The new Nord offering from OnePlus makes some nifty upgrades over its predecessor (our review here). For starters, it is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset and rocks a brighter, smoother display. It also gets flagship-grade IP69/IP69K protection alongside military-standard (MIL-STD-810) durability. But that’s not all. The smartphone also packs a larger battery under its hood. We’ve been using it for the last week to find out if it is the midrange smartphone to beat in today’s market. Here is our in-depth review of the OnePlus Nord 6.

Read Also: Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s set to launch in India next month

OnePlus Nord 6 Review: Design and Display

Box Contents

• Smartphone
• 80W power adapter
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Silicone cover
• SIM ejector
• Quick start guide

The OnePlus Nord 6 follows the design language of the company’s flagship phone, the OnePlus 15 (our review here). The vertical camera cutout from the Nord 5 has been ditched in favour of a square camera island with rounded edges. However, unlike the OnePlus 15, the island has individual cutouts for the primary and ultrawide lenses. The polycarbonate back panel feels a lot like a glass unit. The matte finish keeps fingerprints and smudges at bay. The OnePlus logo is embossed at the centre. The Nord 6 is definitely a looker, but its alignment with the flagship models has killed the spark that made OnePlus’s midrange offerings unique.

The plastic frame houses the volume rocker and the side key on its right edge. The Plus key finds its way to the left edge. At the bottom lie the SIM tray, primary microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille. The secondary speaker and noise-cancelling microphone are positioned up top. The Nord 6 is rated IP68/IP69K for protection against dust and water. It can survive exposure to high-pressure water jets and is immersible up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. This is a big upgrade over the IP65-rated Nord 5. Furthermore, the Nord 6 is also compliant with MIL-STD-810H durability standards, something that its predecessor lacked.

The 6.78-inch AMOLED display is a tad smaller than the 6.83-inch screen on the Nord 5. However, it has a higher refresh rate of 165Hz and has a higher brightness peak of 3,600 nits while playing HDR content. In High Brightness Mode, it can hit 1,800 nits. The display is easily able to overcome harsh sunlight falling on it to maintain legibility. The touch response is smooth and satisfying. The thin, uniform bezels around the display give it a premium look. The optical fingerprint sensor does its job fairly well, even though it is a tier below its ultrasonic counterparts.

Streaming movies and TV shows on the OnePlus Nord 6 is an absolute treat. The 1,272 x 2,772p AMOLED panel supports HDR10+ and relays brilliant visuals with impeccable sharpness. The colours are vivid and punchy. The amazing contrast brought about by the deep blacks immediately takes the viewing experience up a notch. The icing on the cake is the well-balanced audio output produced by the stereo speaker setup.

OnePlus Nord 6 Review: Performance and Cameras

The core of the Nord 6 gets an incremental upgrade with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. There’s 256GB (UFS 4.1) storage on board. The smartphone comes in 2 RAM (LPDDR5X) variants:

• 8GB: Rs 38,999
• 12GB: Rs 41,999

We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the device. Here is how it performed.

• AnTuTu 3D: 2,348,541.
• Geekbench 6: 2,116 (single core) | 6,701 (multi-core)

There’s a notable performance bump on the Nord 6 in comparison to its predecessor. The upgraded UFS 4.1 storage makes the apps load faster and gives a boost to the processing speed as well. Routine tasks like calling, instant messaging, media streaming, navigation, and web browsing are handled expertly. During the review period, we did not come across a single lag or stutter. In everyday use, the smartphone never leaves you hanging for power.

Over the years, the Nord series phones have evolved to become gritty gaming devices, even though they are not marketed as such. The Nord 6 made a great impression on us with 165fps frame rate support on popular gaming titles like Call of Duty Mobile, BGMI, and Free Fire Max. The custom G2 WiFi chip ensured that network-related lag was not an issue. The overall gameplay was smooth and super enjoyable. The 33,147 mm² graphene layer did a decent job of keeping the internal temperature of the device in check, but we did feel warmth along the back panel after the 20-minute mark.

