The Nord N30 5G is the latest entry in the Nord N line but is far from an unfamiliar device. The Nord N30 5G is actually the US device name for the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite - an identical device meant for Europe and Asia that we've already reviewed. Digging a bit deeper, it is not hard to spot the similarities between the Nord N30 5G and the Realme 10 Pro.
It is no secret that parent company Oppo frequently reuses and trickles down some of its design, and this is exactly the case with the Nord N30 5G. As such, the phone misses out on some OnePlus-specific features, such as an alert slider, but does still get the full OxygenOS treatment.
- Body:
- 165.5x76.0x8.3mm, 195g; Glass front, plastic frame, plastic back.
- Display:
- 6.72" IPS LCD, 120Hz, 550 nits (typ), 680 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 391ppi.
- Chipset:
- Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
- Memory:
- 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software:
- Android 13, OxygenOS 13.1.
- Rear camera:
- Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.7, 1/1.67", 0.64µm, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera:
- 16 MP, f/2.4, (wide), 1.0µm.
- Video capture:
- Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery:
- 5000mAh; 50W wired.
- Connectivity:
- 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.1, aptX HD; NFC; 3.5mm jack.
- Misc:
- Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.
Potential Nord N30 5G buyers also get to enjoy features like a large 108MP main camera - new for this generation, as well as fast wired charging on the large 5,000 mAh battery. However, unlike its Nord CE 3 Lite sibling, the US-bound Nord N30 5G gets 50W SUPERVOOC charging instead of 67W, perhaps due to local certification requirements. Other than that, the two devices seem identical.
The Nord N30 5G comes in a simple two-piece box. It is quite sturdy and should protect the phone just fine. Plus, a solid cradle holds the phone in place on the inside of the box.
OnePlus is kind of stingy with the included accessories. Unlike the Nord CE 3 Lite, which has a transparent TPU case in its box, no such accessory is included with the Nord N30 5G. You just get a charger in the box, an accompanying USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and some documentation and leaflets. The charger is rated for an output of 5V-11V@5A when connected to a 100-130V circuit or 5V-11V@6.1A when on a 200-240V circuit. That makes it overprovisioned for the needs of the phone.
As already mentioned, the Nord N30 5G is the same device as the Nord CE 3 Lite, and both borrow heavily from the Realme 10. So, the design isn't exactly new or revolutionary. Then again, it doesn't need to be. We think the N30 5G looks very stylish and "dignified", particularly in the Chromatic Gray color our review unit came in.
If you are after something more playful and youthful, definitely go for the Pastel Lime color. If the Nord N30 is ever offered in that color, that is. We saw that dye on our Nord CE 3 Lite review unit and liked the look quite a bit. The back of the phone has an iridescent finish which plays with the light in interesting ways, shifting the color hue in the process.
OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite
Color hues aside, we can't say we particularly like the glossy plastic finish of the back of the phone, though. It is a real fingerprint magnet. Unless you use a case, you can never keep it clean.
On the flip side, we enjoy the design elements around the camera bumps on the back of the phone. These incorporate gentle slopes that provide a nice little accent. While the position of the LED flash is slightly awkward, we also like how it fits into the mix.
The flat sides on the Nord N30 5G make for a pretty modern look, in our opinion. We appreciate that the manufacturer went for a matte rather than a glossy finish for the plastic frame. It does not gather dirt or fingerprints like the back of the phone.
The Nord N30 5G front glass is mostly flat but does taper off at the edges into the middle frame. The area of the display itself is still flat enough to comfortably install a screen protector. In fact, the phone comes with a pretty decent plastic one pre-installed.
We like that the selfie punch hole isn't overly big, and neither is the top and bottom bezels. These do seem a tad bigger than on the Realme 10 Pro, but not by much. After all, the Nord N30 5G does have a bigger overall footprint at 165.5 x 76 x 8.3 mm while still housing the same size 6.72-inch display.
The phone's earpiece is nicely tucked away near the top bezel. And so are the proximity sensor and light meter.
For the most part, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G is unapologetically plastic. This includes its backside and middle frame. And, like we've said in the past, that's not necessarily a bad thing either. Plastic has its merits as a strong and light building material. Sure, the back of the phone might be a bit more prone to scratches than a potential glass counterpart, but plastic doesn't shatter quite like glass. It also doesn't dent quite like metal. So, there's that.
