OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Should You Buy It?
OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Display, battery, performance & OxygenOS experience. Honest insights to help you decide if it’s the right phone for you. So if you’re planning to buy it or just wondering if it’s worth your attention, this post is for you.
What’s Inside the Box?
You get a good quality grey TPU case, an 80W SuperVOOC charger, a red OnePlus charging cable (Type-A to Type-C), and a SIM ejector tool. Everything feels premium and ready to go right out of the box.
Design and Build
The OnePlus Nord 5 has a marble finish that really stands out. It looks and feels premium. The camera ring is metal, but the frame is plastic, which might disappoint a few. It weighs 213 grams, and it’s well balanced.
At the bottom, you’ll find a speaker grille, mic, USB Type-C 2.0 port, and SIM card tray. On the side, there’s the handy Plus key (similar to the OnePlus 13), and on top, there’s an IR blaster, speaker grille, and noise-cancelling mic. On the right, you get the power button and volume rocker.
One thing I liked it comes with Gorilla Glass 7i protection. Solid!
Display:
You’re looking at a 6.83 inch 1.5K AMOLED LTPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate (though it’s 120Hz by default, 144Hz kicks in during gaming).
- Brightness: 1400 nits HBM, 1800 nits peak brightness
- Bezels: Super thin, barely noticeable
- Screen-to-body ratio: 93%
I have to say, for a phone in the 25K-30K range, the display is impressive. It’s sharp, bright, and offers great viewing angles.
Performance:
It’s powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4nm). It’s a solid processor with an AnTuTu score touching 1.4 to 1.5 million. You can game at high settings and even upscale some games to 144Hz.
It also includes a massive 7300mm² vapor cooling chamber, so the phone doesn’t heat up quickly.
However, if this phone had launched under 25K, I would’ve called the performance excellent. At this price, phones with the 8s Gen 4 are already available, and they offer a slight edge.
Software Experience:
This is my favorite part. The OnePlus Nord 5 runs on Android 15 with OxygenOS on top. It’s fast, clean, and super customizable. You also get:
- 4 years of major updates
- 6 years of security updates
And yes, this phone is future proof.
The Plus Key is multifunctional. You can assign up to 7-8 actions to it very useful. You also get AI features like:
- Circle to Search
- Call Assistant
- Google Gemini integration
The call app is from OnePlus itself, so no issues with call recording. It works perfectly.
Sensors & Security
You get all the necessary sensors including:
- In display fingerprint sensor
- Face unlock
Both work fast and reliably.
Connectivity:
- 11 5G bands
- Dual 4G VoLTE
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.4
- NFC
- 5G Advanced support (you can get over 1 Gbps speed on a strong network)
It also has an IP65 rating. I would’ve preferred IP68 or IP69, but IP65 is still decent.
Camera:
This is where I felt the OnePlus Nord 5 could have done better. The rear camera setup includes:
- 50MP Sony LYT 700 (with OIS)
- 8MP Ultra Wide
There’s no telephoto lens, and honestly, I feel that should have been there at this price.
Selfies are handled by a 50MP front camera, which clicks sharp and detailed photos.
- Rear & Front Video: 4K at 60fps
- Ultra wide video: 1080p at 30fps
If camera quality is your top priority, there are better options available.
RAM & Storage
- Base variant: 8GB + 256GB
- RAM: LPDDR5X (8GB/12GB)
- Storage: UFS 3.1 (256GB/512GB)
I really wish OnePlus had gone for UFS 4.0 or 4.1. At this price, that’s expected.
Battery Life:
A huge 6800mAh battery powers the Nord 5. That’s easily 1.5 to 2 days of usage for most people.
Charging is fast too:
- 80W wired charging
- No wireless charging
- 0-100% in about 54-55 minutes
Battery performance is impressive. You won’t be hunting for a charger every few hours.
Final Verdict: Should You Buy the OnePlus Nord 5?
If you’re someone who wants a balanced smartphone with:
- A fantastic display
- Big battery
- Reliable performance
- Clean software
- Future proof updates
Then yes, theOnePlus Nord 5 is a solid choice.
But if you’re specifically looking for the best camera or the absolute best performance in this price range, you might want to explore other options.
Personally, I feel the phone deserved the 8s Gen 4 chip and a telephoto lens. But still, the overall user experience, OxygenOS, and battery life make it a great phone to consider. But if you want a OnePlus phone under 25 thousand, then you can definitely look at the OnePlus Nord CE 5.