The OnePlus Nord 3 5G joins a slew of new releases from the company this year, including the OnePlus 11, 11R, OnePlus Pad, and the Nord CE 3 Lite.
Our OnePlus Nord 3 unit is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC and features a generous 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM together with 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage encased in a Misty Green back panel. This configuration will set you back by ₹37,999 (US$463), while the base 8 GB/128 GB variant costs ₹33,999 (US$414).
In Europe, OnePlus is offering the Nord 3 starting at €449 for the 8 GB/128 GB version while charging €549 for the 16 GB/256 GB tier. Early bird buyers in Europe can get the Nord 3 16 GB/256 GB variant at a discounted price of €499 till July 31.
In this review, we evaluate whether the OnePlus Nord 3 has what it takes to truly stand out amidst the fiercely competitive mid-range Android smartphone market.
Distinguishing the Nord 3 5G from the Nord CE 3 Lite can be challenging at first glance. OnePlus presents the Nord 3 in two color choices: a glossy Misty Green (our unit) and Tempest Gray with a matte finish.
The Nord 3 incorporates Dragontrail glass to protect the screen together with a pre-applied screen protector. The back panel uses Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone (sans the protective case) fell several times onto a tiled floor from desk height and survived without any scratches or visible signs of damage.
The glossy back panel of the Nord 3 makes it susceptible to fingerprints. The smartphone continues to sport a matte plastic frame, like its predecessors the Nord 2 and Nord 2T, but it still exudes a premium feel.
With an IP54 rating, the Nord 3 offers limited resistance against dust and water. The absence of sharp corners contributes to a comfortable grip and, despite weighing around 194 g, the phone feels lightweight due to its well-balanced weight distribution.
Overall, the Nord 3 exhibits solid build quality, providing a pleasant tactile experience and remaining sturdy even when subjected to significant pressure.
The Nord 3 5G inherits some of OnePlus' notable features and idiosyncrasies. On the positive side, it incorporates the signature alert slider positioned on the right side of the frame, just above the power button.
At the top of the device, you'll find an IR blaster, along with a microphone and a speaker vent. On the left side, there is a volume rocker.
Moving towards the bottom, you'll come across the speaker grill and a USB Type-C port. The port only operates USB 2.0 speeds internally, but it does support OTG (On-The-Go) functionality.
The microphone is positioned adjacent to the SIM tray at the bottom, so caution is advised to avoid mistakenly inserting the ejector tool into the wrong hole.
Unfortunately, the Nord 3 lacks the option for microSD storage expansion, which could have been a valuable addition at this price point.
The Nord 3 5G comes with Oxygen OS 13.1 out-of-the-box. The latest OTA update at the time of publication comes bundled with security patches for June 2023. OnePlus is promising three years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates.
Although derived from ColorOS, Oxygen OS 13.1 is nearly devoid of bloatware and feels quite light in day-to-day use. Pre-installed applications are kept to a minimum, featuring the customary OnePlus apps, along with popular services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Spotify.
It is worth noting that OnePlus has yet to address the persistent issue of maintaining a consistent 120 Hz refresh rate in the operating system. For instance, opening any Google app, including the Play Store, drops the refresh rate to 90 Hz, while performing tasks such as photo editing further reduces it to 60 Hz.
Nevertheless, the transitions between refresh rates occur seamlessly without any perceivable delays or disruptions. The Nord 3 is also Widevine L1-certified, enabling high-resolution DRM video streaming.
The Dimensity 9000 SoC offers excellent Wi-Fi 6 networking that is way ahead of the competition. Wi-Fi throughput seemed reasonably stable at a distance of 1 m from our reference Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 router in a clear line of sight.
The Nord 3 supports GPS (L1), BDS (B1, B1C), GLONASS, GALILEO (E1), QZSS (L1), and NavIC (L1) satellite constellations for navigation.
The smartphone has some trouble in quickly latching onto a GNSS signal indoors, but outdoor reception is very good.
