OnePlus Nord CE5 Review: A Jack of All Trades, with a Masterly Battery!

OnePlus recently refreshed its Nord range, with the launch of two new Nord phones. One of these was the Nord flagship, the OnePlus Nord 5, which refreshed our memories of OnePlus’ flagship killer past, by delivering an experience that was very near to what you would get on a much over expensive phone at a lower price. Launched alongside this was the OnePlus Nord CE5, the more affordable and naturally, less powerfully specced brother of the OnePlus Nord 5. But while it might be a level below the Nord flagship, the CE (we hear it means “core experience”) avatar of the Nord 5 still comes with some rather impressive specs as well as upgrades as compared to its predecessor. At a starting price of Rs. 24,999, does the OnePlus Nord CE5 also hit a performance-price home run while offering a core experience?

OnePlus Nord CE5 Design and appearance: Not a head turner, but looks good

Many who saw the Nord CE5 with us told us that it looked a lot like the iPhone 16. This is mainly because of the color of the phone. We received the Nexus Blue color, which resembles the popular new Ultramarine of the iPhone 16. Adding more to the iPhone 16 feels is the vertical pill-shaped camera unit, on the top left side of the back. Apart from these design details, the Nord CE5 is a regular-looking device. It is available in two other colors, Marble Mist and Infinity Black. In our opinion, having the right color makes all the difference with the CE5. The Marble Mist is easily the most unique looking, with a swirly marble-like pattern with a hint of shimmer. The Nexus Blue looks striking because of its resemblance to the iPhone 16, and the most regular-looking one of the three is the Infinity Black variant, which looks like it would blend into a crowd of dark smartphones easily.

The front of the phone is regular-looking too: a tall display with a punch hole notch in the middle, on the top, and very thin bezels all around. The sides are flat, but the edges are curved, making the phone comfortable to hold. The left side is plain while the right has the power/lock button and the volume rocker – there is no Plus button (seen on the Nord 5 and the OnePlus 13s) on this one. The base carries the SIM card tray, the USB Type-C port, and the speaker grille. The pill-shaped camera unit at the back is slightly raised, and comes with an LED flash right next to it, and a OnePlus logo sits in the middle of the back (almost too subtle to notice at a glance).

The back also has a hint of shimmer, making it shine a bit under light on certain angles. The back and the frame are carbonate, but the whole still looks very classy. At 163.6 mm, the Nord CE5 is a tall phone. It is 76 mm wide, but is impressively slim at 8.2 mm, and at 199 grams, is relatively light for the massive battery it packs in (more on which later). It comes with IP65 dust and water resistance, making it safe from light splashes of water. There is no mention of Gorilla Glass protection on the phone, but OnePlus provides a lifetime guarantee from Green Line issues on the display.

OnePlus Nord CE5 Multimedia and gaming: Solid performer, but no stereo speakers!

OnePlus has paired the Nord CE5 with MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset– an amped up version of the processor which was introduced last year. This is paired with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage, or 12 GB of RAM with which can be expanded to up to 1 TB using a microSD card. The Mediatek Dimensity 8350 Apex is a clear notch above the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, which powered last year’s Nord CE. This step-up in processing power is reflected in the phone’s ability to handle power-hungry chores. Tasks like video editing or even some high-end games like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile played very well on the device, with some graphics tweaks. There was an odd lag here or there, but nothing that was a deal-breaker happened while we gamed away on the phone. The phone also did not heat up when we pushed it, which was also impressive. When it came to our daily tasks, the Nord CE5 handled them with ease. Whether it was jumping from one app to another, Instagram doomscroll sessions, general browsing, or casual gaming, the phone offered a consistent, lag-free experience.

Making gaming on the phone even better is a tall, bright 6.77-inch full HD+ Fluid AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. However, there are no stereo speakers, which is a major letdown at this price point. While the audio is loud enough (there is even an ultra volume mode for even higher volumes, if needed – and it works!), it lacks body and is a bit unidimensional. Consuming content on the phone is still a good experience, though not an outstanding one. The display is on par with what we get in this price band, but the absence of stereo speakers really takes the whole experience down a notch, whether it is gaming or binge-watching shows on the device. The in-display fingerprint scanner is swift and accurate, and the face unlock feature is a handy one too.

OnePlus Nord CE5 Cameras: The main and selfie sensors live it up, the ultrawide exists

The Nord CE5 also falls in the category of phones that bring an impressive main sensor and a less impressive secondary sensor to the photography table. The device comes with a 50 megapixel main Sony LYT-600 camera with OIS, paired with an 8 megapixel ultrawide sensor, very similar to the camera setup on the OnePlus Nord CE4. Not surprisingly, the star of the OnePlus’ photography show is the main sensor, but it does not shine too brightly either. Do not get us wrong, it can take some great shots in good light conditions where it manages to capture impressive amounts of detail and produce sharp colors (not very close to real ones, though). The images taken in enough light turn out pleasant. It is when light dims down that the phone struggles to capture details, and you end up with a noisy aftermath. Motion blur also tends to creep in very easily in low-light images, so you have to take shots with some patience.

