OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: budget topper with mediocre camera

The Nord CE 3 Lite is an entry-level mannequin for OnePlus, as a result of at 329 euros it’s the most cost-effective smartphone that the model has to supply. Whereas it makes use of the identical chipset as final 12 months’s CE 2 Lite (a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G SoC), OnePlus does promise a spread of upgrades, together with a greater digicam and quicker charging tech. Earlier than we go into extra element, let’s choose it on its appears.

Design

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is obtainable in Chromatic Grey and Pastel Lime (our model). We do like particular colours and for a price range gadget, the smartphone appears significantly good. At first look you’d assume that it’s an aluminum body, however each the again and the body are made fully of plastic. It additionally feels good and it’s nice that OnePlus nonetheless makes a superb impression with cheaper supplies. Most putting are the 2 enormous frames for the lenses. In line with OnePlus, this has nothing to do with performance, however was merely a design alternative. They need to characterize two drops or ripples within the water floor. From the facet view you may see that the sides across the cameras are properly rounded (like drops on a floor) and that makes the transition softer. The design language neatly matches that of the newest OnePlus smartphones, such because the 11 and 11R.

On the best facet of the gadget there’s solely an influence button that additionally homes a fingerprint scanner (and opens your telephone in a short time). We predict it is nice that the amount buttons (but additionally the SIM / microSD tray) are on the left, so it is not possible to overlook the button by contact. Maybe the most important shock in terms of connectivity is the three.5mm jack. We checked it out and OnePlus intentionally selected to supply a bodily port for headphones after suggestions from the group, as a result of it merely matches the price range idea. What we personally miss is the bodily alert slider to silence your telephone. Deliver that again, OnePlus! In case you have smaller arms, the Nord CE 3 Lite might not be the best choice for you, as a result of with a display diagonal of 6.72 inches, it’s already a big gadget. Luckily, the sides are flattened and the telephone is not going to simply slip out of your arms.

120-Hz-display

The show makes a superb compromise by holding the value down with an LCD one which helps as much as 120 Hz on the identical time. The refresh price is adaptive, though we discovered that automated switching was generally annoying when switching between apps. That is why we most popular a everlasting 120 Hz. The FHD+ decision of 2400 x 1080 pixels with its 391 dpi can also be simply first rate, however definitely not pin-sharp. The brightness is slightly restricted at 680 nits, which makes it tougher to view content material in full solar. Moreover, the animations look nice and the colours look clear. The Nord CE 3 Lite owes this partly to the light-footed Oxygen OS, which is the shell across the provided Android 13. Oxygen OS makes the gadget breathe and provides, as we’re used to, greater than sufficient choices for personalization and useful widgets. Essentially the most pointless function of the Nord CE 3 Lite is the ‘200% Extremely Quantity’. While you go to 100% quantity and switch the gadget even louder, the amount indicator turns purple and says ‘200%’. It ought to theoretically permit you to hearken to music with buddies when you do not have a Bluetooth speaker with you, however we worry it is going to trigger extra irritation than the rest. The speaker shouldn’t be precisely louder than that of our on a regular basis smartphone at most quantity and the sound can also be a bit extra metallic than with costlier telephones.

Efficiency & battery

As we talked about, the chipset has remained the identical as that of the Nord CE 2 Lite. It’s an efficient option to scale back prices and for an entry-level mannequin such because the Nord CE 3 Lite, we predict that alternative is fully justified. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 5G SoC is quick sufficient for on a regular basis duties, and with the refresh price at 120 Hz, you will not catch the smartphone stuttering. It additionally lends itself to some gentle gaming (we performed Name of Obligation: Cell and Pokémon Go), though the temperature of the gadget rises significantly. The smartphone is subsequently probably not made for gaming, however in case you are simply in search of a clean gadget, the CE 3 Lite is not going to allow you to down. The 8 GB of RAM can also be greater than sufficient, though OnePlus provides the choice of digital RAM for this gadget. You’ll be able to allow as much as 8 GB of your storage reminiscence (128 GB) as RAM. As with the 200% quantity, it’s a function that contributes little and was primarily added as a advertising and marketing gimmick. In any case, we couldn’t detect a measurable distinction, additionally as a result of 8 GB of RAM is in precept simply greater than sufficient to help the remainder of the {hardware}.

A severe enchancment over the brother from 2022 is the battery life. Though it’s the identical 5000 mAh battery, the CE 3 Lite helps SuperVOOC charging, which elevated the charging energy from 33W to 80W. We might simply use a working day with out the battery actually being utterly empty. In the event you have been to expire of juice all through the day, you may deliver it from 0 to 100% in precisely 40 minutes and that is nice.

Digicam’s

Regardless of its standing as a price range gadget, OnePus wished to focus primarily on the cameras with the Nord CE 3 Lite, because the advertising and marketing and design strategy confirmed. A superb decision of 108 MP ought to make the principle lens stand out. The 108 MP happened due to the well-known pixel binning method, whereby on this case 12 MP may very well be scaled up by an element of 9 to 108 MP. Though the decision is excessive, colours are slightly pale or washed out and the sensor appears too usually looking when there isn’t a vibrant gentle supply or a full solar within the space. Whereas there’s HDR help, it looks as if the chipset does not know what to do with it. The two-MP depth sensor does present the best perspective and sharp macro photographs. And never unimportant: the chipset’s AI help exhibits folks properly, leading to a pure (sensible) pores and skin tone. The portrait mode is subsequently by far the perfect digicam choice and it additionally works very properly together with the 32 MP selfie lens on the prime of the show. The CE 3 Lite is subsequently definitely ample for individuals who repeatedly take selfies and usually are not so choosy in terms of final sharpness or the best publicity. Filming can also be attainable in 1080p, at a most of 30 fps.

Last verdict

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite has wished to tell apart itself from its predecessor in two areas: with quicker charging know-how and higher cameras. Sadly, it’s a bit disappointing in that regard, though we’re after all spoiled by costlier smartphones. For 329 you get a really clean gadget with a 120-Hz display that the typical person is not going to complain about. Plus, it simply appears costlier than it’s. In the event you do not lose sleep over high-quality smartphone pictures, there’s a good probability that you can be higher off with the CE 3 Liter than with some other price range telephone.