Software duties on the Nord 6 are handled by the Android 16-based OxygenOS 16. OnePlus has promised 4 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches for this smartphone.

OxygenOS 16 is cleverly optimised for a smooth and seamless user experience. Everything from screen transitions to app card animations feels intuitive. The blur effect and contour glow on the notification shade, quick settings panel, and home screen folders elevate the general aesthetics. We’re also very fond of OnePlus’s native Flux themes for the lock screen and home page. There are plenty of customisation options for the Always On Display as well.

The OnePlus AI package one of the finest AI suites in the game. The Mind Space serves as an AI memory manager. You can capture a ‘memory’ by pressing the Plus key once. Once a memory is captured, it is analysed and stored in the Mind Space. The information from the memory is extracted and summarised for your convenience. You can save tickets, passes, and meeting schedules in Mind Space, and direct it to remind you about them whenever necessary. The AI Writer tool in OnePlus AI can ghostwrite your emails, come up with captions for your Instagram post, or even respond to a message. AI VoiceScribe can record, summarise, and caption your calls and online meetings.

The Nord 6 has received a big battery bump with the 9,000mAh Si/C unit. Needless to say, the smartphone can easily last a day of heavy use without needing to be plugged into a charger. If you don’t push the device to its boundaries, you can push it to 2 days on a full charge. With such a big battery, you’re practically carrying a power bank on you at all times. It is for this reason that OnePlus has upgraded the reverse wired charging speed from 5W to 27W. Using the 80W power adapter provided in the box, it takes just over an hour to fully charge the phone.

The camera island of the OnePlus Nord 6 features a Sony LYTIA-600 primary sensor and an OmniVision OV08F ultrawide sensor. This is a downgrade from the Sony LYT-700 and OV08D10 sensors on the Nord 5. Having said that, the general photography experience doesn’t suffer a lot.

The 50MP primary shooter takes good pictures in outdoor daylight conditions. The images showcase vibrant colours, sharp details, and great dynamic range. Even the shots taken at 2x (digital) zoom look tasteful. In limited lighting conditions, the Night Mode kicks in to light up the shot and get rid of the grain.

Images taken with the 8MP ultrawide lens are visibly soft, but still passable. There is a notable tonal shift in these pictures, as they appear a bit warmer than the ones taken with the main camera. In limited lighting conditions, the Night Mode does a decent job of illuminating the subject and assigning it accurate colours, but some grain manages to creep into the background. However, our biggest gripe with this lens is that it no longer supports autofocus.

The Nord 6 makes up for its camera shortcomings by capturing stunning portraits. It does a great job of focusing on the subject, recognising its boundaries, and applying a tasteful blur effect to the background. With 2x zoom on hand, you can step back and capture your subject in the full glory of an expansive background. The 32MP front-facing camera takes clear and vivid selfies without messing with the skin tones and textures. This camera can record 4K videos at 30fps. The primary shooter can shoot 4K videos at 30 and 60fps. Meanwhile, the recording chops of the ultrawide lens are limited to 1,080p footage at 30fps.

Read Also: Asus Zenbook S14, Zenbook DUO, Zenbook A14 Series goes on sale in India

Verdict

The rumours of OnePlus’s demise were greatly exaggerated. The Nord 6 arrives in the midrange segment as the benchmark-setter. With upgrades across the board, this device kicks things up a notch. Its brilliant AMOLED display can hold its own in the hard sunlight at noon. The 165Hz refresh rate is no gimmick either, as it can run games like BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile at 165fps. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC leaves no room for complaints in everyday use. OxygenOS 16 remains one of the most vibrant, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing Android skins in the game. The 9,000mAh Si/C battery pack gives you the liberty to embark on a weekend trip with this phone in your pocket and the charger at home. If the downgraded camera system is the reason behind your cynicism, the sample images above will put your mind at ease.

Buy on Amazon for Rs 38,999

Pros

• Brilliant display
• Good processor
• IP68/IP69K rated
• Durable
• OnePlus AI

Cons

• Ultrawide lens lacks autofocus
• No 512GB variant