OnePlus Nord 3 Review: Moving the Nord into premium territory

Published: Saturday, July 15, 2023, 9:00 [IST]

The OnePlus Nord 3 has officially been unveiled in India. The OnePlus Nord 3 5G succeeds last year’s OnePlus Nord 2T and OnePlus Nord 2. It debuts alongside the more affordable OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G.

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G arrives in India’s premium mid-range market, aiming to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G, Vivo V27 5G, and the recently launched iQOO Neo 7 Pro. Before we dive into our first impressions, it is worth noting that the OnePlus Nord 3 5G price in India starts from Rs 33,999.

Design & Build

The OnePlus Nord 3 is modelled on the OnePlus Ace 2V, which was unveiled in China earlier this year. The Nord 3 5G shares quite a few similarities with last year’s OnePlus Nord 2T. The phone comes in two shades – Misty Green and Tempest Gray, our model came in the latter.

The back panel of the OnePlus Nord 3 5G featured a matte textured look and was smooth to the touch. Additionally, there are two camera modules on the back that house three lenses with the LED flash modules sitting separately. The OnePlus logo is also present on the back.

The Nord 3 features a flat display with minimal bezels. The phone weighs 193.5 grams and weighs 8.15mm thick. The matte finish also extends to the frame, which has rounded edges making the device comfortable to use or game on. The Nord 3 has its volume buttons on the left and power button on the right.

The Nord 3 5G also retains the famed alert slider, which we’ve come to love on OnePlus devices. For the build, the Nord 3 5G opts for Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the back and Dragontrail glass protection on the front. The phone also has an IP54 rating for resistance to splashes of water.

Display & Audio

When it comes to the display, OnePlus opts for a flat 6.74-inch 1.5K (2772 x 1240 pixels) ‘Super Fluid’ AMOLED display with a comfortable 20.1:9 aspect ratio. The panel here doesn’t feature the same curvature as the Realme 11 Pro Plus, although it makes the phone a lot more convenient to use as you don’t have to worry about accidental touches.

Moving back to the display, which features a 120Hz refresh rate, which can drop down to 40Hz using new software algorithms. Moreover, the screen has a peak brightness of 1,450 nits, making it easily visible under direct sunlight. The display also supports 10-bit colour depth, 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, and HDR10+.

Compared to the OnePlus Nord 2T, this is a massive update. The screen reproduces vivid colours with deep blacks and vibrant colours. The panel also has excellent viewing angles. Users can switch between the Cinematic Pro mode and the Natural mode. The display also has Widevine L1 DRM support for streaming apps.

To match the excellent visuals, the Nord 3 5G uses dual-stereo speakers with Dirac drivers. Additionally, the speakers support Dolby Atmos and is Hi-Res Audio certified to deliver an immersive audio experience. The speakers offer rich audio, while you don’t face distortion, even at maximum volumes.

Performance

For performance, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G gets its biggest update yet with the addition of the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC paired with the Mali G-710 GPU. The chipset is paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The phone features a large 4129mm² vapour chamber to improve sustained performance.

The MediaTek chip delivers near-flagship performance, running titles like Call of Duty: Mobile, Diablo Immortal, and Asphalt 9: Legends on High graphics and maximum frame rates without any hitch. The games ran smoothly, and I did experience any dip in performance even after 40 continuous minutes of gaming.

In Geekbench 6, the phone managed a single-core score of 1293 points and a multi-core score of 3981 points. In AnTuTu, the Nord 3 managed an overall score of 851023 points. Overall, the Nord 3 5G performed admirably in the benchmark tests, but the phone does lag in performance as compared to the Poco F5 5G, iQOO 7 Pro, and Vivo V27 Pro.

Cameras

In terms of optics, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G features a triple-camera setup on the back that is headlined by a 50 MP Sony IMX890 primary sensor, which is the same sensor used on the flagship OnePlus 11 5G. The main camera is backed by an 8 MP ultrawide lens with and a 2 MP macro unit. Up front, the Nord 3 opts for a 16 MP camera for selfies.