GPS tracking is fairly accurate in comparison with an Apple iPhone 14 Pro, though we do see both devices showing navigation through buildings in certain places.
While the Nord 3 lacks eSIM support, it does offer the convenience of utilizing two physical nano SIM cards. Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Wi-Fi calling are fully supported.
We did not encounter any reception issues during our testing on the AirTel 5G network. However, we noticed that the call volume seemed lower than expected even at the highest setting. The loudness of the speakerphone also seemed inadequate, which can be frustrating when trying to communicate in a noisy environment.
Google Phone is the default call and contacts management app. The app permits call recording in the Indian variant, but all parties involved in the call are informed before the recording commences.
The Nord 3 lacks the extensive LTE and 5G sub-6 GHz band support found in the OnePlus 11, but most common global cellular bands are covered.
The 16 MP selfie camera takes good selfies in proper lighting conditions. Skin tones and finer facial details are well-reproduced. Portrait results are generally satisfactory, although the bokeh effect could be more pronounced. Videos from the front-facing camera are capped at 1080p 30 fps.
Even without the Hasselblad branding, the Nord 3's 50 MP Sony IMX890 primary camera produces results that are quite similar to that of the OnePlus 11. Details are nicely represented with good color saturation. Noise isn't very noticeable unless viewed at 100% crop.
Unlike the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, the Nord 3 is able to preserve a good amount of detail in shadows as well. The main camera performs 12.5 MP pixel binning by default, but you also get the option to shoot in 50 MP directly.
In normal mode, the camera is capable of doing a 2x optical zoom. The zoomed photos are serviceable for regular use with decent color reproduction and clarity. However, we observe that the camera finds it difficult to resolve some of the finer details, such as on the wall behind the car in the photo below.
In addition to the primary camera, the 8 MP Sony IMX355 ultra-wide camera on the Nord 3 also delivers good results. However, the colors appear slightly muted compared to the main camera. OnePlus has reduced the ultra-wide angle from 120° in the Nord 2 to 112° in the Nord 3 apparently to minimize lens distortion.
In the photos below, both the Nord 3 and OnePlus 11 exhibit color fringing at the edges of the buildings. This is not the case with the iPhone 14 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The main camera and ultra-wide automatically switch to Night mode in low light with no way to turn this off. However, night mode needs to be manually activated when using the 2x zoom mode.
Low light photos come out surprisingly well on the Nord 3 with low noise and good resolution of details such as the teddy bear's fur and text on its shirt.
The main camera supports video recording up to 4K 60 fps, but EIS is only available in 1080p settings.
Unfortunately, the macro sensor on the Nord 3 falls short in terms of performance. It utilizes the GalaxyCore GC02M1 sensor, which was originally used as a depth sensor in the Nord 2 but has now been repurposed as a macro lens.
The images captured with the macro sensor suffer from significant noise and lack of detail. The color reproduction can be a hit or miss, depending on the scene. OnePlus seems to have included this camera just check off an item in the spec sheet with no tangible benefit to the end user.
The Nord 3 shows a maximum Delta E of 9.33 in reproducing the X-Rite ColorChecker passport in good ambient light. Higher deviations are particularly seen in Blue Sky, Purplish Blue, White, and Black patches.
The camera somewhat struggles at 1 lux, resulting in high deviations in many of the colors.
Details in the test chart are adequately reproduced in both perfect light and 1 lux ambient conditions.
Indian variants of the Nord 3 5G come with an 80 W SuperVOOC charger, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a phone case, pre-applied screen protector, SIM tray ejector, and the usual paperwork. The box also includes a welcome letter, brand sticker, and a Red Cable Club membership card.
European variants of the Nord 3 also offer a similar set of accessories, excluding the phone case and the Red Cable Club membership.
