What’s new, what stays the same – Firstpost

The new lineup of OnePlus Nord phones is here, and before we dive head on into their reviews, let’s see what novelties they bring to the table and how they compare to their predecessors. The company just launched the Nord 5 and Nord CE5 in India, and other than a completely different design, the key difference seems to be the processing power. What else is new and what has been left untouched as compared to the Nord 4 and CE4, let’s find out.

OnePlus Nord CE5 vs OnePlus Nord CE4

The first noticeable change is the design. Most OnePlus phones released in this financial year seem to speak the iPhone 16 design language for some reason. Be it the pill-shaped camera island or the flat back and rounded corners or the shape of the buttons, it is hard not to think that way. I will circle back to the Nord 5 design in a bit but the Nord CE5 does look better and more striking than its predecessor in its new shell.

The phone feels a bit slimmer too though a tad bigger and heavier. The ingress protection sees a small improvement from IP54 to IP65 to survive the extra splash but not necessarily a dip in the pool. The Nord CE5 gets a slightly bigger 6.77-inch Full HD+ Fluid AMOLED display and it’s a little brighter too at 1430 nits (peak) as compared to 1100 nits on the Nord CE4. The refresh rate stays at 120 Hz which is perfectly acceptable for the segment.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 receives a significant boost in the processing department with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 making way for a much more potent Mediatek Dimensity 8350 Apex. You get a choice of 8 GB or 12 GB RAM with three storage options – 128 GB, 256 GB and now even 512 GB. The microSD card slot has been retained to expand it further. Battery capacity sees a big jump from the already impressive 5500 mAh to a massive 7100 mAh. It supports 80W fast charging with a corresponding charger bundled along.

The camera setup has pretty much been copy-pasted from the CE4 and comprises a 50MP primary camera with OIS and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter at the back and a 16MP selfie camera up front. Though the cameras are similar, courtesy of a faster processor, you can now record videos at higher FPS. 4K videos can now be captured at up to 60 FPS with the rear camera and 1080p slo-mo videos at up to 480 FPS, which was limited to 120 FPS on the CE4.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 runs Android 15 with OxygenOS 15 out of the box. The Nord CE4 launched with Android 14 and is upgradeable to Android 15; in fact, the update rolled out a while ago. But in the long run, the CE5 will have support for newer versions of the OS and security patches for a year longer. The same is applicable for the Nord 5 too that will get four major Android updates in years to come. Speaking of which, let’s see how it differs from the Nord 4 and also the Nord CE5.

OnePlus Nord 5 vs OnePlus Nord 4

Unlike the Nord 4 series where the two phones were distinctly different in appearance, the Nord 5 phones look cut from the same cloth. While I said that the Nord CE5 looks better than its predecessor, I wouldn’t say the same about the Nord 5. Yes, it’s a subjective call but the Nord 4 with its metal back and a unique design had a lot more character. Mind you, the Nord 5 doesn’t look bad at all, and in fact, the Marble Sands variant looks extremely elegant, and just like the OnePlus 13s, it gets the Plus button instead of an Alert slider.

However, the Nord 5 feels bulky and heavier in hand in comparison. One thing that contributes to the bulk is a larger 6.83-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution that now supports a higher refresh rate up to 144 Hz. It is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. Another thing that has gone big but in a good way is the battery capacity which has been bumped up to 6800 mAh. The bundled 80W SuperVOOC charger promises to juice it up fully in under an hour. Interestingly, the Nord 4 bundles a 100W charger to charge its 5500 mAh battery.

Like the CE5, the Nord 5 too has a pill-shaped camera island, just a little longer to accommodate the flash. The rear camera setup is again quite similar to the Nord 4 with a combination of a 50MP primary camera with OIS and an 8MP ultra-wide snapper. The front camera sees a major upgrade from a 16MP unit to a 50MP unit, and with autofocus. I believe this is the first Nord phone that can record 4K videos using the front camera.

As for the processing power, it sees an incremental upgrade; not as impressive as it seems on paper. The Nord 4 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chip, which is quite powerful but highly underrated. The Nord 5 gets an ever reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, which if anything, is a higher clocked version of the 7+ Gen 3. Mind you, it is a perfectly capable chip and more powerful than the one in the Nord 4 but don’t expect the performance jump to be massive. And that’s got more to do with how good the 7+ Gen 3 is.

You get 8 GB or 12 GB RAM options here with either 256 GB or 512 GB storage. For some inexplicable reason, OnePlus has opted for the slower UFS 3.1 storage in the Nord 5 when its predecessor had UFS 4.0 a year ago. We have asked OnePlus to clarify this and we will let you know in the final review once we have an answer. We will also talk about the camera performance and benchmark scores in our in-depth review.

OnePlus Nord 5 series pricing in India

The OnePlus Nord 5 is priced at Rs 31,999 for its 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant, Rs 34,999 for 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage and Rs 37,999 for 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage. It will be available for purchase in India starting 9th July 2025.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 is priced at Rs 24,999 for its 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant, Rs 26,999 for 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage and Rs 28,999 for 12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage. It will be available for purchase in India starting 12th July 2025. Further discounts and launch offers will be available on both phones.