In daylight, the main camera on the OnePlus Nord 3 performed admirably, outputting images with plenty of detail and no noticeable noise. Images appeared to feature vivid colours, which did appear oversaturated at times. Images in daylight also had high levels of contrast and good dynamic range.

There is an AI mode that bumps up the saturation and makes photos look more social-media friendly but less realistic. The main camera outputs images in 12.5 megapixels, although you can use the full 50 MP mode to get high-res shots with even more detail.

The Nord 3 also offers a 2x optical zoom, which delivers quality results. You can go all the way up to 10x zoom, but don’t expect for detailed results. The main camera also performed admirably in low light, although you cannot turn off the Auto Night mode. Night mode works well and brightens scenes, while reducing noise, while bumping up the detail and sharpness.

Moving on to the ultrawide lens and results vary depending on your scenario. There is an immediate loss of detail, no matter the scenario. For instance, there is a lack of colour consistency between the main and ultrawide cameras, while the edges appear distorted.

Photos taken on the ultrawide camera also tend to look overprocessed. However, the ultrawide camera did do a surprisingly good job at night. I’m not a fan of Macro cameras and the 2 MP sensor here did little to change my mind. While the Nord 3 5G has one of the best primary cameras in the segment, the ultrawide camera was found lacking.

For selfies, the OnePlus Nord 3’s 16 MP sensor captures shots with good exposure and accurate colours. Images didn’t appear to contrasty like some of the results on the main camera. However, photos did look softer, and detail was lacking. Portrait shots had good edge detection and skin tones felt natural.

The Nord 3 5G can record 4K video at up to 60fps with good dynamic range and vivid colours. Footage on the main camera was steady thanks to OIS support, although the same couldn’t be said about the ultra-wide camera, which maxed out at 1080p 30fps.

The OnePlus Nord 3 has arguably the best primary camera in the segment with excellent night and daylight performance. The selfie camera also delivers solid performance, although the ulrawide camera felt lacking, something OnePlus hasn’t fixed from the Nord 2T.

Battery

The OnePlus Nord 3 packs a 5,000 mAh battery that is capable of lasting an entire day on full charge. In fact, I had sufficient battery to take into day two, around seven hours of screen-on time under moderate-to-heavy usage. The Nord 3’s 80W fast charging adapter takes around 40 minutes to full power the phone.

Additionally, the Nord 3 5G also features the Battery Health Engine, which was first spotted on the Oppo Reno 8, which protects the battery and ensures it retains 80% of its health over 1,600 cycles, nearly twice as much as a regular smartphone.

Software

When it comes to softare, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G runs Android 13-based OxygenOS 13.1 out of the box. The latest version of Oxygen OS feels clean for the most part with more-than adequate customisations.

OnePlus has made enhancements to the Zen mode and introduced a new O-Relax app, which offers relaxing sounds and mini games to keep you relaxed. OnePlus also offers some new multitasking and gaming features to enhance the user experience.

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is TÜV SÜD rated, which ensures fast and smooth performance for a minimum of 48 months of usage, something we’ve seen on Oppo’s Reno smartphones.
OnePlus promises three years of major software updates and four years of security updates with the Nord 3 5G, which is well-above the average.

Verdict

The OnePlus Nord 3 is a worthy successor to the Nord 2T. OnePlus delivers on all fronts with the Nord 3. The Nord 3 saw a major bump in performance, bordering on flagship level. The phone also features a vibrant OLED screen, excellent battery life with fast charging, and improved battery longevity.

The main camera also offers tons of versatility across several different scenarios, while OnePlus offers excellent software support. However, the Nord 3 isn’t without its flaws, primarily in the camera department, where the ultarwide and macro camera leave a lot to be desired.

Additionally, the iQOO Neo 7 Pro surpasses the Nord 3 in terms of performance. If you are looking for a versatile smartphone under Rs 35,000, then the OnePlus Nord 3 should be your default choice. OnePlus’ balanced approach helps the Nord ticks all the right boxes, giving it an easy recommendation in our books.