OnePlus offers a standard one-year warranty for the Nord 3 5G in India. The company also offers several addon protection plans including:
- 12-month warranty extension for ₹799
- 24 months OnePlus Care including 12 months of additional warranty for ₹4,499
- 12-month Accidental Damage Protection Plan for ₹3,299
- 12-month Screen Protection Plan for ₹2,399
In day-to-day use, the Nord 3 performs smoothly and efficiently. Inputs are promptly recognized without any noticeable delays. OnePlus has incorporated Oppo's O-Haptics feature, which enables users to customize and fine-tune the haptic feedback according to their preferences.
For biometric authentication, the Nord 3 features a fast and responsive optical fingerprint reader. Users also have the option to set up a less secure 2D face unlock for convenience.
The Nord 3's 6.74-inch Fluid AMOLED display features a 1240 x 2772 resolution, 450 ppi pixel density, and a 40 Hz to 120 Hz dynamic refresh rate. We never encountered the 40 Hz refresh rate, even in idle.
Together with the thin bezels, support for 10-bit HDR10+, and a touch response rate of up to 1000 Hz, the Nord 3's display makes for a very good viewing and interaction experience.
We measured a good 91% brightness distribution and luminance values not too far from the rated 500 nits when manually set to the highest brightness level. According to OnePlus, the Nord 3's screen is capable of achieving a peak brightness of 1,450 nits and supports 8,192 brightness levels.
We were able to measure a peak brightness of 1,023 nits when subjecting the sensor to intense illumination.
OnePlus offers several display modes to choose from including Vivid, Natural, Cinematic, and Brilliant.
Testing with the X-Rite i1Basic Pro 3 spectrophotometer and Calman Ultimate color calibration software from Portrait Displays shows the natural mode to offer the least Delta E values.
Brilliant mode offers the widest color gamut coverage, but this results in high Delta E deviations.
Increasing the color temperature in Brilliant mode does improve the average Delta E values, but they are still higher than what we've observed in the Natural mode.
The Nord 3's display seems to be having trouble in attaining a full rise in the first pulse in the 100% white to 100% black transition. The 50% grey to 80% grey response times are particularly fast.
OnePlus does not offer a DC Dimming mode for the phone. We observed PWM at all brightness levels as shown below.
Refer to our primer, "Why PWM is such a headache" and also our PWM Ranking table for more information on PWM and comparisons across tested devices.
The Nord 3 offers a satisfying outdoor viewing experience, even in bright sunlight, as the Auto mode is capable of increasing the brightness to appropriate levels.
When it comes to viewing angles, the display maintains stability, with minimal loss of brightness and color information observed only at the extreme angles.
OnePlus artificially limits SoC performance by default. Therefore, we used the High Performance mode for all benchmarks and measurements except for battery tests. Comparatively, the normal mode results in 30% and 25% lower Geekbench 5.4 single and multi-core scores, respectively.
Despite being a couple of years old, the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC is being seen only in recent launches. In CPU benchmarks, the Dimensity 9000 performs impressively, surpassing all other smartphones in this segment by a significant margin in cumulative CPU tests.
The A15 Bionic chip found in the Apple iPhone SE 2022 still maintains a raw power advantage, leading the Dimensity 9000 by as much as 44% in Geekbench 5.4 single-core tests.
However, the Nord 3 manages to narrow the performance delta in Geekbench 5.4 multi-core and CrossMark tests.
Check out our MediaTek Dimensity 9000 page for more information and performance comparisons.
The Dimensity 9000's 10-core Mali-G710 MP10 is within striking distance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1's Adreno 730 in the Motorola Edge 30 Pro.
This GPU also outperforms the 5-core A15 GPU in the iPhone SE 2022 by a tangible 9% margin in overall GPU tests.
Unfortunately, onscreen GFXBench tests top out at 60 fps. This is a limitation of Oxygen OS and is also reflected in gaming benchmarks as we'll see shortly.
More information and benchmark comparisons can be found in our dedicated ARM Mali-G710 MP10 page.
The Nord 3 leads the pack in overall web browsing performance, coming second only to the iPhone SE 2022.
The 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage performs on expected lines. The Motorola Edge 30 Pro and Edge 40 demonstrate better sequential I/O, but the Nord 3 makes up for it in 4KB random reads and writes.