The Nord N30 5G feels very solid and well-made. There is practically no flex to the chassis to speak of. Nor is there any major hollowness to the back side. The phone also feels good and comfortable in the hand.
As already mentioned, the front of the Nord N30 5G is made of glass. Asahi Dragontrail Star glass, to be more specific, rather than the more popular Corning alternatives. Still, it's an appreciated addition in terms of durability. Beyond that, there is no mention of ingress protection or special protective coating.
The Nord N30 5G has a pretty standard control setup. As already mentioned, it lacks the signature OnePlus alert slider. At least existing OnePlus users will appreciate the familiarity of having the volume buttons on the left-hand side. These are nice and "clicky," with plenty of tactile feedback.
This is where the SIM tray is located as well. The N30 5G has dual Nano-SIM card slots and a hybrid microSD card slot that shares space with the second SIM.
The right side of the Nord N30 5G has the power button and fingerprint reader combo. We are not huge fans of its design. It sits almost flush with the phone's frame, making it hard to feel out and not particularly easy to press either. Left-handed operation is a bit of a chore with this setup too.
As for the capacitive fingerprint reader itself - it works great. It is fast and reliable, but we would expect nothing less from this mature technology. You can have it always on or set it to trigger and read once the power button is pressed. Your call.
The top frame of the phone is practically empty, save for a secondary microphone hole.
The bottom is pretty busy, with the main speaker on the right side, the main mic, and a 3.5mm audio jack on the left. In the middle - a Type-C port.
In terms of controls, the front of the phone has a punch hole for the selfie camera and a nice slim earpiece/speaker on top of the display. A proximity sensor and light sensor are also tucked away in the top frame above the display to the right of the earpiece.
In case you were wondering, there is no notification LED.
The Nord N30 5G is a dual-SIM device, just like its Nord CE 3 Lite and Realme 10 Pro siblings. It supports 5G, both SA and NSA connectivity. For local connectivity, the Nord N30 5G offers dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1 with A2DP, LE, and apt-X HD, as well as NFC. There is GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS, and QZSS support for positioning.
A plain USB 2.0 data connection backs up the Type-C port on the phone. That means a theoretical max transfer speed of 480 Mbps. On the plus side, you do get USB Host/OTG support. There is no video output or anything else fancy from the Type-C port.
The Nord N30 5G has a pretty full set of sensors. These include a TDK-Invensense icm4x6xa accelerometer and gyroscope combo, a plus stk33c02 light and hardware proximity combo, an AKM ak0991x magnetometer and compass combo, and a Bosch bmp380 barometer/pressure sensor. Not too shabby at all for a budget device.
The Nord N30 5G has a 6.72-inch 2400x1800 resolution LCD. It is nothing special in particular, but it does operate at 120Hz. More on that in a bit. OnePlus says that the panel should be able to do around 550 nits in regular operation and boost to about 680 nits. We were mostly able to confirm these rough numbers. We measured 551 nits of brightness by maxing out the slider. The Nord N30 5G has a maximum auto brightness beyond that. It managed to boost output to 671 nits. Not quite what OnePlus advertises, but close enough.
Regardless, the Nord N30 5G is usable outdoors, even in sunlight, but not comfortably so. An LCD is never going to be as contrasty as an OLED. Still, this panel does OK in this regard. We measured a contrast of 1172:1.
OnePlus has never really bothered to color-calibrate its Nord devices too carefully, and the N30 5G is no exception. It has two color modes in settings - Vivid and Natural- and a color temperature slider that works with both modes. No custom white point adjustments are available.
Color modes
Color accuracy is all over the place. The default vivid mode targets the DCI-P3 color space and mostly manages to cover it, though not particularly accurately. Blues are very boosted and way off. You can correct some of the image's coldness by going all the way to warm on the color temperature slider, but even that is not enough to get good color accuracy delta E values. The same goes for the Natural color mode, which targets the sRGB color space and mostly falls short in the same manner with a blue tint on everything.
The Nord N30 5G has no HDR support on its display. In terms of HDR decoding, it can do HDR10 and HLG but not HDR10+ or Dolby Vision. On a more positive note, the phone has the highest possible Widevine L1 DRM certification, allowing services like Netflix to offer up FullHD streams and saturate its display resolution.
