Over the years, the Nord series from OnePlus has acquired a loyal audience. The Nord smartphones craftfully bring together unique design concepts with exciting camera systems at a relatively affordable price. This works for a large majority of casual users who don’t need to put their smartphone through power-intensive tasks. However, this year, the new OnePlus Nord 5 is checking all the boxes and coming for the power enthusiasts as well. Equipped with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset under its hood, the Nord 5 seeks to match the performance of dedicated gaming smartphones in its segment. OnePlus has retired the 128GB variant of this smartphone, and its 256GB model undercuts the price of its corresponding Nord 4 counterpart by Rs 1,000. Here is our review of the OnePlus Nord 5 after using it for a week.
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In This Article
OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the OnePlus Nord 5’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- 80W power adapter
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- Silicone cover
- SIM ejector
- User guide
After experimenting with an all-metal body on the Nord 4, OnePlus has switched back to a glass panel on the Nord 5. The ‘Marble Sands’ unit we used for this review has a velvety texture with a very nice in-hand feel. The OnePlus logo embossed at the centre of the panel has a contrasting glossy texture. The marble pattern exudes a shine when light falls on it. The pill-shaped vertical camera panel is encased in an alloy rim. We like that it isn’t too flashy or extravagant. The Nord 5 comes in two other colours: Dry Ice and Phantom Grey.
The plastic frame houses the volume keys and the side button on the right edge. The new Plus key from the OnePlus 13s (our review here) makes its debut on the Nord series, replacing the iconic Alert Slider. The SIM tray, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and primary speaker are placed at the bottom. Up top lie the noise-cancelling microphone, secondary speaker, and IR blaster.
The 6.83-inch AMOLED display has a 144Hz refresh rate and can hit a peak brightness of 1,800 nits while playing HDR content. In High Brightness Mode, it can hit 1,400 nits, maintaining its legibility in bright outdoor conditions. The 144Hz refresh rate has to be unlocked manually for apps that support it. The touch response of the display is exquisite. The surrounding bezels are slim and uniform on all sides. While the fingerprint sensor uses an optical unit, it is fast and snappy.
During the review period, we used the OnePlus Nord 5 as our primary media streaming device. The wide 1.5K display produced brilliant images that packed vibrant colours and amazing detail. The deep blacks of the AMOLED panel made all the difference in the punchiness of the image quality. The dual speaker setup produced a loud and well-rounded audio output.
In terms of protection, the OnePlus Nord 5 rocks the Gorilla Glass 7i for the display. It can ward off scratches when the smartphone is placed in pockets with loose change. The IP65 dust and water resistance is slightly behind the benchmark for the segment. You can use the smartphone for a short while while it’s drizzling, but a prolonged dip in water may damage its internals.
OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the OnePlus Nord 5 is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset. It is the first Nord series smartphone to rock a chipset from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 family of processors. There are 3 RAM (LPDDR5X) and storage (UFS 3.1) on offer:
- 8GB + 256GB: Rs 31,999
- 12GB + 256GB: Rs 34,999
- 12GB + 512GB: Rs 37,999
Here’s how the OnePlus Nord 5 performed in AnTuTu and Geekbench 6 benchmarks:
- AnTuTu: 1,403,153
- Geekbench 6: 1,906 (single-core) | 4,793 (multi-core)
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC puts up a brilliant display when it comes to routine usage. The chipset is able to handle everyday tasks like audio and video calling, instant messaging, web browsing, navigation, and media streaming really well. Even though the smartphone uses UFS 3.1 configuration storage, which is slower than UFS 4.0, the speed does not take a massive hit. The haptic motor produces well-tuned vibrational feedback, which makes the device all the more fun to use.
The Nord series isn’t typically known for gaming, but that changes with the Nord 5. This smartphone supports a 144fps frame rate for Call of Duty Mobile, BGMI, and Garena Free Fire Max. The gameplay is smooth and lag-free. There are no frame drops to be seen. The 7,300mm² VC cooling system does a phenomenal job of dissipating the internal heat. The Bypass Charging feature limits heat generation while you’re gaming and charging the phone at the same time. While playing Call of Duty Mobile, we noticed that the back panel warmed up slightly after the half-hour mark, but it was nowhere near warm enough to be a problem.
OS duties on the OnePlus Nord 5 are handled by the Android 15-based OxygenOS 15. OnePlus has promised 4 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches for this device – the same as OnePlus 13 (our review here). The software experience is consistent with the OnePlus 13 series. The new Plus key changes the sound profile by default. You can program it to trigger functions like Mind Space, Do Not Disturb, Camera, Torch, Recorder, and more.
The Mind Space is one of the best additions to OnePlus AI. It captures the content on the screen as a ‘Memory’ and uses AI to summarise and analyse it. When a Memory is saved, Mind Space suggests the actions you can take based on the captured content. Read our deep dive into the feature to learn how you can use it.
Other OnePlus AI features like Call Assistant, AI Reply, and AI Editor work really well. AI VoiceScribe generates subtitles for videos and calls in real time and can record and transcribe your virtual meetings. It is a great concept, but the final product needs more work.
The OnePlus Nord 5 uses a massive 6,800mAh Si/C battery pack – the biggest on a OnePlus smartphone yet. With light to moderate usage, this smartphone can last 2 days on a full charge. After racking up 6-7 hours of screen time on the device, we were left with a 20% charge at the end of a day of heavy usage. During the review period, we used the smartphone for tasks like video calling, media streaming, photo editing, navigation, gaming, and web browsing. The 80W power adapter provided in the box was able to fully charge the smartphone in 50 minutes.
The rear camera panel of the OnePlus Nord 5 rocks a 50MP Sony LYT-700 main sensor and an 8MP ultrawide lens. The 50MP ISOCELL JN5 selfie sensor is nestled inside a punch-hole cutout on the display.
The 50MP primary shooter captures great images in outdoor daylight conditions. The pictures showcase vibrant colours and tasteful dynamic range. The smartphone doesn’t go overboard with processing the images, and maintains their natural look. In limited lighting conditions, the Night Mode in the Camera app does a great job of artificially lighting up the shot and removing the noise.
The images taken with the 8MP ultrawide lens are a tad soft, but their colour profile makes up for it. The vibrant colours exuded by the images are consistent with the main sensor. However, in limited lighting conditions, the results are dim and grainy.
The portrait shots taken by the OnePlus Nord 5 are vivid and well-focused. The smartphone does a great job separating the subject from the background and applying a tasteful background blur effect. The 50MP front-facing camera captures great selfies packed with a lot of detail. The skin tone and texture correction effects are muted for a more natural look. The primary shooter and the selfie camera can record 4K videos at 30 and 60fps. Meanwhile, the ultrawide lens can shoot 1,080p videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
OnePlus Nord 5 is one of the most complete smartphones in its segment. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset is a game changer for the Nord series, finally giving it gaming cred. This device checks all of the boxes for a midrange smartphone. It flaunts a bright and smooth display, a clean design, a tremendous software experience with above-average support, a versatile processor, a big battery that supports fast charging, and a great set of cameras. There aren’t any big tradeoffs on this device, which is surprising when you realise that it undercuts the price of the corresponding Nord 4 variant by Rs 1,000. The Nord 5 is our easiest recommendation in the sub-Rs 35,000 price bracket.
OnePlus Nord 5: Pros
- Big display
- Cool design
- Powerful processor
- Plus key
- Big battery
OnePlus Nord 5: Cons
- Lacks IP67 rating