The portrait mode performs well enough on most occasions, but the edges can sometimes get mixed with the background, and the focus does look artificial in most snaps. There is a Pro mode that offers some creative freedom and allows users to play around with settings. Other than that, you get a staple OnePlus camera app with similar modes and filters. You get access to Google Lens right from the app, there is a separate icon for exposure settings and features like interval shooting and Auto HDR, all of which come in quite handy. The UI is feature-loaded, but OnePlus has thankfully managed it well and kept it clean enough.

The secondary 8-megapixel sensor is best used for a change of angle and scene. It takes average daylight shots with a decent amount of detail and subpar low-light images. The phone is capable of capturing 4K video at up to 60fps. Thanks to OIS, videos turn out well on the OnePlus Nord CE5 with a good amount of detail, although the issue with colors persists. The phone has a 16-megapixel selfie sensor (OnePlus’ favorite selfie number) which takes good selfies in daylight conditions, and can deliver surprisingly good details. If you are interested in photography, we really think you should stick to the main sensor and do most of your shooting in good light conditions. The phone comes with AI tools such as AI Perfect Shot, AI Eraser, AI Reflection Remover, and AI Unblur, letting you do more with your snaps, although some of them can be a little hit and miss. Object Eraser, for instance, did not do a very tidy job more than once.

OnePlus Nord CE5 UI and battery: A little cluttered but with terrific battery life

The OnePlus Nord CE5 runs on Android 15, which is topped with OnePlus’ OxygenOS. However, the OxygenOS on the Nord CE5 is not like the one you get on the premium OnePlus 13, and comes with a number of pre-installed apps and can feel very heavy, especially if you are used to the minimalistic touch that old OxygenOS had. The software works smoothly, but it seems a little crowded and is becoming a little like its rivals.

That said, the interface comes with a number of features. Rather impressively, OnePlus has brought the split screen Open Canvas feature to the Nord CE5, letting you open two apps side by side or one below the other and even drag and drop content between – it works pretty well on the 6.77-inch display. The device also comes with OnePlus’ as well as Google’s AI features, such as Circle to Search, Gemini AI Assistant, AI Summary, AI Translate, AI Writer, and AI VoiceScribe. We were particularly impressed with AI VoiceScribe, which worked smoothly with a number of apps. The phone is promised four years of major software updates and six years of security patches, and also comes with what OnePlus calls six years of “certified fluency,” which basically means it will work smoothly for six years. All of which gets a big thumbs up from us.

Not only does the OnePlus Nord CE5 work smoothly. It has for quite a while. One of the biggest highlights of the OnePlus Nord CE5 is its battery. The phone comes with a huge 7,100 mAh battery, the biggest battery ever on a OnePlus device, and a surprisingly large one given the fact that the phone is on the slimmer side and not heavy. These mega mAHs are paired with 80W fast charging and a charger in the box as well.

It is no surprise that the phone can see you through even a very smartphone-wise packed day without any struggles on a single charge, but what is impressive is that we actually managed to get close to two days with moderate, everyday use on the phone. Fast charging support means the phone can get from zero to 100 percent in slightly over an hour, but you can easily get more than six hours of YouTube video with a simple 10-minute charge session. Although large batteries are becoming increasingly common in this segment, the OnePlus Nord CE5 is one of the battery champs in its zone. What’s more, OnePlus guarantees that the battery will deliver at least 80 percent of its certified capacity even after four years of use. Given how big that battery is, that is quite a guarantee.

OnePlus Nord CE5 Review Verdict: A contender, surrounded by competition

With a starting price of Rs. 24,999 for its base 8 GB/ 128 GB variant and with an 8 GB/ 256 GB variant available at Rs 26,999, the OnePlus Nord CE5 is comfortably one of the best phones you can get in a budget in the vicinity of Rs 25,000. We were especially impressed with its battery prowess, and we can see people liking its design (looking like the iPhone 16 is not a bad thing in this segment).

The phone does well in other departments too, generally delivering a smooth performance, handling gaming well, and comes with good main and selfie cameras. But good performer though it is, the Nord CE5 has a lot of competition to deal with. Interestingly, one of its biggest challenges comes from one of its co-founder’s new brands – the Nothing Phone (3a) comes with a very distinct design, clean interface and better camera set up and stereo speakers, although it has a much smaller battery and no charger. There are also the Poco X7 Pro and the iQOO Neo 10R that bring flagship-level processors to this segment, although they lose out on the battery and camera stakes.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 has its work cut out for it against this competition, but it remains a good device that ticks almost all boxes. It is a jack of all trades, and barring the battery, some would say that it seems to be a master of none. But that actually is its greatest strength – as the complete saying goes:

A Jack of all trades, master of none,
Though oftentimes better
Than a master of one.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 might not have a feature that screams for attention, but it comes with a clean design, remarkably consistent performance, a huge battery, and a price tag that remains firmly in the Nord CE range.

Buy OnePlus Nord CE5