HDR decoder • DRM • Netflix playback capabilities
The Nord N30 5G has a 120Hz display and offers two modes of running said refresh rate. The 60Hz mode is self-explanatory - it just locks the display to 60Hz, and that's that. 120Hz mode has some automatic behavior to it, and so it should since the display on the phone reports in software that it can operate at 30Hz, 48Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz.
W really did our best to decipher how the N30 5G handles its refresh rate switching, but the logic seems to be convoluted at best and erratic at worst. From what we managed to tell, the general UI of the phone as well as very few apps actually run at the full 120Hz refresh rate.
UI and apps running at 120Hz
Most apps run at either 90Hz or 60Hz. The phone also seems to lack any logic to detect interaction or motion on the screen. Many other phones tend to drop their refresh rate down automatically when you are not interacting with the device, or there is no motion on screen. Seemingly not the Nord N30 5G, which is a bit of a shame.
Most apps run at 90Hz or 60Hz
That does not, however, mean that the phone is not using the extra refresh rate modes it supports. Most notably, the phone seems to be doing some sort of video playback and frame rate detection. As such, in certain apps, like YouTube, the N30 5G will detect when you are playing 48fps video and will match that with a 48Hz refresh rate. Or it will try to do so, trigger 48Hz for a few seconds and then go back to like 60Hz. The behavior is very inconsistent.
Detecting video fps
Naturally, we tried high refresh rate gaming with some titles we know can render past 60fps. In typical OnePlus fashion, we had very limited success in actually getting games to run above 60Hz. A real shame.
Gaming in 120Hz mode isn't...
Overall, we can't say we particularly like the high refresh rate handling on the OnePlus Nord N30 5G. The system is too inconsistent and aggressive at lowering refresh rates for most apps and games. Also, the long list of technically supported refresh rates by the phone's display seems to be woefully underutilized. OnePlus can and should do a better job in this department. If not for all apps, then at least for high refresh rate gaming.
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G has a pretty large 5,000 mAh battery on board. The phone is also running on a Snapdragon 695 chipset. It is a fairly-efficient 6nm chip, and we've seen this exact battery and chipset combo in a few other phones before. We know from experience that the combo is quite efficient in practice, and the Nord N30 does not stray from the norm.
The phone managed an excellent total endurance rating of 119 hours in our test. That's even better than what we expected from this chipset and battery capacity combo. The Nord N30 excels in standby endurance in particular.
It should be noted that the browser test on the Nord N30 was done at its maximum 120Hz display refresh rate, while the video playback one was conducted at 60Hz, which is in keeping with our usual procedure.
The Nord N30 5G offers 50W SUPERVOOC wired fast charging for its 5,000 mAh battery. That's a bit less than the 67W the Nord CE 3 Lite offers in Europe and Asia, but also notably more than the 33W of charging the Realme 10 Pro comes with.
As mentioned, the phone ships with an overprovisioned charger with an output of 5V-11V@5A when connected to a 100-130V circuit or 5V-11V@6.1A on a 200-240V circuit.
The Nord N30 5G is a very fast charging device. We managed to get it from zero to 40% in 15 minutes and then 73% in half an hour. A full charge took us 47 minutes.
Looking at other devices in the price range, you can get yourself something with 67W fast charging. Though, the practical benefits of the higher power rating are dubious at best, according to our testing.
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G has a pretty solid stereo speaker setup. It's a hybrid setup with an amplified earpiece doubling as the second channel. As such, you can't really expect the output to be too well-balanced, which is fine for a budget device.
On the plus side, the Nord N30 5G is pretty loud, with a VERY GOOD rating in our testing. It has a relatively clean output. We wouldn't call it crisp, but highs sound good without being screechy or distorted, even at high volumes. Mids are also good, though nothing to phone home about. The bass is pretty poor, but that's kind of expected.
The Nord N30 5G runs on the latest OxygenOS 13.1 on top of Android 13. That's the same combo as found on the Nord CE 3 Lite, which makes sense. In fact, Realme UI 4.0 and ColorOS 13 are not too different from the current OxygenOS either. If you've had some experience with one of these, then you'll feel right at home.
For the most part, the main UI of OxygenOS feels stuck to operate. It has both home tabs, with a custom Google feed on the far left and an app drawer. Though, you can disable the latter if it is not to your liking.
