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OnePlus' new entry-level phone, the Nord N30, brings mostly the same experience as last year's Nord N20, which we thought was a good-looking, serviceable phone with some odd choices. This is all true with this year's device. The phone looks great (unfortunately, it looks better than it feels), and there's not much to complain about with display, processor, and general UI performance at this price point. But the cameras are seriously underwhelming.
I think this phone fits a very small niche for North Americans who want a new phone but absolutely cannot pay more than the Nord N30's $270-$300 asking price. Anyone who can pay a bit more should look elsewhere, like the Pixel 7a, towards Motorola, or even an older OnePlus flagship phone.
About this review: OnePlus sent us the OnePlus Nord N30 for review. OnePlus did not have input in the content of this article.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G
OnePlus Nord N30 is a good-looking phone that doesn't cost a lot of money, but there are better options at this price point.
- Brand
- OnePlus
- SoC
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 695
- Display
- 6.7-inch 120Hz 2400x1080 LCD
- RAM
- 8GB
- Storage
- 128GB/256GB
- Battery
- 5,000mAh
- Ports
- USB-C
- Operating System
- Android 13 with OxygenOS
- Front camera
- 16MP
- Rear cameras
- 108MP main camera
- Colors
- Chromatic Grey
- Weight
- 195g
- Charging
- 50W fast charging (charger included)
- Looks great
- Fast UI and capable processor
- Low price by North American standards
- Underwhelming camera performance
- Feels very plasticky
Pricing and availability
The OnePlus Nord N30 is available starting today in North America. It comes in one configuration, with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, and it can be purchased directly from T-Mobile for $269. It's a bit pricier at $299 if purchased via Amazon, Best Buy, or the OnePlus store. The phone is priced at CAD $379.99 in Canada, also via Amazon, Best Buy, or the OnePlus store.
Hardware and design
Looks better than it feels
The OnePlus Nord is quite a pretty phone. The back design strikes the right balance between being minimal and clean but has subtle flourishes to keep it from being boring. For example, the backplate has a slight gradient coating that shimmers under the light. The dual circular camera modules are large enough to feel important but not obnoxious. The phone isn't littered with text, with only a simple OnePlus logo in the middle. I mean, look at the photo below; the phone looks beautiful, right?
But sadly, the Nord N30 looks way better than it feels. The plastic back feels cheaper than the one on the Google Pixel 7a. It's hard to describe, but it feels more hollow. The coating I praised earlier also sadly gives the device a sticky feel and also attracts fingerprints and smudges. There's no sugar-coating this: The phone feels a bit cheap in the hand. But I suppose the silver lining is that most people will slap a case on it, so its naked in-hand feel doesn't matter. Also, to be fair, the Pixel 7a I used as a comparison earlier does cost an extra $150.
The front side of the Nord N30 is fine. The 6.7-inch display is a 120Hz panel, up from last year's 90Hz, but it also reverted to an LCD panel after the Nord N20 switched to OLED. The screen looks fine in most situations. The FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate both do their job of making content look crisp and smooth indoors. But the relatively low 550 nits brightness and the LCD tech's inability to show true blacks means the screen looks washed out under sunlight. A big chunk of the camera app's UI, for example, is black, so it looked dull when I was outside. I think phones with LCD screens and low brightness should avoid using so much black in the interface.
A plastic chassis with flat sides wrap around the Nord, but there are subtle chamfered edges where the chassis meet glass, so they don't dig into your palm like Apple's phones. There are also volume rockers on the left side and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner on the right side. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack, a SIM tray that can house a SIM card and a microSD card, and one speaker grill at the bottom (the other speaker grill is the earpiece, giving this phone asymmetrical stereo speakers).
There is no alert slider, which OnePlus fans and my phone-reviewing peers apparently care about a lot. I heard the vocal backlash for the lack of an alert slider in the OnePlus 10T last year, and I suppose its omission here will be criticized too. But I never understood why a physical switch to mute the phone is worth anything more than a sentence in a review.
