OnePlus Nord 3 5G Review: A Worthy Successor to the Nord 2T?
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G has arrived as the successor to the popular Nord 2T, packing in significant upgrades on paper. OnePlus has pulled out all the stops, including MediaTek’s powerful Dimensity 9000 SoC, a primary camera sensor borrowed from the flagship OnePlus 11, and an impressive 80W SuperVOOC charging system. But with all these improvements comes an inevitable price hike. So, does the OnePlus Nord 3 5G deliver the best value for your money, or is it simply a more expensive version of its predecessor? We delve deep into our comprehensive review to help you decide.
OnePlus Nord 3 5G Price in India
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is available in two storage configurations in India:
- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage: Rs. 33,999
- 16GB RAM + 256GB storage: Rs. 37,999
OnePlus Nord 3 5G Design and Display
The Nord 3 5G’s design, with its sleek aesthetics and color options, bears a strong resemblance to its more affordable sibling, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G. The phone features a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protected rear panel with slightly curved edges, available in Misty Green (with a glossy finish) and Tempest Grey (with a matte textured finish). Both versions offer IP54 rating for basic water and dust resistance, a welcome improvement over the previous model.
The Nord 3 5G sports a flat plastic frame with a matte finish. On the right side, you’ll find the Alert Slider and the power button, while the volume rocker resides on the left. The bottom edge houses a USB Type-C port, primary speaker grille, microphone, and a dual-SIM slot. And, as a bonus, the phone sports an IR emitter at the top, allowing you to control your home appliances conveniently.
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G feels comfortable and well-balanced in hand. The slight curvature of the rear panel helps prevent sharp edges, making it enjoyable to hold for extended periods. Despite its 193.5g weight and 8.15mm thickness, the phone’s weight distribution is excellent, avoiding a top-heavy feel.
On the front, the Nord 3 5G boasts a 6.74-inch ‘Super Fluid’ AMOLED display. Unlike some competitors like the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G and Motorola Edge 40, the Nord 3 5G opts for a flat display. With thin bezels, including a thin chin, the phone offers an immersive and large screen-to-body ratio.
The 1.5K resolution (2772×1240 pixels) 10-bit AMOLED panel delivers crisp visuals and vibrant colors. HDR10+ support on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video enhances the viewing experience with deep blacks. The dual stereo speakers are enhanced with Dolby Atmos, producing rich and loud audio that can easily fill a small room.
The Nord 3 5G’s display boasts a touch sampling rate of up to 1,000Hz and features a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth scrolling and responsive animations.
For security, the Nord 3 5G incorporates an in-display fingerprint scanner that’s relatively fast, although its location might be a bit low for some users. Alternatively, you can utilize the AI-based face recognition feature, though it is less secure.
OnePlus Nord 3 5G Specifications and Software
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is powered by the flagship-grade MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC, based on a 4nm fabrication process. The chip integrates a Mali G-710 GPU and is coupled with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Unfortunately, the phone lacks a microSD card slot and a headphone jack.
Connectivity options include support for eight 5G bands, Bluetooth 5.3, and Wi-Fi 6. To keep things running, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G houses a 5,000mAh battery and boasts 80W fast charging support.
On the software front, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G runs Oxygen OS 13.1, based on Android 13. OnePlus’s custom skin is known for its extensive personalization and customization options. Users can modify wallpapers, themes, icon shapes, sizes, and fonts. Oxygen OS 13.1 also offers support for Android’s Material You theme, allowing you to harmonize the system and UI colors with your chosen wallpaper.
Out of the box, the Nord 3 5G comes preloaded with several OnePlus and Oppo apps such as Zen Space, Community, O Relax, OnePlus Store, and Clone Phone. Thankfully, there are minimal preinstalled third-party apps, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Spotify.
OnePlus is committed to providing long-term support for the Nord 3 5G, promising three major Android updates and four years of security patches. This is the most extended software support ever offered for a Nord smartphone at launch.
