Nord: OnePlus' second attempt at the budget phone

In a renewed attempt to offer a more accessible, feature-rich smartphone, OnePlus has finally launched the Nord in the Indian market. Priced aggressively, starting at Rs 24,999, OnePlus Nord seems to be a promising proposition, leaving very little to complain about. Unlike the OnePlus X (introduced way back in 2015) that was a half-baked attempt, OnePlus seems to have done the homework before launching the Nord.

"The OnePlus Nord is an important milestone for OnePlus, as we always look for new ways to share the best technology with more people around the world. We are excited to finally bring a more accessible OnePlus smartphone that confidently stands alongside other products in the OnePlus family," says Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus.

More than budget, less than the flagship is what defines the Nord perfectly. While it features a 6.44-inch 1080p OLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, it is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. OnePlus is betting big on camera as it borrows the flagship 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor from the OnePlus 8. It features a large f/1.75 aperture for more light and optical image stabilisation (OIS) to reduce blur. The quad-camera setup also includes an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a macro camera, and a depth sensor. Nightscape, available on both the rear main lens and ultra-wide angle, enables night shots through advanced computational photography. The is a 32MP front main camera along with an 8MP ultra-wide angle with 105-degree field of view.

Powered by Snapdragon 765G processor, the OnePlus Nord will be available in multiple variants, with the base variant having 6GB of RAM for Rs 24,999 and the top variant with 12GB RAM for Rs 29,999. With 5G rollout still a year or two away, the Nord is future-ready with 5G support. Focusing on the right areas, the Nord also supports OnePlus' signature Warp Charge 30T, which means the 4115 mAh battery would charge 70 per cent from zero in just half an hour. OnePlus claims that the Nord using machine learning intelligently changes the way the phone charges overnight to reduce the amount of time it spends at 100 per cent to enhance battery health. Running Oxygen OS, Nord comes with the promise of two years of software updates and three years of security updates too.