OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite Smartphone Review – The OnePlus is diverting their smartphone ranges to the bottom of the mid-range to showcase that they are willing to any extent to grab new customers. This stuff will work as there is only a handful of smartphones in the budget range that provide a clean UI experience, while Motorola has been there for the longest, the recent entry of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone will lead to a new level of hope for the users.
The phone unveil to the world in April 2022, and we have finally got the device in the review house. It’s a brilliant smartphone that grants most of the necessary features with lots of exciting stuff that generally missing in the same price range. Furthermore, the first impression is splendid as the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G got a decent display, 5G connectivity, a powerful chipset, impressive UI, good enough camera results, and ample battery life. Though we just have reached the surface, let’s head toward the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G review to find out more details about this phone.
Table of Contents
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The phone comes with a standard 6.59-inches IPS LCD panel that renders a 120Hz refresh rate.
- For the hardware, the company includes a Snapdragon 695 5G chipset with an Adreno 619 GPU.
- In terms of software support, the device brings the latest Android 12 with OxygenOS 13 skin.
- Moving to the camera, it holds a 64MP triple camera setup with a 16MP selfie lens.
- As for the battery section, a Li-Po 5000 mAh massive battery fuel through a regular 33W fast charger.
Design and Display
The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone comes with a simplistic and minimalistic design layout that grants a premium feel, while the back panel is divided into two sections. The camera module section has a glossy finish, and the other part has a matte finish, which gives the phone an appealing look. But at the same time, there’s no denying that it gives similar vibes to the Xiaomi Poco M4 design.
Anyway, you can purchase this device in two amazing shade options. It includes the classic Black Dusk that grants a professional feeling. But if you are looking for something out of the box and fancy, the Blue Tide color variant is designed for you only. Now, speaking of the build quality, the plastic body doesn’t feel inexpensive compared to the same range of phones and grants a slim build to give a proper holding experience.
Aside from this, the front display comes with a dot-notch 6.59-inch IPS LCD panel. Besides, you won’t notice bezels on the front screen, and the colors and contrast are pretty accurate. Though there are several things that this phone is lacking, it’s good to see a 120Hz refresh rate. Sadly, you won’t notice corning glass protection or better brightness nits support here.
Memory and Internal
The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone performance review is average if you are a heavy user. But if you are a normal user, the phone won’t disappoint in any manner, it provides decent multitasking support with a subtle gaming experience and 5G connectivity through a 6nm Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 chipset. Though you might not get all the 5G features available in other brands’ phones because the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite is a mid-range budget 5g phone.
But at the same time, it’s far better to choose than any other affordable 5G phone. The visual aspect improves a bit with the Adreno 619 GPU that smoothly handles graphic processing. Plus, you can play advanced games for a few hours. But long gaming sessions will cause overheating issues. Anyway, the software end of the Nord CE 2 Lite is superb as you can customize the interface as your wish.
The phone is led by the latest Android 12 (upgradable to Android 13) based on OxygenOS 13, which can fulfill all of your requirements for daily usage. Furthermore, the interface doesn’t have many bloatware apps. Following this, the user can choose between two storage variants as their wish. You are getting 128GB UFS 2.2 storage that will club with 6GB to 8GB RAM support. Besides this, you can utilize a shared SIM slot for storage expansion.
Camera
The camera quality of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone is good according to the mid-range segment phones. You won’t notice multiple problems with the 64MP primary lens photos as they will provide an appropriate amount of color saturation, sharp colors, and exposure in daylight. The same goes for lowlight photos, and you won’t see much noise while taking images in the dark.
But, make sure to enable night mode to avoid any trouble. Aside from this, the phone also provides a combo of 2MP depth and a 2MP macro lens that will handle portrait mode and macro shoots. Although, they don’t impact the overall image quality as the majority of work is performed through the software end. Anyway, the portrait photos come out great and have smooth details. But the camera app struggles to take moving object photos.
However, you can use the Pro mode to adjust different aspects of photos and get the best results, while the 16MP selfie camera relies on the camera app to gain better colors and contrast. The selfie photos are adequate, and you can record up to 1080p videos from both side camera modules. But sadly, the company doesn’t deliver video stabilization support on this phone.
Battery and Others
Battery life is an important end when you are purchasing any smartphone. OnePlus Nord CE 2 lite smartphone brings a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery that can precisely handle your daily dose of the Internet, gaming, and multimedia usage. Generally, the device will grant up to 6+ hours of screen time for your regular activities, while after four hours of gaming, roughly 20% battery will remain.
Overall, the battery optimization is superb, and the smartphone makers supply a 33W fast charger inside the box. Through this, refuel the phone in an hour and a half without any difficulties. As for the additional features, it’s one of the few phones that has a 3.5 mm jack and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Speaking of which, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone cost $205 (Rs. 16,930 in India) approx, which is an excellent deal for a budget 5G phone.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite Pros and Cons
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite smartphone.
| Specifications | OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | April 2022 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.47 x 2.98 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 195 g |
| Size | 6.59 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 120Hz 20:9 ratio ~401 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2412 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, OxygenOS 12.1 |
| Chipset | 6nm – Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver |
| GPU | Adreno 619 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 64 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (macro) 2 MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 16MP (wide) HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh Fast charging 33W |
| Colors | Black Dusk, Blue Tide |
| Expected Price | $205 (Rs. 16,930 in India) approx |
Conclusion
Overall, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite is an amazing phone that has a pretty good set of specs and compelling features to appeal to interested buyers. The phone comes with a decent 5G chipset, processing speed, and average camera support in the budget range. But if you are looking for a phone that will provide a complete package, then Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is a fabulous deal under $250.
Though at the same time, the phone is not flawless, there are a few sections where the phone doesn’t perform well such as camera, processing speed, and customization. In that case, choosing alternative options is a better deal for many people, and you will find various other options on the internet. One of them is the Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G, which has better customization perks with better camera results.
