The Android smartphone market is now teeming with 5G
devices. After a first phase of diffusion of the standard, dedicated to the
high-end, many compatible models have now arrived, even at low cost. In this
context, companies can concentrate properly on the user experience, aiming to
make the commercial proposal more solid, in all respects. A smartphone that
embodies this philosophy is OnePlus Nord CE 5G , sold at a starting price of
329 euros on the official portal (8 / 128GB), but which can already be found on
Amazon Italy for 299 euros .
The variant that we have tested in recent weeks, however,
costs 399 euros (12 / 256GB). We analyze the product, trying to understand where
it falls among the myriad of solutions available.
Plastic that doesn't look like plastic
OnePlus has always had that extra touch in terms of design
and in fact even the Nord CE 5G represents an elegant solution. Sure, this
isn't anything revolutionary, but the Blue Void coloring is sure to make the
backcover stand out . The rear body in fact, despite being in plastic, is
finished properly.
The manufacturer has worked very well and you hardly notice
the fact that the smartphone is made of polycarbonate . Furthermore, at least
in the variant we tested, the color becomes darker on the sides, ensuring an
excellent visual effect and highlighting the back of the device. In any case,
we remind you that the Silver Ray and Charcoal Ink colors are also available .
At the top left there is a triple "traffic light"
camera, a little protruding, but nothing transcendental. At its side the LED
flash, while on the front we find a panel with a hole for the camera positioned
at the top left. As for the unlocking methods, there areboth the in-display
fingerprint sensor and the classic facial recognition . By now these
technologies have reached a certain degree of maturity and you will hardly have
problems with the unlock speed.
On the right side of the smartphones the power button peeps
out, while at the top there is a microphone. The left sides, on the other hand,
houses the buttons to raise and lower the volume and the trolley for the SIM in
dual nanoSIM configuration. Absent the classic slider to silence the smartphone
, but after a while you get used to it.
At the bottom we find the speaker, USB Type-C port, second
microphone and 3.5 mm audio jack for headphones. The latter will certainly make
a certain type of user happy, but the real point in favor of OnePlus Nord CE 5G
is its featherweight, just 170 grams. The dimensions of the model are equal to
159.2 x 73.5 x 7.9 mm and give the smartphone a handling that is difficult to
find in many other solutions: this is certainly one of the major strength of
the device.
The equipment supplied with OnePlus Nord CE 5G includes a
30W charger , a USB Type-C / USB Type-A cable, a convenient transparent cover,
the pin for extracting the SIM compartment and various manuals, including an
indication relative to the SAR values, which are 0.99 W / Kg for the head and
1.28 W / Kg for the body. For the rest, the press kit also includes four
additional covers in Blue, Purple, Creme and Black. You can find more
information about the latter on the official OnePlus website : the price is
generally set at 19.99 euros.
how to put videos in reverse
No problem in everyday use
If the eye also wants its part, in the world of smartphones
at the center of everything is the user experience in everyday life and OnePlus
Nord CE 5G does not disappoint. Under the bodies there is the Qualcomm Snapdragon
750G processor flanked, in our model, by 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of
non-expandable UFS 2.1 internal memory.
Performance does not disappoint expectations. This is an
excellent mid-range smartphone and the benchmark data this time describes the
situation better than a thousand words: 367,232 points on AnTuTu Benchmark, as
well as 637 points in single-core and 1824 points in multi-core on GeekBench.
In short, this is not the best performing device on the market but not the rear
either.
The classic daily operations can be carried out properly
while we have found some limitations in gaming, as we will see in detail below.
Either way, a 4,500mAh battery is supporting its brute strengthwith which you
always arrive safely in the evening, but those who make an intensive use will
not reach the fateful second day. Net of this, the 30W recharge is fast and
allows you to get several hours of use in the face of a few minutes of
charging.
Arriving at the display, we find a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED
panel with Full HD + resolution , that is 2400 x 1080 pixels, hole for the
camera and refresh rate up to 90 Hz. It is a good panel, bright and with
well-calibrated colors. . We are not in front of the best display on the
market, mind you, but in its range it also defends itself in an excellent way
in viewing multimedia content. In this context, there is no shortage of
Widevine L1 DRMs, which allow you to view movies and TV series in Full HD on
platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video .
Present appeal the classic features customizable Always On,
which has been around for some time now on OnePlus devices. The mono audio
sector is average, both in terms of maximum volume and general quality. In
short, the multimedia department is not bad.
On the back of the smartphone heads a triple 64MP camera
with f / 1.79 aperture on the main sensor + 8MP (f / 2.25, ultra-wide, 119
degrees) + 2MP (f / 2.4, mono). On the other hands, a Sony IMX471 16MP selfie
sensor with f / 2.45 aperture peeps out. Videos can be recorded up to 4K / 30
fps resolution but, for good stabilization, it's probably best to stop at the
default option, which is 1080p.
During the day the photos come out well thanks also to
artificial intelligence and in contexts where there is a good amounts of light
the smartphone can offer shots that will be pleasant. The real limitations of
the photographic sector of a medium range such as OnePlus Nord CE 5Ghowever,
they are noticeable at night. The digital noise is in fact marked and the
special "Night Scene" mode is able to improve the situation, but it
cannot work miracles. The maximum zoom that can be reached digitally is limited
to 10x, but it is better to stop at 2x, also recommended by the interface for
social use. The wide-angle photos, on the other hand, come out well.
The least convincing aspect is probably the front camera,
whose quality is only decent. If you want to takes a look at the shots taken by
the Nord CE 5G, you can find some uncompressed photos in our Drive folder
dedicated to OnePlus Nord CE 5G .
Nothing can be said about the smartphone in terms of
connectivity: in addition to 5G, there is no lack of support for NFC, Bluetooth
5.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac and Dual SIM . In short, everything that
is generally asked by users is present.
The software is complete and plays well overall
We know the operating system well, it is Android 11 with
Oxygen OS 11 customization . At the time of writing, the security patches are
up to date in June 2021.
This interface offers several additional features. The
design is pleasant and the addition of the always-on Ambient display has
certainly pleased many users. The customization offered by OnePlus is one of
the most fluid on the market and also on the Nord CE 5G is not denied, thanks
to the increased refresh rate of the display.
Interestingly, the company has unveiled the type of support
it wants to give to the smartphone : two major releases of Android and three
years of security updates. For the rest, still remaining in the software field,
there is also the interesting "Games" application. The latter acts as
a hub for the titles installed by the user and also allows you to obtain
statistics relating to playing time, the most played title and battery usage.
Once in-game, however, it is possible to activate a special
panel that allows you to perform the classic operations, from opening WhatsApp,
Instagram or Telegram in Picture in picture to activating the "Gioco
Pro" mode, passing through the registration of clip. The latter tries to
avoid possible distractions to the user and improve the gaming experience in
general.
As for the tests carried out in the field, Fortnite runs as
it should with Medium presets at 30 FPS, while COD Mobile can be played with
details and FPS on Very High(or with FPS on Max and details on High). ARK:
Survival Evolved instead runs well with the High preset, although in some
contexts we have found some drops and therefore for a smoother experience
setting the details on Medium may be more adequate. It is worth opening a last parenthesis
on temperatures: in some cases we have reached high values, but it must be said
that this is nothing transcendental. However, if you play often, you will
sometimes feel the heat on the body.
