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The OnePlus Nord 3 sets a new standard for mid-range smartphones. This latest member of OnePlus gives you the feeling of holding a top-of-the-line device in your hands.
The OnePlus Nord 3 sets a new standard for mid-range smartphones. This latest member of OnePlus gives you the feeling of holding a top-of-the-line device in your hands.
With the OnePlus Nord 3, the manufacturer is no longer ready for a test piece. OnePlus released the first Nord device in the summer of 2020, followed a year later by the second generation. Both devices received almost unanimous praise from reviewers, which immediately raises expectations for the Nord 3, which has been delayed by a year.
It is sometimes claimed that OnePlus regains its status with the Nord series flagship killer. This term can be debated, because of course a Nord smartphone cannot compete with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, for example, and OnePlus still makes devices for the flagship segment. What the Nord Series offers is a quality user experience at an affordable price.
On paper, the Nord 3 seems to have what it takes to deliver on that promise again. In fact, the device boasts specs that rival those of the OnePlus 11, but the price of the Nord 3 (€449 incl. VAT) is also gradually moving towards the more expensive segments. Does the device also meet these requirements in everyday use? Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.
Children can experience a significant growth spurt in two years, and the same goes for smartphones. The OnePlus Nord 3 measures 6.74 inches from screen corner to screen corner, making it a large smartphone. For comparison: the predecessor had a 6.43-inch display. For us the device doesn’t feel overly large, but if you have smaller hands (and pockets) you might feel differently.
The OnePlus Nord 3 comes in two hues: a more neutral black and a color option that the manufacturer claims is green, but we find it to be more of a light blue. We’ve already seen OnePlus experiment with flashy colors on the Nord CE 3 Lite. We’ll let you judge for yourself. The green back has a glossy “mirror effect” but thankfully isn’t prone to fingerprints.
With OnePlus devices, mentioning the presence of the notification slider is almost obligatory. OnePlus also adds an IP54 rating, which the manufacturer often finds unnecessary on budget devices. Note: This is a lower rating than IP68, so taking your smartphone in the shower is not recommended. However, a rain shower cannot spoil the fun.
The larger display has one big advantage: more pixels fit in. OnePlus is very generous here: The display offers space for 1,240 x 2,772 pixels. Not only do you get more pixels across the screen, you get more pixels per inch (451ppi). This results in a sharp image that comes close to top devices. The brightness was a bit lower in our tests, but we find that the screen is easy to read in everyday use, even outdoors.
In the meantime, a refresh rate of 120 Hz no longer surprises us, even in the middle segment, and we would even call less a disadvantage. So we were surprised that we didn’t get the Nord 3 above 60Hz to begin with. After some searching in the settings, we figured out how to increase the refresh rate and see the display in its full 120Hz glory.
Under the hood we find a MediaTek Dimensity 9000. MediaTek considers this processor its top-of-the-line model and is comparable in performance to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1: the fixed processor in flagships from 2022. This is a testament to the great ambitions that OnePlus is expressing with the latest Nord.
The figures prove that these are not empty talks. The CPU values in particular put the competition from the Samsung camp, the Galaxy A54 and A34, in the right light. OnePlus performs significantly better per core as well as all eight cores added up.
The difference only becomes clear when we take a closer look at the GPU. The OnePlus Nord 3 delivers results here that we have never seen in the mid-range segment. That’s pretty noticeable, because historically, graphics isn’t where MediaTek excels. Motorola also has to get away with the Moto Edge 40, which is still a hundred euros more expensive, with its tail between its legs. The results of the OnePlus 11 show that there is still a gap to the premium segment.
After the strength tests, it’s time for the fitness test. Here we describe the performance of the Nord 3 as average: not outstanding, but not bad either. The Nord 3 adds another point to the Galaxy A54 and Motorola, the Samsung A34 proves to be a better marathon runner.
If the battery is empty, you are quickly refueled. After just under fifteen minutes we are back to fifty percent and within half an hour to eighty percent. Good times, but we’re pretty spoiled in that area, so that’s no more than we’re expecting.
The main camera is one of the great eye-catchers of this device. Not a Hasselblad like the OnePlus 11, but a main camera with a Sony IMX890 sensor (50 MP, f/1.8). Due to its size, the sensor lets through a lot of light, which should lead to more natural-looking images. The photos we take with the main camera look sharp and also very vivid.
Only with color correction do the algorithms sometimes work at full speed. With meadows, for example, it looks as if you were running a felt-tip pen over the grass. A bouquet of colorful flowers also stands out a little too conspicuously from the background.
OnePlus has slightly reduced the viewing angle of the wide-angle camera (8 MP, f/2.2) to 112°. But sometimes less is more because it makes the corners of your photo canvas less blurry. There is a noticeable difference in the lighting. Take a picture of the same landscape with the main camera and then with the wide-angle camera, it looks like someone outside the frame is playing with the light switch.
A 2 MP macro camera completes the list. With such a resolution, one cannot expect razor-sharp images. Portrait mode adjusts the pixel scarcity in the software enough to create nice close-up shots. There is no telephoto lens; Like other manufacturers, OnePlus keeps this exclusively for its flagships. Zooming in gives your photos a “painterly” effect.
There’s another 16MP sensor on the front that does little right or wrong. If you put all the cameras together, you have a high quality and complete camera line-up, with small imperfections here and there that have to be forgiven.
In recent years, the OxygenOS software shell has increasingly begun to merge with sister brand Oppo’s ColorOS. That led to some sloppiness in the software, as OnePlus had to figure out how to pour the Oppo elements into its own gravy. The biggest problems seem to have been overcome and OxygenOS has found oxygen again. It does take some practice to master all the gestures you use to navigate through the operating system.
What bothers us more is that OnePlus gives itself more freedom to install apps on the smartphone. Free and free you get apps like ZenSpace available and the manufacturer also hopes that users will use its internet browser instead of installing Chrome. Oftentimes, these apps remain untouched for a short period of time bloatware The reserved folder is retained.
OnePlus gets praise for expanding its support policy. The Nord 3 can expect three major software updates and four years of security updates, a year more than previous Nord devices. But if we’re critical, Samsung does even better at four and five years.
“If you are looking for a new device in this price segment, you will almost always end up with this phone.” We wrote that two years ago at the end of our test report on the Nord 2 and can almost repeat this conclusion for the Nord 3. The third generation is not only the new spearhead of the Nord family, but perhaps one of the very best devices you can find for under six hundred euros in 2023.
In fact, the OnePlus Nord 3 sets a new and high standard for what an “affordable” device must fulfil. At €549 for the top configuration (16GB/256GB) one might question how affordable the Nord 3 is for the average consumer, but there’s no question that you get a lot for the money you pay.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is available in two colors: black and light green/blue. The basic version gets 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB of storage and costs 449 euros. You pay 549 euros for 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. All above prices include VAT.
Android update policy: OnePlus guarantees that the Nord 3 will receive security updates for at least four years and OS updates for three years. This period begins with the launch of Android 13 on July 5, 2023.
Source: IT Daily
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
