Recently, Oneplus launched its most affordable smartphone in India. The device goes by the name of the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G.
It retails at ₹19,999 and ₹21,999 for 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB memory configurations, respectively.
Though it is currently the cheapest Oneplus-branded smartphone available in India, it is not the most affordable historically. The said title goes to the Oneplus X, a handset that was introduced at only ₹16,999 in late 2015.
Further, unlike the Nord CE 2 Lite, the X had flagship specs and a premium design. Clearly, the smartphone landscape in India has changed in recent years.
Especially, with the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, smartphone prices have hiked. Therefore, almost all the phones available in the sub-₹25,000 category in India now feature underwhelming features when compared to their predecessors.
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is just like other phones in the segment. But it does have some differences like an LCD screen instead of an AMOLED display, which is now very common.
But is this handset a better deal than others? I try to answer this question in my review of the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G.
Disclaimer: This review of Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is based on my personal experience with a review sample loaned to me by Oneplus India. The opinions stated here are mine alone, and the company had no early look or editorial input.
Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G Review
Box Contents
- Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G
- Transparent Case
- Screen Protector (pre-applied)
- 33W SuperVOOC Charger
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- SIM Ejector Tool
- Documentation
- Red Cable Club Membership Card
- Stickers
Design and Build
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is a rebranded Realme 9 Pro 5G. For the unaware, Realme is a sister brand of Oneplus and Oppo. Whereas, Oppo is the parent company of Oneplus. Hence, these three brands are known for sharing resources among themselves.
The specs and design of Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G are almost similar to that of the Realme 9 Pro 5G. The only major difference between the two is their colors.
Though I don’t have any issue with the phone’s rear look, I didn’t find the design to be functional. First and foremost, it feels too heavy for a device weighing 195.
Secondly, the glossy finish on the top section of the back panel is very difficult to keep smudge-free. Also, the camera island collects dust around it all the time. In other words, it is difficult to keep the handset clean.
Further, the volume buttons on the left side are inconvenient. Also, using the embedded fingerprint sensor on the power button located on the right side is a hassle. I have never faced these issues on Oppo smartphones that I had tested earlier. This could be due to the thin keys of the product.
Having said that, there’s no problem with the build quality. Though the phone’s casing (including the frame) is entirely made of plastic, it feels sturdy. Additionally, you not only get a good old 3.5mm headphone jack but a MicroSD card slot (hybrid) as well.
Display and Sound
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G flaunts a 6.59-inch display with a resolution of 2412 x 1080 pixels (FHD+) and a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen has a punch-hole at the top left corner.
Unlike most handsets in the segment, the device features an LCD panel as opposed to an OLED panel. However, don’t go by the type of display as it is really good for the price.
One of the main advantages of OLED displays on smartphones is brightness. The LCD on the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G offers that, which came out as a surprise for me.
The phone’s screen gets sufficiently bright outside under direct sunlight. In fact, the LCD panel on the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is as good as the Super AMOLED display on my daily-driver Samsung Galaxy A52.
By default, the handset boots up with ‘Vivid’ color mode. This mode offers too much saturation for my liking. The only other color mode available is ‘Natural’, and it provides almost true-to-life colors.
Additionally, the 120Hz refresh rate mode makes everything look smoother. I did not face any jitter or frame drop like on the Oppo F21 Pro, which I reviewed recently.
But sadly, there’s no support for HDR playback though the panel supports HDR10 and HLG formats. Anyway, you can stream in Full HD quality on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and other popular video streaming platforms.
Unfortunately, though the display on the phone is good, I cannot say the same for its single bottom-firing speaker. The overall audio quality is lackluster. The instrument separation is not clear and there’s a lack of bass. While the speaker is loud at higher levels, it distorts.
On the other hand, the audio output via Bluetooth and the 3.5mm headphone jack is fine. I tried the new Oneplus Nord Buds with the phone, which Oneplus India sent me along with the smartphone. The first-ever Oneplus Nord-branded truly wireless earphones pair with the phone seamlessly and provide a drop-free connection.
Being an affordable pair of TWS, the Nord Buds sound just fine for its ₹2,799 price tag. There’s an ample amount of bass and treble, the two most common factors preferred by the general public.
The best thing about these buds is that they are comfortable to wear for a long period. The major downsides are — the charging case is too big, the microphone’s performance is poor and the product’s build quality is cheap.
Hardware and Software
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. The chipset is paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage.
Like almost all the latest Android phones, this one also supports virtual RAM. By default, it comes with the 2GB virtual RAM option enabled. You can also select 3GB or 5GB.
