OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Smartphone Review – The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone was released on April 2023 as a budget entry to the Nord series of smartphones. The Nord series of smartphones are already a cheaper alternative to the regular OnePlus smartphones and the Lite variant comes at an even cheaper price tag. But to reach such a lower price tag, companies usually compromise on the quality and specification of the components inside the smartphone.
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite delivers a decent smartphone experience without too much of a compromise. The Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone comes with 5G support and is available in the global market. It is an upgraded variant of last year’s OnePlus Nord CE2 Lite smartphone. Let’s find out what this phone has to offer for its user. There’s one way of finding and that is through a detailed OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone review.
Table of Contents
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite features a 6.72-inch IPS LDC panel with FHD resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.
- The phone is powered by the popular Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, manufactured on a 6nm node.
- The smartphone is pre-loaded with Android 13 OS out of the box with OxygenOS 13.1 UI.
- The phone has a 108MP main camera on the back and a 16MP selfie camera on the front.
- The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite also has a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery with 67W of fast charging support.
Design and Display
The design of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone has seen some substantial change compared to last year’s Nord CE 2 Lite 5G model. The changes come in the form of camera design and the shape of the smartphone. The rectangular camera island is now replaced by two individually round cameras. The body of the phone also saw some significant changes and the flat sides allow for a better grip.
What doesn’t feel great is the use of a plastic frame for the construction of the body. As for colors, the phone is available in Chromatic Gray and Pastel Lime. When it comes to the display, the phone features a 6.72-inch IPS LCD display panel with FHD resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a bright 680 nits panel. Now, that 680 nits of brightness are peak brightness, which will only activate when you are under direct sunlight and that’s enough bright. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, but the company hasn’t specified the exact model.
Memory and Internal
The chipset powering the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone is the 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor. It is one of the most popular chipsets of 2023 which also support 5G. Almost every mid-range smartphone has this chipset, but that’s a good thing since this chipset is a very capable one. It clocks at 2x 2.2GHz speed and can easily run any app on the smartphone. However, given that it’s OnePlus we are talking about, we were hoping for an even better chipset.
When it comes to gaming, the Adreno 619 GPU can easily run popular games with smooth and stutter-free gameplay. The chipset runs relatively cool and doesn’t overheat much. The phone comes in two variants: 8GB of RAM & 128GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM & 256GB of internal storage. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone is running on Android 13 OS with OxygenOS 13.1 custom Interface. The smartphone also has support for 5G connectivity and a shared SIM micro SD card slot.
Camera
The smartphone has a 108MP main camera system, but that’s kind of an overstatement. That’s because, out of the three rear cameras, two of them are completely useless. It consists of just a 2MP macro and 2MP depth sensor. You don’t really need a depth sensor for portrait mode. These days, the portrait mode is done completely by AI software. However, the main 108MP camera is actually quite good for daylight photography. It manages to shoot some great pictures that have a good amount of detail with rich colors. Even the sharpness is one point and the pictures look quite natural.
The same goes for the 16MP selfie camera sensor. Its detail level is on point and manages to capture the natural skin tone of human subjects. Even during the night, the images coming out of the rear cameras and the selfie sensors are decent thanks to the use of the LED flash, HDR, and Panora. When it comes to video recording, both the main and the selfie cameras can shoot videos at a maximum of 1080p@30fps.
Battery and Others
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone has a huge Li-Po 5000 mAh battery inside. It will provide you with a full-day battery backup, even with heavy usage, thanks to the use of power-efficient, 6nm manufacturing technology, and a large battery capacity. But if you are a heavy gamer, then the battery may not last a full day. But when you do lose power, you will be happy to know that the smartphone has support for up to 67W of fast wired charger which can charge the phone to 80% in just 30 minutes.
The charger also comes included in the box which is quite good. Apart from that, the phone has support for Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, NFC, GPS, stereo speakers, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The side-mounting fingerprint is quite fast and to put the cherry on top, it still has the 3.5mm headphone jack. As for pricing, the phone starts at $249 (Rs 19,990 in India) approx.
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Pros and Cons
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone.
| Specifications | OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | April 2023 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.52 x 2.99 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 195 g |
| Size | 6.72 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 120Hz 550-680 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~391 PPI density |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, OxygenOS 13.1 |
| 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 | 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 108 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (macro) 2 MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 16 MP (wide) HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | Yes (market/region dependent) |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh 67W wired |
| Colors | Pastel Lime, Chromatic Gray |
| Expected Price | $249 (Rs 19,990 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone is a decent smartphone and capable of performing all day-to-day tasks. It has a great display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a decent chipset, a decent camera, and excellent battery life are the main attraction of this phone. OnePlus has managed to deliver an excellent experience for the price it asks for and that’s the point. It is an almost no-compromise smartphone, but only in the same price category.
If it was priced slightly higher, it would have missed its mark. Overall the Nord CE 3 Lite smartphone will provide a decent experience to its users. There are many other smartphones available in the same price range, and if you are looking for an alternative option, then you can check out the Realme 10T 5G smartphone, which has similar specs and a lower price.
