% in 13 minutes and 100% in roughly half an hour.

There is a new battery health option that displays battery capacity. There are 15 temperature sensors and a custom charging chip, so the phone offers 1,600 full charging cycles, which is similar to fully charging and draining the OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G every day for four years.

Buy it if...

• Stunning AMOLED display with fast refresh rate
• Capable three-camera setup with wide-angle and macro lenses.
• Fast performance and plenty of storage options
• Beautiful design with a sleek glass back.
• Timely software updates and a tidy interface

Don't buy it if…

• There are no official IP ratings for water resistance.
• There’s no headphone jack or wireless charging support.
• Limited availability in specific regions.

FULL SPECIFICATION