On the software front, it boots OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12. The interface is nothing but ColorOS 12.1 with some Oneplus theme here and there. It felt like I was using an Oppo smartphone the entire time.
The performance of the handset is similar to that of the Oppo F21 Pro 5G, which also has the same chipset. The device scores around 685 points and 1952 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests respectively.
It can run the 3D Mark’s Wild Life Extreme test at 99.5% stability. The best loop score is about 1208. By default, BGMI (Battleground Mobile India) runs at ‘HD’ graphics with ‘High’ frame rates. You can get up to ‘Ultra’ frame rates by lowering the graphics to ‘Smooth.’
Though the smartphone is not meant for gaming, you can do some light casual gaming now and then. As for regular usage, it just flies, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. I did not encounter any major lag or stutter during my usage.
Unlike ColorOS on Oppo devices, the ColorOS-based OxygenOS on Nord CE 2 Lite ships with less amount of bloatware. It also has faster animations and some exclusive first-party Oneplus apps like Zen Mode and Oneplus Shelf.
Finally, Oneplus promises two major Android updates and three years of security updates.
Camera
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G houses a triple camera system on its back. But only the primary 64MP is useful, while the remaining two 2MP sensors for macro and depth are just present for the namesake.
The device uses the same OmniVision OV64B sensor as the Oppo F21 Pro and OPPO F21 Pro 5G. This very same sensor is also found on last year’s Oppo Reno 6 5G and Oppo Reno 6 Pro 5G.
Having used five smartphones with the same camera sensor from the same company, I can say that the output from all these devices is different. Obviously, these phones feature different ISP but their software processing is also distinct.
Talking about the pictures from the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite, they are average but they are better than the images from the Oppo F21 Pro 5G. Though they have the same sensor and ISP, the software processing by Oneplus feels better to my eyes.
Under good lighting conditions, the photos have fine details and colors. Since the phone outputs pictures with cooler color tones, it botches up red, green, and blue colors most of the time. The primary colors are too saturated for my taste.
But I can understand why Oneplus has opted for saturated colors as most people prefer images with colors that pop out. The handset is targeted at a wider audience with its affordable price tag. Therefore, it makes sense for the brand to satisfy its customers.
Talking about skin tones, they are almost accurate. I find them better than the photos from Oppo F21 Pro, a similarly-priced phone with the same camera that I liked for skin tones till now.
Further, the Nord CE 2 Lite has a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor on the front. For the unaware, this is the same sensor from Oneplus 9 and Oneplus 9 Pro. I loved taking selfies from this handset. I feel that the selfies from this device are better than the pictures from Oppo F21 Pro’s 32MP Sony IMX709 RGBW front-facing camera.
Unfortunately, just like other budget and mid-range smartphones, the video recording capability is average and so does low light performance. Images shot in low light are grainy and they even lack focus under very difficult situations. Night Mode does help a little by simply brightening up the scene.
Connectivity
As the name suggests, the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G supports 5G connectivity. But the networks are yet to go live in India, so I couldn’t test it.
Anyway, 4G connection along with carrier aggregation works fine on the device and so do VoLTE and VoWiFi calls. I neither faced any call drops nor WiFi/Bluetooth connection drops.
Lastly, the USB 2.0 (Type-C) port and 3.5mm headphone jack have no issue either.
Battery and Charging
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G gets its juice from a large 5,000mAh battery. The handset can easily last a day on a full charge. The device can even make itself to the second day with moderate usage.
When it’s time to recharge, the battery can be filled up in a little over an hour with the bundled 33W SuperVOOC charger. The smartphone takes about 1 hour and 4 minutes to reach 100% from 15%.
Verdict
When I started using the Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, I was not expecting to like it. Because some of its features do not match with the competition.
But after using the phone for just a few days, the device grew on me. Yes, I still don’t like its design and build but I am impressed by its display. Also, I am surprised by how good its selfie camera is.
Talking about basics, you get a stellar battery life and reasonably fast charging support. The software is a joy to use without any lag. I wish it had a good speaker, maybe even stereo speakers like other handsets in the segment.
There are better options but none of them carry ‘Oneplus’ in their name. Brand power plays a crucial role among consumers. Unlike other Chinese brands, Oneplus is considered a premium brand by Indians, and data shows it.
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is recommendable if you only want a Oneplus smartphone at this price point. If you don’t care about the brand of the phone you use, look elsewhere as they are many alternatives and some of them are even cheaper.
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