OnePlus Nord 3 5G Performance and Battery Life
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G delivers a smooth and fluid user experience. Apps load quickly, and gaming performance is exceptional. Games like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Asphalt 9: Legends run flawlessly. BGMI, for example, allows for Ultra HD graphics with Ultra framerate. However, if you wish to utilize the Extreme frame rate option, you need to switch the graphics to HDR.
The 16GB RAM variant handles memory management exceedingly well. Apps tend to stay in memory, ensuring quick reloading from where you left off. Of course, heavy games like BGMI may still reload after a period of inactivity. There’s a slight warming sensation around the camera module during extended gaming sessions, but nothing concerning.
In benchmarks, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G scored 8,47,115 points in AnTuTu (v10), slightly lower than the less expensive Poco F5 (which scored 10,94,798 points with its Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 SoC). In Geekbench 6, the phone achieved 863 and 2,978 points in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.
Comparing it to the iQoo Neo 7 Pro, which is priced similarly to the Nord 3 5G and packs a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, we found AnTuTu scores of 12,63,884 points and Geekbench 6 scores of 1,727 and 4,459 points in the single-core and multi-core tests.
Battery life on the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is impressive, delivering a full day’s worth of usage. The average screen-on time (SoT) we saw was around eight hours and 30 minutes on moderately demanding days. On heavy usage days involving games, photos, and videos, the SoT dropped to seven hours and 15 minutes. In our HD video loop test, the Nord 3 5G lasted for about 21 hours and 12 minutes. The bundled adapter enables a charge from 1 to 100 percent in approximately 40 minutes.
OnePlus Nord 3 5G Cameras
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G sports a triple-camera system on the rear. This includes:
- 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS)
- 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera
- 2-megapixel macro camera
Daylight performance from the primary camera is truly impressive, delivering detailed images with excellent dynamic range and vibrant colors. Even under cloudy or rainy conditions, the camera captured sharp and accurate shots.
Interestingly, the camera app’s Photo mode tends to add a slightly pink hue to human skin tones. Conversely, portraits offer good background blur while maintaining accurate skin tones. Low-light performance displays a good balance of exposure between highlights and shadows. The night sky appears as a realistic gray rather than a dark blue, which is a positive aspect. Overall, the OnePlus Nord 3’s primary camera performance is among the best we’ve seen in its segment.
The ultra-wide camera falls short of expectations. It exhibits a different color temperature than the main camera, with slightly cooler tones. Details are less pronounced, especially around the edges where distortion is noticeable.
The 16-megapixel front camera performs well in daylight for its price range. It produces natural skin tones and delivers good results in portrait mode, with a natural-looking blur effect.
Video recording quality on the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is notably impressive for its price. The rear camera can capture videos up to 4K 60fps. Dynamic range performance is excellent, as are the colors, remaining close to natural hues. The front camera, limited to the segment-standard 1080p 30fps video recording, delivers natural colors and acceptable dynamic range performance.
Verdict
The OnePlus Nord 3 5G ticks off most of the essential boxes to be a top contender for the best smartphone under Rs. 40,000 in India. It boasts a superior and larger display compared to its predecessor, flagship-grade performance, a capable camera system, and a clean and feature-rich software experience.
The main drawbacks we observed are the underperforming ultra-wide camera and the basic IP rating. Competing models like the Motorola Edge 40 (IP68 rating) and Samsung Galaxy A34 5G (IP67 rating) offer higher levels of protection.
The price of the Nord 3 5G has increased by a few thousand rupees compared to its predecessor. The 16GB RAM variant is priced close to the OnePlus 11R, which, at Rs. 39,999, offers a curved-edge AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, a similar camera system, and slightly faster 100W charging.
However, if you’re looking for a well-rounded smartphone without exceeding your budget, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is still a compelling purchase. Its strengths lie in its impressive performance, large and vibrant display, and excellent primary camera performance.
