OnePlus Announces Nord - Snapdragon 765 at 399€

Today OnePlus is announcing its latest smartphone, the new OnePlus Nord. The Nord is a special device for the company as it’s the first time since its inception that we’re seeing a product release outside of the usual flagship line-up. The new Nord positions itself as a mid-range device in the “premium” category, coming with a Snapdragon 765 SoC as well as an attractive price point.

Spec-wise, the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 765 SoC which is beginning to see a lot of traction in this mid-range/premium category of devices. Generally, the SoC is somewhat on par with a Snapdragon 845 in terms of CPU performance and on par with an 835 in GPU performance, so there’s still quite a bit of a performance differentiation compared to its primary devices.

Albeit priced more aggressively, the Nord isn’t all that much of a slouch with its 8 and 12GB LPDDR4X RAM configuration, as well as featuring 128 or 256GB of storage, although the interface here uses an older UFS 2.1 implementation.

Other areas where there have been compromises in specifications are the weaker WiFi chipset which doesn’t feature WiFi 6/ 802.11ax connectivity, although everything else is functionally on par with the OnePlus 8.

Design-wise, the phone keeps things simple although still quite premium. We’re seeing an 6.44” 90HZ 1080p OLED display which at this price range is a winning combination, making it on par with the OnePlus 8 although some features such as HDR+ have been shelved.

OnePlus has opted for a dual-front camera design with a primary 32MP sensor and a secondary 8MP ultra-wide module for wider selfie captures and video – a bit unusual given the higher-end flagships just have a single camera module. The camera hole-punch design reminds us of the Oppo Reno 3 Pro – certainly both phones share similarities given they’re manufactured in the same factories by the parent company.

Footprint-wise, the phone is similar to the OnePlus 8, and comes in at 158.3 x 73.3 x 82.2mm which is a sweet-spot form-factor. The weight is also very similar at 184g. Battery-wise, OnePlus was still able to house in a 4115mAh battery which is slightly smaller than the OnePlus 8’s.

Lastly in terms of rear camera configuration, the Nord features the same IMX586 main camera found on the OnePlus 8, which probably is amongst its most interesting value propositions. Although this module faired adequately in the OnePlus 8, it’s a good match for the Nord’s price point.

In addition to the main camera we also see a 8MP ultra-wide module which likely won’t be of great quality, as well as an extra 2MP macro sensor just like on the OP8, as well as an additional 5MP depth camera for helping portrait mode photography.

399/499€ starting August 4th

The Nord is debuting in European and Asian markets first on August 4th, with a tentative release in North America later. The phone comes priced in at £379/399€ for the standard 8/128GB variant, and £399/499€ for the 12/256GB model.

The phone vastly undercuts similar devices such as the recently released LG Velvet as well as OPPO’s own Find X2 Neo whilst essentially being on par in terms of specifications – I see the Nord becoming extremely popular and successful due to its aggressive pricing.

Related Reading:

• The OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Becoming The Flagship
• OnePlus Announces OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro: Step-Up 2020 Flagships
• The OnePlus 7 Pro Review: Outstanding Performance & Screen, Adequate Everything Else