OnePlus Nord - Vídeo prático e de descaixotamento do carro-chefe do orçamento
OnePlus diz por si só que seus ventiladores são muito importantes para a empresa. O fabricante está em constante intercâmbio com a comunidade, e o que se ouviu lá após o lançamento do OnePlus 8 e do OnePlus 8 Pro foi provavelmente bastante claro: O fabricante, que antes se comprometia a incomodar os fabricantes estabelecidos e suas caras bandeiras com seus próprios dispositivos de ponta, muito mais baratos, agora se tornou uma marca premium em si, onde os preços premium também foram estabelecidos. E, compreensivelmente, muitos fãs de longa data não estavam muito satisfeitos com isso.
O apelo por um dispositivo OnePlus barato que remonta às raízes do fabricante, por assim dizer, se tornou alto, e agora o OnePlus já fez a entrega: Não apenas o OnePlus Nord deve atrair a atenção com seu nome particular, mas também deve fornecer as melhores especificações a preços acessíveis novamente.
Nossa primeira impressão após o desboxe confirma definitivamente a afirmação de alta qualidade da OnePlus Nord: O smartphone é solidamente fabricado e fica bem na mão. O OnePlus Nord é um smartphone de tamanho médio, provavelmente ainda muito grande para mãos pequenas, mas também não um telefone celular gigante como o OnePlus 8 Pro.
Podemos confirmar a presença de luneis de tela finos, bem como a boa colocação da câmera de furo duplo, que não atrai muita atenção ou interrompe quando são usadas imagens de fundo inteligentes.
Recebemos a versão azul do smartphone, uma versão mais discreta em cinza também está disponível no lançamento.
Configuration
The OnePlus Nord's specs aren't bad for a device that you can get for under 400 Euros (~$463): A 90 Hz display, 5G, four cameras at the back and two at the front, fast-charging technology at up to 30 watts, and a lot of storage.
Specifically, the OnePlus Nord is available in the following storage configurations:
- 8 GB of RAM / 128 GB of storage: 399 Euros (~$462)
- 12 GB of RAM / 256 GB of storage: 499 Euros (~$578)
Are there also things that worry us at first sight? Well, the battery doesn't seem to be particularly powerful at 4,115 mAh, which could limit the smartphone's runtimes. The SoC isn't the absolute best but the Snapdragon 765G upper-class model instead. This should offer more than enough power for most apps, but the performance gap to more-expensive flagships should be noticeable.
There is no Wi-Fi 6, which could scare off fans of fast network connections. The display's 1080p resolution is surpassed by some more-expensive smartphones, but it's entirely sufficient for the screen size to render a sharp image.
But we are, of course, nitpicking here since the configuration is still very good for a smartphone in this price range.
Camera
Of the four camera lenses on the back, three can be used to take stand-alone photos: With 48 megapixels and pixel-binning, the main camera combines four pixels into one by default to produce 12-megapixel photos with a high light output. In addition, there's a wide-angle and a macro lens that has a very low resolution of 2 megapixels, though. The fourth lens is used to obtain depth information for portrait shots.
Our first impression of the camera is good: The photos taken with the main camera look colorful and sharp even in not-quite-optimal lighting conditions. The wide-angle camera takes decent pictures too, and due to the different levels of zoom provided by the lenses, there is quite some flexibility at the time of composing a photo. Since OnePlus wants to keep tuning the camera software until the time of release, we're not allowed to publish any sample photos until the final review is done.
There are also two cameras on the front: A normal and a wide-angle lens. You can only switch between them but not zoom. Pictures taken with these lenses quickly look overexposed in bright environments, but as already mentioned, OnePlus still has time to improve the camera.
Preliminary verdict
The OnePlus Nord is a device at a competitive price that looks high-quality at first glance and comes with a lot of features: Four cameras at the back, two at the front, a 90 Hz display, 5G, and also generous storage options. It inherits the smooth and modern operating system from its more-expensive siblings as well as the quick-charging technology.
The battery and processor have yet to prove to us in the test that they can keep up with the performance of actual high-end devices. In addition, there's no WiFi 6, which is a pity for now.
The OnePlus Nord offers a lot, but it also has to assert itself against tough competition. The review will definitely be exciting.
If the OnePlus One and its direct successors were still price breakers and had hardly any real competition, things look different today: Even the most established vendors have woken up and now offer cheaper alternatives with an interesting price-performance ratio. So it will be interesting to see how the OnePlus Nord performs in this new environment and whether it still deserves the title of price breaker.
We already have the test device here, but due to the embargo we can't publish our extensive review until next Monday.
Unboxing and hands-on video (English)
