The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is a mid-range smartphone that was released in early this month. It has a powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, and a triple-camera system. I have been using this phone for more than three weeks and lets find out what I think it.
What’s In The Box?
You get the phone, a red USB-C cable that you need in order to use the 80W SuperVOOC charging capability, a charger (luckily OnePlus still chooses to include a charger with their phones), a thank you card, a safety guide, and a quick guide. Unfortunately, there’s no free case included with the phone, so you have to get one yourself.
Design and build
The OnePlus Nord 3 has a sleek and stylish design. The body of the phone is made of plastic, while the front is protected by Dragontail Glass and the back is Gorilla Glass 5. Despite the use of plastic, it still feels premium and well-made on my hand. The phone is available in one colour here: Misty Green.
The Nord 3 is a bit on the heavy side, weighing in at 193.5 grams. However, it is still comfortable to hold and use. The iconic OnePlus alert slider is here as well, but I don’t see myself using it often. It is still a nice feature to have.
This phone has an IP54 rating and it offers limited resistance against dust and water. It would be nice if the rating is higher, but it’s better than having no IP rating at all. Just remember don’t go shower or swimming with this phone.
Display
The Nord 3 has a 6.74-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1240 x 2772 pixels. The display can get very bright, as OnePlus claims it has up to 1,450 nits of brightness, so outdoor use is absolutely not an issue. There are four screen colour modes you can choose from. You can select whether you want the screen to be colour-accurate or have very vivid colours that pop.
The display is also very responsive with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,000Hz touch response rate, which makes it great for playing games and general daily usage.
Performance
The OnePlus Nord 3 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, which is one of the most powerful mobile processors on the market. The phone is also equipped with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, sadly without expandable storage. The phone is fast and responsive, and it can handle even the most demanding tasks with ease.
I can play Genshin Impact at the Highest settings very well, but it couldn’t stick to 60fps in most of the time, switching between 40 to 60fps in the most demanding situations. For a more consistent experience, don’t run it at the max settings. Besides that, Call of Duty Mobile ran without a hiccup at Low settings, sticking to 90fps 99% of the time.
Audio
The OnePlus Nord 3 has a stereo speakers setup, with a main speaker at the bottom and a secondary speaker at the top. The speakers support Dolby Atmos, and they produce clear and loud sound. The bass is not as deep as on some other phones, but it is still present. The overall sound quality is good for a midrange phone, and it is suitable for watching videos, listening to music, and playing games.
However, it would have been better if OnePlus had chosen to include a 3.5mm headphone jack with this phone. I think the reason they chose not to do so is because they are pushing people to adopt true wireless stereo (TWS), as they also launched a new TWS with this phone.
Camera
The Nord 3 has a triple-camera setup. The main sensor is a optically-stabilised Sony IMX890 50MP, which is one of the best in currently and it is joined by an 8MP ultrawide sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. The front-facing camera is a 16MP sensor.
The camera setup takes great photos in most conditions. The main camera takes sharp and well-detailed images in good lighting conditions. The colours are vibrant, although slightly oversaturated. The dynamic range is also good, and the camera is able to capture a wide range of tones in a single image.
The ultra-wide camera is also capable of taking good images, but the quality is not as good as the main camera. The images are not as sharp, and the dynamic range is not as good.
The macro sensor is underwhelming and rather useless, to be honest. The phone says you should be 4cm away from the subject, but it is difficult to judge how far I’m supposed to be. The photos I took are rather unpleasing and not worth the time I spent taking them.
The selfie camera takes good selfies in good lighting conditions. The colours are accurate, and the skin tones are natural. The dynamic range is not as good as the main camera, but it is still good enough for most people and for posting on social media.
In terms of videography, the Nord 3 can record up to 4K 60fps video from the main camera. The video quality is good, but not exceptional. The colours are vibrant, and the dynamic range is good. However, the video is a bit soft, and there is some noise in low-light conditions.
Battery life
The Nord 3 has a 5,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging support and it comes with a charger (unlike other brands). The battery life on this phone is excellent. The phone can easily last a full day on a single charge, and it can be fully charged from 0 to 100% in around 32 minutes.
Software
The Nord 3 runs on OxygenOS 13.1, which is based on Android 13. OxygenOS is one of the best Android skins on the market, and it is clean, fast, responsive, and bloatware-free. The optical under-display fingerprint sensor works very well and was able to register my thumbs 9 out of 10 times.
OnePlus said they will provide three major OS updates and four years of security updates for this phone. This is a major plus for the phone, as there are more expensive phones out there that barely get any support.
Is It Worth Your Money?
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is a great smartphone. It has a powerful processor, a great display, a good camera system, and excellent battery life. At RM2,199, I think OnePlus strike a good balance between price and performance. If you are looking for a powerful and affordable smartphone, then the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is a great option.