OxygenOS 13.1 main UI
The notification drawer also has a very custom look with a mishmash of stock Android and iOS design elements, but it works fine for the most part. The reserved section at the top right for audio playback is especially handy as it doesn't take up notification space below.
The UI is fairly customizable. You can tweak things like fonts, icons, colors, as well as transitions.
UI customization
In terms of additional features, you get some advanced multi-tasking, expanded over stock Android. Aside from the usual split-screen mode, you can open some apps in their own floating windows, which can be pinned at the top or to the sides of the display. The smart sidebar lets you keep frequently used apps in a special drawer attached to the side of the screen that can be accessed from anywhere.
Additional features
App cloner lets you create two instances of apps that don't let you use two accounts simultaneously. The Battery menu is pretty extensive. An optional battery health feature that waits to charge past 80% until just before you start using your device.
App cloner • Battery settings
The Nord N30 5G also includes the Zen Space app to help you focus without the phone distracting you by simply preventing you from using it. There's also Oppo's O Relax app, which includes a variety of comforting music tracks and ambient nature sounds to relax. These sound a bit too compressed, though.
Zen Spaces and O Relax apps
Speaking of additional apps pre-installed on the OnePlus N30 5G, there is no real bloat to speak of, which is great. However, there are plenty of duplicate apps. OnePlus has the habit of including its own first-party apps alongside Google alternatives for said apps, which can sometimes get a bit confusing.
Duplicate apps
Surprisingly enough, OxygenOS has pretty extensive gaming options through the gaming launcher app and the in-game gaming overlay.
Gaming features
Some highlights include focus modes, screen recording, and even an extensive system status overly, including an FPS counter. It's a shame that the Nord N30 5G can't really do high refresh rate gaming to properly use the gaming features.
Just like its Nord CE 3 Lite sibling, the Nord N30 5G uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset. It was never a particularly great chip, even back when it was announced in 2021. Now it's getting on in age and is still wholly unimpressive. The Nord N30 5G pairs this chip with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. It can be further extended through a virtual RAM feature with 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB of additional space on a pagefile. The N30 5G comes with 128GB or 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, extendable via microSD. Our review unit is the base 128GB one.
The Snapdragon 695 has an octa-core CPU configuration but only has the two big Kryo 660 Gold cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz. It also has another six smaller Kryo 660 Silver ones, working at up to 1.7 GHz. As far as CPU performance, the Nord N30 5G makes the most out of the hardware it has. That's not a lot in modern terms, but it still gets the job done.
AnTuTu is a much more compound benchmark, which includes graphical tests and takes into account things like memory speed. It is pretty kind to the Nord N30 5G, placing it around the middle of the pack of the comparable devices we've chosen.
The Nord N30 Pro appears to slightly outpace the Redmi Note 12 in performance with its newer Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset and the Nord N300 5G with the Dimensity 810. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy A34 offers better performance with its Dimensity 1080.
The Adreno 619 GPU inside the Nord N30 5G isn't particularly powerful either.
The Snapdragon 695 is not a particularly power-hungry or difficult-to-cool chip in general. The Nord N30 5G does a pretty decent job maintaining performance in relatively long bursts. Given enough time, however, its less-than-ideal thermal management shines through. Rather than gradually and gracefully dropping performance over time, the N30 5G succumbs to jarring drops, which can lead to in-game stutters. That's not great in terms of thermal-throttling behavior. At least the phone's surface does not get overly toasty or uncomfortable to hold, even after a long torture test.
Thermal-throttling
It is hardly a secret that the Nord N30 5G is not a particularly powerful device. Even so, it has enough power to deliver what we would describe as a fluent day-to-day experience. The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through the UI and menus a pretty responsive and pleasant process.
Unfortunately, the phone's refusal to use 120Hz in most apps and games leads to a less fluent experience otherwise. We noticed the occasional slowdown and some stutters here and there while using the Nord N30. We really do wish OnePlus went with a more powerful and potentially newer chip to deliver a better overall experience.
OnePlus really wanted to market the Nord N30 5G as having a triple rear-camera setup but went about implementing one in an unfortunate way. The phone has one main 108MP camera and two supplementary 2MP modules. One is a depth sensor for portraits, while the other is a dedicated macro camera. We are not calling these additional cameras outright "throwaways", but it is undeniable that a usable ultrawide camera instead would have been better.
