In Summary
- The OnePlus Nord 5 is the latest flagship of OnePlus’ Nord series of mid-segment devices.
- Whereas the OnePlus Nord 4 had grabbed attention in 2024 with a metal back, the Nord 5 goes back to a more conventional glass back, but comes with considerably superior hardware, including a Snapdragon 8 series chip and the most powerful selfie camera seen on a OnePlus.
- It boasts an elegant design and impressive hardware and comes with a price tag that is actually lower than that of the OnePlus Nord 4, but the OnePlus Nord 5 still faces some very serious competition from potential budget flagships that are in the mid-segment, most notably the iQOO Neo 10 and the Poco F7!
After surprising everyone with a radical design with the OnePlus Nord 4, OnePlus has decided to raise eyebrows with hardware on the Nord 5. The Nord 5 is the first device in the Nord series to come with Qualcomm’s flagship-level Snapdragon 8 series processor, and also boasts some significant specs and software muscle. However, it will have its hands full in a super competitive market.
Table of Contents
OnePlus Nord 5 Appearance and design: Back to glass!
The OnePlus Nord 4 was one of the most differently designed phones of 2024, throwing in a metal back in a room full of glass ones. With the Nord 5, OnePlus has, however, moved back to a slightly more conventional design drawing board. The Nord 5 comes with a glass front and back, with a carbonate frame (an odd decision) in the middle.
Gone is the metal back with its distinctive textures, which used to make the Nord 4 stand out in the smartphone crowd. But while it may not look as distinctive as the Nord 4, the Nord 5 does look very understated and elegant on its own. We got the Marble Sands variant, and its textured back reflected light in patterns that gave it a very silky and marble-like look, with a pill-shaped dark camera unit on the upper left-hand portion. The left side of the phone features the Plus button that has replaced the famous alert slider and was first seen on the OnePlus 13s, while the right side has the volume rocker and power/display buttons, both of which seem placed a little on the high side. The base has a speaker grille, SIM card tray, and USB Type-C port, while the top is bare, except for an infrared blaster. The bluish Dry Ice and dark Phantom Grey look good too, but if you want to grab some attention, go for the Marble Sands one and use it without the bundled grey cover (a transparent one works best with this!).
At 163.4 mm, the Nord 5 is a tall phone (the iPhone 16 Pro Max is 163 mm, for the sake of comparison), although it is relatively slim at 8.1 mm. It weighs 211 grams, which is not too heavy for its size, but is not exactly light either. The front of the phone is protected by Gorilla Glass 7i, and the phone comes with IP65 dust and water protection, which protects it from water splashes and a light drizzle, but not from a fall in fluid. The OnePlus Nord 5 will not get the sort of attention that the Nord 4 did, but it is definitely a very good-looking phone, especially if you opt for the Marble Sands version.
OnePlus Nord 5 specs: Getting into the Snapdragon 8 zone
With the Nord 5, the Nord series gets closer to the budget flagship zone in spec terms. The phone is the first Nord to run on a Snapdragon 8 series chip, which is normally seen in flagships. It runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, which is a little on the older side – we are seeing devices running on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 in the market already at comparative prices. This is paired with RAM and storage variants of 8 GB/ 256 GB, 12 GB/ 256 GB, and 12 GB/512 GB – there is no 8 GB/ 128 GB variant as was seen in the Nord 4. The RAM used is LPDDR5X, but the storage is UFS 3.1, which is a little odd when you consider that UFS 4.0 storage devices are available in the market at similar prices. The display gets a significant bump up – it is a swift AMOLED display of 6.83 inches as compared to 6.74 on the Nord 4, with a resolution of 2800 x 1272, a very impressive refresh rate of 144 Hz, and typical brightness of 800 nits and peak brightness of 1800 nits.
The camera department has got a spec boost too – the back has a 50 megapixel main and 8 megapixel ultrawide as on the Nord 4, but the main sensor is now a Sony LYT-700 of 1/1.56 inch size (the Nord 4 had Sony LYT-600 and was 1/1.96 inches). Even more significantly, the selfie camera is a 50-megapixel one and has autofocus, making it the most powerful selfie camera on a OnePlus. The phone packs in a large 6800 mAh battery with support for 80W charging (and an 80W charger in the box), as compared to the 5200 mAh battery on the Nord 4 (although that came with 100W charging). This being a OnePlus device, the interface is the famous OxygenOS on top of Android 15, with an assurance of four major OS updates and six years of security updates. In terms of spec sheets, the Nord 5 is a clear step ahead of the Nord 4. However, it is not a runaway leader in the segment, with devices like the Poco F7 and iQOO Neo 10 with comparable (and some might say better) specs in its price vicinity.
OnePlus Nord 5 camera performance: Main and selfie stars
OnePlus has heavily marketed the two 50 megapixel cameras on the Nord 5 (one in front and one in the back), calling them “born for the night,” and they are certainly among the best in the segment. Interestingly, while both capture plenty of detail, it is the selfie camera that seems to be a little more realistic in the color department, while the rear camera gets into poppy and bright colors mode (especially after a recent update). Low light performance is good for the price segment from both cameras, with the rear one being especially good in terms of delivering surprisingly good colours. There is no telephoto sensor here, but one can get 2x lossless zoom from the main sensor via cropping, and the results are pretty good there.
