OnePlus is a very popular name in the mid-range and flagship phone market. With the addition of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, the company looks to make a name in the budget section of that market. The phone does have a few issues but is a great device all things considered. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the company has taken a step in the right direction. The phone has managed to create a huge buzz in the market thanks to its attractive pricing. It comes in at a starting price of ₹19,999 (roughly $261), making it the most affordable OnePlus phone as of May 2022. The phone comes has two variants. Both have 128 GB of internal storage, with 6 GB and 8 GB of RAM.
The device supports a memory card, which not many budget mid-range phones offer. However, it has a Hybrid SIM tray, which can accommodate, at max, two Nano-SIM cards. OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G supports 5G connections besides 2G, 3G, and 4G. For colors, you get to choose between Black Dusk and Blue Tide. It is sturdy, and its plastic back is a combination of both glossy and matte finish. As you might have guessed already, the matte part does a good job resisting fingerprints, while the glossy part does exactly the opposite. The phone has an average weight of 195 grams, but it feels heavier on the lower side.
It has round edges which makes it easy to hold. Coming to its dimensions, the phone measures 6.47 by 2.98 by 0.33 inches. The phone’s display quality and multimedia experience are decent. It would have been better if OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G included an AMOLED screen and stereo speakers. You can get similar-priced phones that have both of these things. The phone has a 6.59-inch FHD+ IPS LCD screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 84.1% and a PPI (pixels per inch) density of 401. On the bright side of things, the phone has a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The phone delivers a smooth performance thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor. However, this isn’t the best phone in the budget if your main priority is gaming. The Adreno 619 GPU takes care of the phone’s gaming performance. On the software side, the device runs Android 12 with Oxygen 12.1 on top. You do get some unnecessary pre-installed apps, but those can be uninstalled. Coming to cameras, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G’s performance in well-lit conditions is satisfactory, but not in low-lighting ones. This is a common issue among most budget mid-range phones.
It has a 64 MP wide-angle, 2 MP macro, and 2 MP depth sensor camera on the back. The selfie work is handled by the 16 MP wide-angle front camera. OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G has all the usual camera features and sensors and can record videos in 1080p. At this price, the lack of 4K video recording support is a con. For communication, the phone supports USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go, GPS, Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a hotspot. What’s also a downside is the absence of NFC. Its battery backup is awesome as the 5000 mAh Li-Po battery can last a day on average use, even if the refresh rate is set to 120 Hz. It supports 33W fast charging, which is slightly on the lower side.