In terms of hardware, the main 108MP, f/1.7 camera on the N30 is based on a Samsung s5khm6 sensor. It is a 1/1.67" sensor with 0.64 µm individual ISOCELL 2.0 pixels and a Nonacell Bayer RGB color filter. As per the phone's hardware reporting, the 2MP, f/2.4 macro camera on the back is based on an OmniVision ov02b10 sensor, while the other 2MP, f/2.4 supplementary cam is using either an OmniVision ov02bib or a GalaxyCore gc02m1. Makes little difference in the grand scheme of things.
The Nord N30 5G has a 16MP, f/2.4 selfie cam on the front. It seems to either be based on a Samsung s5k3p9 (1/3.1", 1.0µm) sensor or a Sony IMX471 (1/3", 1.0µm). The latter sensor is fairly popular among OnePlus phone selfies of the past, so our money is on it. Not that it matters much.
The camera software is similar to a lot of other OnePlus/Oppo/Realme phones. The relatively low-end nature of the phone means there aren't many options here. You can digitally zoom to 3x using the dedicated button, which activates what OnePlus calls lossless zoom. You can also manually disable HDR or switch to the 108MP mode. In fact, there are two separate 108MP modes - one called Hi-res, as a toggle within the main camera interface, while the other is a separate camera mode called Extra HD. There is also an AI mode, but it didn't seem to do much during our testing.
Camera app UI
Among the different camera modes is Macro, which activates the dedicated camera. Also found here is Pro mode. It offers ISO(100 - 6400), shutter speed(1/8000s - 30s), EV(-2 - +2), white balance(2000 - 8000) adjustments and manual focus. It even comes with its own histogram readout, which is nice. Unfortunately, the Nord N30 5G does not support RAW capture to take full advantage of the otherwise powerful Pro mode.
The main 108MP camera uses a Nona-Bayer pixel arrangement, meaning it captures 12MP photos by default. These regular photos look very decent in daylight. The amount of detail in the frame and the dynamic range are good. Color reproduction is decent, which has been the case with most recent OnePlus phones. You can get more toned-down colors by disabling auto HDR if you prefer.
These photos do look slightly oversharpened at times, while details remain looking soft, but it's not a major complaint.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera samples
Here's how the main camera on the Nord N30 5G stacks up against the competition in our extensive photo compare database.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G against the Samsung Galaxy A34 and the Xiaomi Poco X5 Pro in our Photo Compare tool
You can get slightly better detail and an overall sharper image by shooting in 108MP mode. As mentioned, the Nord N30 has two different 108MP modes. One is the main camera UI's Hi-res toggle. It produces pretty clean photos with notably-improved finer details.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 108MP main camera Hi-res samples
Then there is the dedicated Extra HD camera mode. It oddly captures stills in around 108.5MP instead of 108MP. And that's not the only difference between the two modes. Looking at the photos side-by-side, we noticed that the Extra HD camera mode generally produces softer images with less pronounced fine detail.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 108MP main camera Extra HD samples
Given these observations, we would stick to using the Hi-res toggle and avoid Extra HD mode altogether.
The main camera can capture pretty nice portrait shots in 12MP resolution. Subject detection and separation are decent, though not perfect, especially with a busier background. On the other hand, the quality of the background blur is almost always spot on.
Portrait mode works well enough on non-human subjects as well, but it's pretty fiddly to get the phone to properly and consistently detect the subject.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera portrait samples
The 2MP macro camera captures surprisingly usable shots. There is plenty of detail to work with here, the colors look nice, and even the dynamic range isn't bad.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 2MP macro camera samples
We would still probably prefer to have a usable ultrawide camera instead, but this is a surprisingly competent macro. It should be noted, though, that you have to get pretty close to your subject to work around the fixed focus of the macro cam. Also, be sure to have plenty of light, or you will get a rather dark image.
The 3x zoom mode on the primary camera is an interesting addition. OnePlus calls it "lossless", which is kind of the case since it produces 12MP photos by cropping from the center of the 108MP sensor. These zoom photos are nice and sharp, with practically no noise. The level of detail this produces is rather impressive (for a digital zoom photo).
