Oneplus Nord Review: After a month 🔥 By GadgetByte

So this right here is the original OnePlus one that managed to completely disrupt the smartphone market back in 2014, with its top of the line spec sheet and a flagship killer price. However, things have changed since then, with the price of OnePlus phones gradually increasing with every iteration and the latest OnePlus 8 pro is now a full-fledged flagship phone and with OnePlus themselves creating a void in the mid-range smartphone market brands like Vito, have started launching the v series. Samsung has the galaxy a70 series and there's Realme with its x series and truth be told. None of these phones are perfect by any means. So when OnePlus finally launched the OnePlus note, I was so excited about it that I pre-ordered mine right away. Initially, I thought of getting the a128gb variant, but then I got myself the 12 to 56 GB one because well for less than 50 dollars, you're getting more ram and double the storage.

So why not? And it's been almost three weeks now that I have been using the OnePlus, not as my primary phone. I have also been comparing it against the VIVO v19 and the galaxy a71 to see if the OnePlus knot actually disrupts the contemporary mid-range smartphone market, starting with the design. I got myself, this blue marble color variant, which looks vibrant, and I really like it there's also another gray color variant, but I think OnePlus could have gone with more color options, because that would be really cool build wise. There is gorilla glass 5 on the front, as well as the back, which is pretty standard at this price. However, in one of the many processes for bringing the cost down, the node has an inferior plastic frame, and you know how it fared against Jerry, ring, everything's, fame durability, test to put a nice ring to the outcome of the test.

Mr Jerry bent it like Beckham, but obviously his test takes things to the extreme and does not reflect how one would normally use a phone. However, it definitely would have been nicer of OnePlus to go with a more durable metallic frame instead, because what I've generally found in such plastic frames is that they wear out in say like a year or two, but overall I like the design of the OnePlus word, and it feels comfortable on the hands too compared to the galaxy a71 that retails for a similar price as the word. The latter is a little heftier which I like. Likewise, you also get the signature slider that we've come to adore about an OnePlus phone. It's such a small feature that no other android OEMs has chosen to include it in their products, but makes such a difference in everyday usage more on the design in a typical 2020 fashion.

The word does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack or the support for expandable storage. On the front, you get a 6.4 inches fluid AMOLED panel with a 90 hertz refresh rate, that's quite the rare combo for a phone at this price point and the not having it is a pretty big deal for the future of mid-range devices, thanks to the smoother 90hz display. My experience with the OnePlus not was a bliss besides gaming itself, the UI transitions scrolling through Instagram feed or other websites. Everything is buttery smooth, but if you are up-to-date with OnePlus, not reviews from various tech reviewers, especially the ones from India, you might be concerned about a red tint issue under low brightness and a horizontal line near the pill shape cut out. However, I am happy to report that my unit is completely immune to those issues, so it looks like the problem with the display is almost entirely limited to the Indian retail units and if your OnePlus not suffers from the said issue, be sure to ask for a replacement, asap.

Okay, let me talk about the panel quality itself. Now the AMOLED screen on the north produces great colors with d blacks and therefore has an excellent contrast. Ratio brightness was sufficient, but compared to the ones on the galaxy a71 or VIVO's b19. It was a little dim, but I did not have any problem using it even on a bright sunny day and because it's an amulet panel, you can enjoy the dark mode. That has been almost flawlessly executed by OnePlus.

You can customize it under the display settings where there is also the option to turn it on automatically based on a predetermined schedule and with the upcoming oxygen OS 11. We will also be getting the long always awaited on display, and I am very excited to see it in action. All in all, the OnePlus word has an excellent display, thanks to the vibrant AMOLED panel, complemented by a smooth, 90hz refresh rate. So I can honestly say that this is one of the best displays you can get for this price. Now, let's get to the cameras all together.

There are six cameras on the OnePlus north four on the back and two on the front. The rear, quad camera setup is composed of a 48, megapixel Sony, mix, 586 sensors and 8 megapixels, ultra-wide angle, lens a 5 megapixel depth sensor and finally, a 2 megapixel macro camera. During my review, I tested them out against the cameras in Samsung Galaxy a71, starting with the underwhelming macro lens. The a71 was able to output better colors and details. On the other hand, the 2 megapixel macro camera on the OnePlus word is entirely gimmicky with no practical utility, but the 5 megapixel depth sensor does a pretty decent job and its both effects are quite impressive.

Although the edge detection is far from perfect, as you can see, you get a nice enough. Subject, focus and the background looks nice too, compared to the a71. They are more or less similar, but in some scenarios the a71 does a slightly better job. Getting to the images from the 48 megapixel primary camera. I must say that they have an awesome bit of detail.

Despite this, the color reproduction is a little on the unnatural side and the word also overcompensates the contrast, while the images are over saturated as well, but overall the photos look pleasing, comparing it with the a71. The images from the OnePlus word look a little dark because of the extensive contrast I mentioned earlier. As a result, the galaxy a71's photos look more balanced while they look more or less similar. In most cases, ultra-wide angle, images from the OnePlus note, are good, too, with decent colors and details, but once again bringing a 71 into the mix. Its wide angle, images have a wider field of view and slightly better colors.

Even with all this, the word's 8 megapixel ultra-wide angle. Camera is good enough, but it's just that the images turn out looking a little darker than you would like coming forward. OnePlus not is the company's first smartphone with dual selfie cameras, its 32 megapixel primary wide lens and an 8 megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor have been fitted inside a pill, shaped cutout in the top left corner of the display selfies from the primary camera, look, vibrant and the subject's skin color, as well as the background come out pleasant. However, they are a little smooth in here. In contrast, selfies from the galaxy 71 are void of such built-in smoothening, and the color tone has a slightly reddish tint to it that I prefer moving on the ultra-wide angle, selfies on the word gives out more or less similar images like the primary selfie camera.

