It’s easy to criticize brands that have made their name on aggressively low price to performance when

they steadily bump up costs and move away from the “flagship killer” roots. However, the OnePlus Nord
feels like a step back and reassessment of what we should expect from future mid-rangers.

Corner cutting is always an area that has become a bugbear for OnePlus fans —and ourselves — but
when you consider that mid-range smartphones require some savage readjustments to meet pricing
demands, it’s more expected here. Because of that, it’s interesting to see just how OnePlus has achieved
said feat with the Nord.

In the past, the firm has struggled to pick the “right” areas to cut back. When the entire package is built
on this premise, it’s even harder to escape glaring holes on the checklist. Making big leaps into the mid-
range market means that the OnePlus Nord feels like a consequence of consumer pushback and a shift
in spending across the entire smartphone industry.

Realigning with the original OnePlus vision of flagship performance at an affordable price tag has
resulted in this great little package that is the OnePlus Nord.

Hardware and design

The OnePlus Nord feels like a real improvement over the OnePlus 8 in the design stakes — and more like
a real successor to the OnePlus 7T from a design perspective. The candy bar stylings of the Marble Blue
instantly attracts attention, especially in a sea of glass slabs.

This feels like a OnePlus smartphone, with the same soft curves and playful design choices. It’s a
lightweight handset but has a dense, packed feel in the palm that I think really helps enhance the faux-
premium feeling. Plastic isn’t a bad thing, as it can take punishment much more than soft metal, but you
can definitely tell.

I like how the OnePlus Nord feels eminently more compact than the massive OnePlus 8 Pro, while the
ever-so-slightly boxier backplate helps stabilize the handset when in your palm. I’m hoping that the
plastic side bezels don’t chip or scratch easily, but overall the package here just feels great to hold.