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera 3x zoom samples
Colors do appear notably washed-out in these 3x shots compared to regular 1x ones. This is understandable due to the cropping that is taking place. With the sensor working in a 1:1 pixel mode instead of 9:1 mode, there aren't enough pixels to go around to estimate the color value for each of them, causing the images to lose color definition.
The 16MP selfie camera is decent but largely unimpressive. It has a fixed focus but a fairly wide and forgiving focal plane. The colors are nice and the dynamic range is decent.
Selfie portraits look about as well as regular selfies in terms of facial quality. The background blur is nice and convincing.
Video capture quality
The Nord N30 5G can capture video at a maximum resolution of 1080p@30fps. That's a hard limitation stemming from the Snapdragon 695 chipset and not something you can get around by using an app like Open Camera. Video is captured in a standard H.264/AVC video stream at around 20Mbps with 48 kHz stereo AAC audio, saved inside an MP4 container. You can use H.265/HEVC for video capture to apply some compression and save some space.
Quality-wise, these FullHD videos are not amazing in any way and are merely passable. The detail is alright but unimpressive. Dynamic range is narrow, with shadows frequently crushed. At least the colors look nice, and there is no noise or shimmering on the finer detail.
Here's how the Nord N30 5G stacks up against the competition in our video compare database. Pixel-peep away.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 and the Realme 10 Pro in our Video compare tool
You can also capture video in 3x mode. However, we recommend against it since the quality is really low. There is very little actual detail in the frame, and what is there is aggressively oversharpened. The dynamic range is poor once again. The only saving grace, once again, is the colors.
The main camera on the Nord N30 lacks OIS, and there are no signs of EIS in the video camera app - no toggle, no mode, or anything. However, some electronic image stabilization is obviously constantly applied to the footage. It's not really doing a great job, though. The footage is still shaky, and there is some focus hunting taking place.
The selfie camera on the Nord N30 5G is also limited to 1080p@30fps video capture. These clips look passable but are largely unimpressive. The level of detail is alright for FullHD, and the colors are decent, though the selfie does tend to overexpose.
Low-light camera quality
The main camera on the Nord N30 5G has passable but largely unimpressive low-light performance. The level of resolved detail is decent, but nothing beyond that. Colors are mostly true to life.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera low-light samples
Light sources are not handled particularly well and are frequently blown out. Dark areas are almost entirely crushed. There is also more noise than we would have liked visible in the frame.
The Nord N30 5G has a dedicated Night mode. It is sort of a mixed bag. On the plus side, it is reasonably quick to capture photos, impressively so for a Snapdragon 695 chipset. Night mode also noticeably brightens up shots and boosts shadows nicely, particularly restoring some lost detail there. Light sources are also handled better overall.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera night mode samples
Unfortunately, Night mode seems to capture less actual detail. Pixel-peeping reveals less detailed and softer shots, which the algorithm then tries to improve by applying liberal sharpening. This results in photos that are both soft and overprocessed. Not a great combo.
We would also call 3x zoom low-light photos from the main camera passable. These tend to be a bit darker than their 1x counterparts, and the colors are notably off. On a more positive note - the detail isn't bad.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera 3x zoom low-light samples
Applying Night mode to these 3x shots brightens them up noticeably and restores some much-needed detail in the darker areas. The colors get fixed up as well.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G: 12MP main camera 3x zoom night mode samples
However, we can't say that night mode renders light sources better. At best, they look the same; at worst, there are oddly sharpened and shaped bloom artifacts surrounding the lights. Speaking of which, just like 1x night-mode shots, 3x ones are softer than their non-night-mode counterparts, with less detail and a lot of artificial sharpening applied.
We also tried to get some 108MP low-light photos, but the phone disables the mode when it deems the environment too dark, probably for the better.
We feel like we are overusing this qualification, but it's the only one that really fits, and once again, we would call low-light shots from the 16MP selfie camera merely passable and nothing more than that. The colors look alright, and skin tones come out looking close to their actual color.
Skin texture, however, is almost entirely smeared over by artificial smoothing. At least faces get that extra treatment, unlike some of the other textures in the frame which come out looking downright noisy.
Night mode has a dramatic effect on selfie shots and a largely positive one. There is more detail and less smoothing applied to faces. While we wouldn't say the rest of the frame has noticeably more detail, what is there is nicely sharpened up, not nearly as aggressively as sharpening on the main camera, for some reason. We'll take it. There is also a lot less noise in the frame overall. Night-mode selfies get a nod from us.