Consistent with our findings from the GFXBench onscreen tests mentioned earlier, game performance on the Nord 3 is also limited to a maximum of 60 fps.
OnePlus definitely needs to work with game publishers and optimize Oxygen OS so that users can fully harness the potential of the device.
According to OnePlus, the Nord 3 employs a vapor chamber with sizeable 4,129 mm2 cooling area. The cooling system seems to be doing a decent job overall, though we do observe throttling in the 3DMark Wild Life Stress test.
The cooling system runs into limitations when the Nord 3 is pushed to the hilt, resulting in high surface temperatures up to 49.2 °C on the front and 46.2 °C on the back of the device. Day-to-day usage, however, is unlikely to stress the internals as much.
OnePlus includes Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res audio-certified stereo speakers with Dirac drivers in the Nord 3. The ~79 dB(A) loudness is decent for an average-sized room but might not be adequate in noisy environments. Bass response is practically non-existent, but the mids and highs are reproduced well.
Those desiring better audio can hook up external speakers or headphones via the USB Type-C port or Bluetooth. Bluetooth audio codec support includes SBC, AAC, Qualcomm aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, and aptX TWS+, LDAC, and LHDC.
Power consumption in idle is much lower than the OnePlus Pad that uses the same SoC. Overall power draws under load are on the higher side compared to the competition.
The Nord 3 features a 5,000 mAh battery that offers good run times, considering the powerful hardware. While the smartphone runs out of juice a tad sooner during idle, video playback and web browsing at 150 nits still yield relatively long run times.
Interestingly, battery run times are significantly higher than what we've seen with the OnePlus Pad that also features the same SoC and a much larger 9,510 mAh battery.
The supplied 80 W SuperVOOC charger can charge the phone from zero to 100% in about 35 minutes.
The OnePlus Nord 3 impresses at its ₹33,999 starting price, excelling in various aspects in the fiercely competitive Android mid-range segment. It improves upon the OnePlus Nord 2 in almost all departments.
Notable improvements include an IP54-rated case, the addition of an IR blaster, excellent Wi-Fi throughput, a higher-resolution display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, and a 50 MP Sony IMX890 sensor inherited from the OnePlus 11.
The OnePlus Nord 3 offers a lot of hardware and performance in the heavily contested sub-₹35,000 (sub-€500) segment. The Nord 3 is not without glaring deficiencies, but the whole experience is greater than the sum of its parts."
While the Nord 3 makes all the right noises, it also has several shortcomings in order to keep the price competitive. Prominent among them include the extremely poor macro sensor, inconsistent refresh rate across apps and limited game frame rates due to Oxygen OS restrictions, performance throttling in the default settings, and lack of EIS for 4K video.
The Nord 3 is not without competition, though. The Apple iPhone SE 2022 still leads when it comes to raw single-core performance. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-based Motorola Edge 30 Pro makes for a viable competitor to the Nord 3, especially at its now-discounted price. The Edge 40 even comes with a 144 Hz display.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 may not possess the Nord 3's processing prowess, but it offers a capable triple-camera setup, a microSD card slot, and eSIM support.
If you are not chasing performance numbers, the Poco X5 Pro (also known as the Redmi Note 12 Pro Speed Edition) comes across as a more budget-friendly option to the Nord 3.
In India, the OnePlus Nord 3 will become available from July 15 on oneplus.in and Amazon India with prices starting from ₹33,999. The smartphone will also be available in Europe from July 12 at a starting price of €449.
"Smartphone" - Google News
July 11, 2023 at 01:08PM
https://ift.tt/yijZ8Hx
OnePlus Nord 3 Smartphone Review: Near-flagship experience that doesn't break the bank - Notebookcheck.net
"Smartphone" - Google News
https://ift.tt/yIWXehd
https://ift.tt/p8clG7r
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "OnePlus Nord 3 Smartphone Review: Near-flagship experience that doesn't break the bank - Notebookcheck.net"
Post a Comment