However, they lack the detail and sharpness compared to the ones from the 32 megapixel sensor, but at the end of the day, your group selfies are going to look acceptably Instagrammable in terms of low-light photography. I tested out OnePlus knots capability on multiple locations, and usually they have good details. There's also a dedicated nights cape feature that enhances visibility and details in dark environments. While it does not compare to the night mode on the more expensive flagship phones, it does make the nighttime images look a lot better. Similarly, knot's ultra-wide angle lens can take low light shots as well, even though they're terrible regarding details.

Turning on nights cape tries to save grace and improves the details by a tiny bit still not in the way that you like it to be videography wise, the OnePlus not maxes out at 4k 30fps, which is another rare and often overlooked, feature on a mid-range device. The stabilization works great here and overall, the videos have good colors and dynamic range. Interestingly, the selfie camera on the OnePlus note can shoot up to 4k resolution and 30 fps and even though it does not have a dedicated stabilization system, the recordings look good enough. So if you're into vlogging and such the OnePlus knot could be a good option for you. Overall, the cameras on the OnePlus knot are sufficiently average and nothing groundbreaking.

It is definitely not as good as the Pixel 4a, but as compared to the galaxy a71 and the VIVO v19. It is definitely on par, but personally I think it could have been a lot better if OnePlus had gone with the newer Sony imx686 sensor rather than the aging Sony mx586, the OnePlus knot is powered by Qualcomm's excellent mid-range chipset, the snapdragon 765g with the last generation ddr4x ram and UFS 2.1 storage OnePlus claims that they have greatly optimized this soc for the word, and it really shows under normal or even heavy usage, the phone handles them with ease with a few exceptions. Obviously, the 765g is not as fast as last year's or this year's flagship chipsets, but the 765g is one of the cheapest snapdragon chipsets, with an integrated 5g modem, with support for both sub 6 gigahertz and millimeter wave of 5g spectrum, and since this phone is launching in many countries where 5g is already available. So maybe this was the best viable option for OnePlus. But if you are someone who's living in South Asia, you might be thinking, maybe if it had the snapdragon 855 instead.

So because of this, the word does not hold up against similarly priced smartphones like the Redmi k20 pro or the Realme x3, especially when it comes to graphic intensive games. Talking about gaming, the combo of snapdragon 765g and the 90 hertz display really brings out a smooth playing experience. I extensively played PUBG mobile on the phone under HD, graphics and high frame rates in this setting. I got a stable fps, while it bumped to 40 fps under smooth graphics and ultra frame rates. Unfortunately, that's about it and expecting a much smoother 60fps gameplay on the OnePlus.

Word is unachievable, at least for now in topical news. Different OnePlus devices like the 7 pro 70, and the 8 series exclusively support, 90 fps gameplay on PUBG and seeing the OnePlus not miss out on this feels like a major bummer, but I did not notice any lag or touch latency in high settings, which is largely thanks to its quick, 180hz dot sampling rate. Additionally, I also tried out asphalt, 9, and you can imagine how it performed since it's a relatively undemanding title. Besides gaming OnePlus word is a speed champ in practically every other use case because of the beloved oxygen OS. It has a clean, bloat-free, customizable and stock android like design.

You can change the UI's theme color too, the icon design is not overdone either with all this and more oxygen. Os still remains one of my favorite android skins. To date, word's AMOLED display also houses an optical in-display, fingerprint sensor, which is lightning fast and pretty darn accurate. Also, when registering your fingerprint, you get a nice and strong haptic feedback, although it does not compare to the flagship series. The audio output is quite average from the single firing bottom speaker, but what I like about it is even in high volumes, it manages to deliver a balanced, sound quality moving to the battery OnePlus word comes with a decent 415 William hour cell, with support for 30 watt warp charge.30 t fast charging because of its user switchable refresh rate between either 60hz or 90 hertz trilby told the net battery endurance is not going to be uniform among the users, so I tested it out against both and obviously the results varied under 60 hertz. I got about a day and a little more battery life, while the stat reduced to just a day when using under a smooth, 90 hertz refresh rate.

Furthermore, I tried a light wallpaper for a couple of charge cycles and that consumed an additional 10 battery life when it comes to charging the 30 watt wired fast charging is incredible. During my test. It charged up my OnePlus note from 0 to 100 in exactly an hour, while 30 minutes of charge takes the phone to 60. As expected, it does not support wireless charging. Now it's time to wrap it all up.

I think the OnePlus knot is an exciting smartphone for its price. Its launch comes in an interesting time and here's what I think, first, it gives into the demands of those who are looking for a cheaper OnePlus device. Secondly, the OnePlus not also promises a certain level of performance, that's acceptable to the mainstream smartphone buyers at a price that warrants the question are expensive flagship phones worth it all in all, the OnePlus note challenges the mid-range smartphone market status core just like how the original OnePlus one did with the flagship market, redefining just how good an inexpensive phone can be and if you're someone who seeks great performance but does not want to or cannot cash in a ton of money, the OnePlus knot could be your best shot. So that was all for our extensive review of the OnePlus knot. Do let us know in the comments below if you would like to see a comparison between the OnePlus knot and the iPhone SC 2020.

Till then, I'm pratimadikari, and thank you so much for watching.

Source : GadgetByte