Powering everything is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, the same chip used in last year's Nord N20. This paired with the 8GB of RAM gives the phone enough horsepower at this price range.
The battery got an upgrade to 5,000mAh, and it can be charged at 50W speeds with the included charging brick. In North America, this charging speed is significantly faster than any other phone at this price range (or even higher price range for that matter).
Cameras
In a word, underwhelming
Despite the existence of two prominent circular camera islands, the Nord N30 really has one rear-facing camera. The other two lenses that sit in the lower circle island are a pair of 2MP sensors for "depth mapping" and macro photos, and neither work well. Let's just ignore them.
The main camera actually has some eye-grabbing numbers: it's a 108MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture and a 1/1.67-inch image sensor size. These are all impressive numbers on paper, but unfortunately, the results are just fine. Photos tend to blow out highlights and have a slightly washed-out tone to them. More contrast to these shots, with deeper shadows, would be better.
OnePlus is also advertising "lossless" 3X zoom using in-sensor cropping technology (meaning the phone will leverage the pixel-dense 108MP photo and just use the middle portion of the shot). But the results are far from lossless. I normally wouldn't complain about these zoom shots on a budget phone, but if you're going to advertise lossless zoom, then you should actually have it. Below are 1X shots followed by the 3X zoom. You can see the 3X photos are clearly soft on details.
The main camera also has no OIS, so walking videos will result in a lot of stuttering. Surprisingly, the selfie camera seems quite good. It exposes highlights behind my head better than the main camera.
There are two ways I can judge this phone's camera performance. I can judge it using purely a North American-centric point-of-view, in which case, the Nord N30 cameras are OK. It's a $299 phone and there are not a lot of other alternatives in this price range. The Pixel 7a's cameras are far superior, but it's 50% pricier.
But if I look at this through the Asian lens, where there are phones like the Realme 11 Pro+ or Poco's myriad of releases, then this camera performance is bad. Realme's recently launched phone, which will also sell for about the equivalent of $300 in Asian regions, has much better camera performance and includes an actual in-sensor crop that works.
Software and performance
Fast and smooth enough
The Nord N30 ships with Android 13, with OnePlus' OxygenOS on top, which looks very similar to Oppo's ColorOS. This is a good thing in my book, as both are clean, fast pieces of software with lots of customization options.
The Snapdragon chip here is not a world-beater, but it's well-optimized and a proven workhorse. Benchmark numbers are below, but generally, I didn't encounter any issues, no stutters, no app crashes. If you look at the Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, the phone may not have scored too high, but stability at 98.9% is good.
The flat display with flat sides, along with stereo speakers, make the phone a good media consumption device around the house. And battery life is very good with such a large cell. During my review period the phone never once ran out of juice before my day ended.
Should you buy the OnePlus Nord N30?
You should buy the OnePlus Nord N30 if:
- You live in the U.S.
- You need a new phone and absolutely do not want to pay more than $300
You should not buy the OnePlus Nord N30 if:
- You live in regions where Poco, Realme, and Redmi sell phones
- You don't mind paying a bit more
- You need decent cameras
I must admit that it's hard for me to review mid-range or entry-level phones aimed specifically at the American market because I don't just cover U.S.-specific phones. I have more context for how there are better phones at a similar price from brands like Realme (ironically, a sister brand of OnePlus) and Xiaomi under the Poco and Redmi branding. I'm talking better cameras and construction materials, so they're obvious to most users. But those phones aren't available in the U.S., so the point is moot for most Americans.
For those who've never been exposed to ultra-value Poco/Realme phones, the Nord N30 should serve them fine. The T-Mobile price of $269 is particularly a fine deal, and there could be monthly plans too. For this specific market, the phone serves that specific budget-conscious crowd fine.
However, if you are more savvy about phones, and want something more capable, why not just buy an older OnePlus flagship like the OnePlus 10, which can be had for about the same price? The Pixel 7a, as mentioned, is much better, and I think for many the average American, if they are already paying $269-$300 in installments, they may be OK to just pay $499.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G brings the expected fast and smooth experience of a OnePlus phone along with an impressive 108MP camera at a great price.