Low-light video from the main camera is nothing to phone home about. It is pretty dark and noisy. The detail isn't bad for 1080p, and the colors look alright.
We would advise against shooting 3x zoom videos in low light. These are very overprocessed and oversharpened, likely in an attempt to make up for the lack of detail and general softness. Noise is also a big issue.
The competition
As already mentioned, the Nord N30 5G is a model mostly meant for the US market. It's starting MSRP at launch is $299.99 / CAD 379.99 or a bit less than that if you get it from T-Mobile or Metro on a plan. That makes it a pretty budget device. For thoroughness, we'll cast a slightly wider net when looking for alternatives and set the price limit at $350. We will also look at some devices from last year since the US market is not as abundant as we would have liked and the competition is scarcer.
Part of the appeal of OnePlus devices has always been the rather clean approach to Android. And while the company has strayed noticeably away from that philosophy in recent years, there is still something to be said on that front. Considering that, our first and probably top recommendation as an alternative to the Nord N30 5G would be the Google Pixel 6a. We do know that it is getting on in age a bit, and the Pixel 7a is already out, but the latter is significantly more expensive than the 6a. Some of the Pixel 6a highlights include an OLED display with HDR capabilities, though capped at a 60Hz refresh rate. There is also an IP67 ingress protection rating to enjoy stereo speakers. While not a chart-topper itself, the Google Tensor chip is quite potent within this price range. You also arguably get a more versatile camera setup with the Pixel 6a, including a 12MP, OIS-enabled main cam and a 12MP ultrawide, 4K video recording in toll. It's just really hard to beat the current value proposition of the Pixel 6a.
Over at Camp Samsung, you could go with something like the Galaxy A14 5G and save quite a lot of money, but you will be missing out on nice-to-haves, like stereo speakers and fast charging. We would have loved to recommend the Galaxy A34 instead, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available on the US market. You will have to live with the older Galaxy A23 5G Instead. It is a very comparable phone to the Nord N30, with things like a 6.6-inch 120Hz LCD display and a large 5,000 mAh battery. While its primary camera is smaller at 50MP, it does have OIS, which is a nice addition. Unfortunately, the A23 5G doesn't get official ingress protection like its bigger siblings do. Also, there are no stereo speakers, which the Nord N30 does have. Plus, you only get 25W charging, which is decent in Samsung terms, but not as fast as the OnePlus alternative.
Google Pixel 6a • Samsung Galaxy A23 5G • Motorola Edge (2022)
Motorola continues to have a strong official presence in the US. Out of its portfolio, the Edge (2022) seems to be the best alternative to the Nord N30 5G. Like the above Galaxy, it is a bit older, but the Edge (2022) does come with some enticing specs highlights, like the 6.6-inch, 144Hz, HDR10+, 10-bit OLED display. Its main camera has OIS as well. Plus, while the MediaTek Dimensity 1050 is not a powerhouse, it does offer 4K@30fps video capture, which is more than the Nord N30 and the Galaxy A23 5G can do. The Motorola Edge (2022) also has stereo speakers and a water-repellent design, which might not be as good as an ingress rating but is still better than nothing.
Overall, we like the OnePlus Nord N30 5G. We really do. But would have liked it a whole lot more if its MSRP were closer to $200 or if it brought a bit more to the table. It feels like OnePlus took the Realme 10 Pro for a template when it should have probably gone with the Pro+ instead.
It's not like anything makes the Nord N30 5G uniquely OnePlus, either. The signature alert slider is nowhere to be found, and as we mentioned, the software experience can also be had on a modern Oppo or Realme device. We really wish the N30 had an OLED or, failing that, a better and brighter LCD and one backed up by proper high refresh rate handling. The Snapdragon 695 also leaves us kind of wanting, particularly in the video recording department, with its unfortunate 1080p capture limit. Some sort of ingress protection is also attainable in this price range.
However, having said all that, we still don't think the Nord N30 5G is a disappointment. Seeing how the US market has limited options in this price range, the Nord N30 does have a fairly decent market standing. We wouldn't recommend you actively go out to buy one, but you might not have too many alternatives and if you do end up owning it through some amazing deal or another circumstance, it is a solid budget device overall.
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