The performance of the ultrawide is a bit of a letdown in comparison to the main and selfie cameras, and it is best used to get a different perspective. This is evident in videos too, where the main camera delivers a very steady performance even in low light, and the selfie camera delivers content creator-level selfie videos, giving the Vivo V series devices a run for their money. However, the ultrawide is again of limited utility here. There are plenty of AI tools onboard to let you tweak images and videos, too.
We would have liked a good telephoto along with the main sensor here (the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has spoilt us in that regard), but even without it, the Nord 5 easily brings the best cameras we have seen on a Nord device, and its main and selfie sensors actually deliver better results than even those on the OnePlus 13R (although that phone does have a telephoto).
OnePlus Nord 5 performance: Knocking on flagship doors
Its combination of a flagship-level processor, a very good and super-responsive 144 Hz display, and good stereo speakers makes the OnePlus Nord 5 a very good device for multimedia and gaming. Games like Call of Duty and the Asphalt racing series ran smoothly on the device, and even Genshin Impact generally played well, with some lag creeping in only in very crowded scenes. The speakers churned out some very good sound, and remarkably, the phone did not heat up excessively even through extended gaming sessions. In terms of gaming, the OnePlus Nord 5 is easily up there with the best in its price segment, and perhaps only slightly below the likes of the Poco F7 and iQOO Neo 10.
OxygenOS runs very smoothly on the phone, although it does come with some bloatware (which can be uninstalled). The phone sails through routine every day tasks like mail, messaging, social media, and basic image and video editing, without a hitch, and that large display is great for browsing the Web and viewing content. The Plus key/button on the left side of the display works well too – you can customise it to handle functions like camera, do not disturb, torch, AI Translate, screenshot and so on (it is set to alternate between silent, vibrate and ring modes, mimicking the basic alert slider functions), and also use it to access Plus Mind which will analyze whatever is on the screen and suggest actions (for instance, if you are looking at food, it will suggest ordering it and so on).
The Nord 5 also comes with OnePlus AI alongside Google’s AI tools, with features like AI Writer, AI Perfect Shot, and AI Unblur, all of which work very smoothly, giving us one of the best AI performances we have seen in the segment. Also present on the OnePlus Nord 5 is the Open Canvas feature, which was seen on the OnePlus Open and lets you open three apps on a single screen. All in all, the OnePlus Nord 5 is a very good performer, which is closer to a budget flagship than a premium mid-segment.
OnePlus Nord 5 Battery and Charging speed: Big battery that charges fast
The OnePlus Nord 5 comes with a massive 6800 mAh battery, which is one of the largest seen on a OnePlus device (only the OnePlus Nord CE 5 has a larger one at 7100 mAh). We easily got through a day and a half of normal usage and could even get to two days with a little care on a single charge. The phone comes with 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging, and an 80W charger in the box, which gets the phone fully charged in about an hour. That might not sound as insanely fast as some other phones, but when you consider that even 50 percent of the battery of the Nord 5 is enough to see you through close to a full day’s use, it is pretty handy indeed.
OnePlus Nord 5 pricing: Lower price and better specs than the Nord 4
The OnePlus Nord 5 is available in three RAM and storage variants at these prices:
- 8 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 31,999
- 12 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 34,999
- 12 GB/ 512 GB: Rs 37,999
It would seem that the Nord 5 has a slightly higher starting price than the OnePlus Nord 4, which started at Rs 29,999, but that was for an 8 GB/ 128 GB variant. The 8 GB / 256 GB variant of the Nord 4 was priced at Rs 32,999, which is actually slightly higher than the similar variant of the Nord 5. But even at this price, it faces some very serious competition. The biggest headache for it is likely to be the just-released Poco F7, which comes with a superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip and a 12 GB/ 256 GB variant starting at the same price as the 8 GB/ 256 GB variant of the Nord 5 – Rs 31,999. The Poco F7 also boasts a bigger battery, UFS 4.1 storage, and a very striking design. Another challenger is the iQOO Neo 10, which also boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip and starts at Rs 31,999 for an 8 GB/ 128 GB variant, and again has an eye-catching design and a larger battery.
OnePlus Nord 5 Review Verdict: A classically Nord-ic all-rounder
At its starting price of Rs 31,999, the OnePlus Nord 5 is a very good value for money for those who want a phone that pretty much does it all. In many ways, it is a classic Nord, but with innards that are close to budget flagship level. It ticks most mid-segment boxes and has no deal-breaking shortcomings. Those who want brute processing power might prefer the Poco F7 or the iQOO Neo 10, but those who want an all-rounder are likely to prefer the Nord 5 for its better main and selfie cameras, and also the slightly more rounded experience from Oxygen OS. This is not to say that it is perfect.
We would have loved a better secondary camera on the back and an IP68 rating, and we would be lying if we said we did not miss the stand-out metal-infused design of the Nord 4, but there is still a lot to like in the Nord 5, simply because it does everything well, from handling games to taking pictures to getting through long doomscrolling sessions. And if you look closely, it even looks good on a table. This is one for Nordic Never Settlers.
