OnePlus has really been on a roll this year — starting off with flagships such as the OnePlus 11 and then the OnePlus 11r, on to the mid-range Nord segments that includes the Nord CE3 Lite and now the Nord 3. Let’s see if this mid-ranger really stands out.
Design
Smooth in hand, the OnePlus Nord 3 I received had a pleasant Misty Green finish — although you can opt for a more predictable Tempest Grey as well. The display spans 6.74 inches across, and I love the ample real estate. The rear is almost fully reflective — doubling up as a good-enough mirror. That also brings its (un)fair share of smudges that take away from how elegant the phone looks otherwise. One can’t miss the two rather large camera modules on the top left corner. A bit more subtlety in their presence wouldn’t hurt. On the right bezel is the power button and the beloved alert slider, while the volume rocker is on the left.
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is IP54 rated too which means the device is protected from limited amounts of dust and some water spray. You’re safe if you’re caught in the occasional downpour for a short time, but it might not survive a dip in the pool.
The brightness levels are sufficient both indoors and outdoors, and watching media is fairly pleasurable on the Nord 3. Watching the Korean romcom What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? was a delight on the smartphone, which also feels lightweight despite weighing193 grams. The volume on the speakers is sufficiently loud however the overall sound quality isn’t exactly well-rounded. The bass suffers a bit on both music and dialogues, with overall acoustics tending towards being treble-heavy.
The display has a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz and catching up on reading as well as casual gaming on the smartphone was a breeze. There’s an IR blaster mounted on top of the smartphone which comes handy when you’re too lazy to look for the remote.
Camera
The OnePlus Nord 3 boasts the same Sony IMX890 primary sensor as the flagship OnePlus 11, although with the Hasselblad collab. It has a 50 megapixel sensor alongside an 8 megapixel ultra-wide camera. Photos taken outdoors are clear and well-saturated. Most times, I chose to have HDR turned off and this resulted in really vivid visuals. Sometimes the HDR tends to overexpose or oversaturate the stills. With up to 2x optical zoom, the results are decent enough with not too much noise. Beyond 4x is where details start getting lost in the frame captured. There’s also a 2 megapixel macro sensor which leaves a fair bit of room for improvement, with its focus being inconsistent on most macro shots.
The 16 MP selfie camera delivers some lovely results in terms of clarity, skin tones and colour saturation. In portrait mode, the bokeh effect is not as pronounced as I’m used to by now. Videos recorded on the Nord 3 were pretty sharp. Image stabilisation works well in videos taken on the move and OnePlus has also included AI-based noise reduction to improve the overall quality.
Tech Specs
The OnePlus Nord 3 features the latest Oxygen 13.1 operating system. The upgrade includes an improved Zen Space which I personally love. There’s a Deep Zen mode which helps me tune out digital noise by letting me only receive calls and make emergency calls. If this sounds a bit drastic for your liking, then you can try out the customisable ‘Light Zen’ mode.
I’d also turned on Work mode while trying to finish this copy, with an auto-timer and access only to limited Google apps — Calendar, Drive, Assistant and Google One. Even to access the home screen I’d have to, only if I quit Work mode. There’s also thankfully almost no bloatware on booting.
The OnePlus Nord 3 runs on MediaTek Dimensity 9000, a fairly capable processor found in smartphones such as the OPPO Find N2 Flip as well as the Vivo X80. There is a whopping 16 GB RAM in this mid-ranger, which can be boosted by another 4 GB with the RAM-Vita functionality. Special focus has been given to lure gamers in with a larger vapour chamber cooling area to help keep the phone cool during long gaming sessions. In my experience there were no heating issues with the phone.
Battery
There’s a massive 5,000mAh dual-cell battery powering the smartphone. With light usage, the phone stayed on for almost two days before I had to plug it in. Even on days with more screen time and video calls, it easily kept me company for more than a day. OnePlus, as usual, ships a 80 W SUPERVOOC charger in the box. Charging times were superfast — I never had to wait for more than 30 minutes for a full charging cycle to complete.
Verdict
At its price, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is a great value for money. Yes, you might not get an impeccable camera but if that’s not a priority for you, the smartphone has enough packed in to earn its keep. A powerful-enough processor, ample RAM, decent camera setup and impressively fast charging will manage to keep most consumers happy, and help them look past the minor drawbacks.
