OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Trades Metal For Speed!

Since its launch, the OnePlus Nord 4 had been a go-to device for those looking for a mid-range smartphone under Rs 30,000. While it may be a little low on the processing prowess, the Nord 4 ticked most of the boxes for a consumer – good display, decent performance for day-to-day usage, clean software and dependable battery. Fast forward to 2025, and now we have its successor — the OnePlus Nord 5. Also Read: OnePlus Nord 6 Launch Imminent? Here’s What We Know So Far

While it comes with some crucial upgrades over the OnePlus Nord 4, the latest Nord 5 ‘settles’ in one area – the design element. No, I am not talking about the looks, but the material – which I’ll talk about in a bit. Despite this setback, the OnePlus Nord 5 still proves its capabilities in other areas. I’ve been using the OnePlus Nord 5 for a week now, and here’s everything it got right — and where it still needs to work. Also Read: Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale: OnePlus Nord 5 Price Drops To Its Lowest With A Flat Rs 3,500 Off - Should You Buy?

OnePlus Nord 5 Design

What has been one of the main highlights of the Nord 4 is its metal unibody design, especially when a sub-Rs 30,000 phone now rarely offers a full metal build. Unlike Nord 4, the OnePlus Nord 5 comes with a plastic frame and glass back. But there is no compromise in terms of looks. I got here the Marble Sands variant, bringing a subtle marble look which reminds me of the OnePlus 12 design. The simple, elegant, yet minimalistic design makes it look premium. 

Plus, the satin glass finish at the back resists smudges and fingerprints completely, which keeps it looking fresh. That said, it’s quite slippery in hand, along with 211g of weight — enough to make me put on the case within the first day of use! It also gets an IP65 rating against dust and water, so some splashes might not worry you. 

What new OnePlus brings is the ‘Plus Key’ instead of the Alert Slider of the previous Nord. It is simply a customisable key which allows you to set up quick shortcuts, such as torch, camera, recorder, translate, DND mode, and sound and vibration mode. The rest is the typical volume and power button on the right side, USB-C port, SIM tray, microphone, and speaker grille at the bottom, while the top houses an IR blaster and a secondary microphone. 

OnePlus Nord 5 Display

OnePlus Nord 5 comes with a large 6.83-inch Fluid AMOLED panel along with a resolution of 1260 x 2800 pixels. Whether it’s reading, gaming, or just scrolling through apps, everything looks sharp and detailed. What I really liked is how vibrant and punchy the colours are. Visibility outdoors is pretty good too as I didn’t struggle under direct sunlight – thanks to its 1800 nits peak brightness. 

The dynamic 144Hz refresh rate also adds to the experience while keeping everything smooth – whether you’re playing games, navigating between apps, or just scrolling through social media. However, most of the apps settle at 120Hz. Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Call of Duty: Mobile can support up to 144 FPS gaming, but it needs a workaround in the Hyperboost Game Engine. Asphalt Legends Unite, on the other, is maxed out at 90 FPS. 

OnePlus Nord 5 Performance And Software

With the Nord 5, OnePlus has introduced a Snapdragon 8-series chipset for the first time in the Nord lineup – and it shows. Powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and paired with the Adreno 735 GPU, the phone handles day-to-day tasks effortlessly – from watching videos and browsing the web to casual gaming.

Thermals are well-managed too – thanks to the 7,300mm² vapour chamber. The phone doesn’t heat up much even after an hour of gaming. I played BGMI on Ultra HDR graphics, and the experience was smooth with no noticeable lag or frame drops. Asphalt Legends United, however, did begin to stutter slightly at max graphics after around 30 minutes – but nothing major to hamper the overall gaming experience. 

The benchmark numbers reflect that too: a single-core score of 1941 and a multi-core score of 4977 on Geekbench 6, and over 1.4 million on AnTuTu. The performance isn’t a drawback here if you use it for casual gaming and day-to-day usage, but the competitors such as the iQOO Neo 10 and Poco F7 offer a better chipset – Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 – over the Nord 5. 

Talking about the audio performance, it has dual stereo speakers, which are loud and clear enough for watching videos or taking calls, although a slight distortion is noticeable at max volume. What bothers me is the fingerprint sensor, which works well without any issues but the placement is quite odd. 

Having said that, it is the software which makes the overall experience better. It runs OxygenOS 15 based on Android 15. Apart from the Plus Key customisations that I mentioned above, the Nord 5 offers a bunch of AI features like AI call recording to quickly record the calls, AI Translation, and AI Plus Mind, which helps to understand what you save, detect and analyse the information. One of the interesting features is the customised screenshot capturing of a selected portion of the screen, that too with three-finger quick action. That said, the phone does come with some pre-installed apps, including OnePlus’ own gaming store and the Zen Mode app.

OnePlus Nord 5 Cameras

The cameras on the Nord series have always been decent in completing their job without giving you a chance to say “Wow!” And the OnePlus Nord 5 is no different. It features a 50MP primary camera at the back coupled with an 8MP ultrawide camera, and the selfies are taken care of by a 50MP front camera.

Under good light, the Nord 5 can capture photos with vibrant colours and an acceptable amount of details, punchy colours. The saturation of the colours is visible which is nothing unusual considering the previous models. However, the images look as if the HDR mode is mostly enabled despite the fact that I ensured to turn it off. It seems like post-editing is somehow messing up the dynamic range, and the photos ultimately don’t look natural in most cases. 

The ultra-wide camera is decent but it does affect the colour accuracy to some extent. Still, the shots are quite manageable to capture wide-angle shots. When it comes to portraits, edge detection is something that the OnePlus Nord 5 has handled really well to my surprise. The hair strands aren’t merging with the background bokeh. When it comes to night photography or low-light condition shots, the colours are quite boosted and sharp to a large extent that the photos look artificial. This is something that OnePlus needs to work on. 

The selfies are the same as the front-facing camera captures good colour accuracy, maintaining the skin tone.

OnePlus Nord 5 Battery And Charging 

This is another area where the OnePlus Nord 5 shows its strength. It packs a massive 6600mAh battery, which easily powers through a full day – even with casual gaming, social media scrolling, and a bit of streaming. A quick 30-minute gaming session drains just around 7-8% battery, while an hour of video streaming eats up only 5-6%.

And when it’s time to refill it, the 80W fast charging gets the job done in under an hour. Yes, it’s technically a step down from the Nord 4’s 100W charging speed, but in daily use, it doesn’t feel like a huge compromise.

Verdict

Now comes the most important part — who needs it? If you’re looking for a solid mid-range phone under Rs 35,000, the OnePlus Nord 5 is a reliable and strong contender to choose. It offers a 144Hz display, great for everyday use, gaming, and content consumption. Performance is reliable with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, and the massive 6600mAh battery easily lasts a day or even more.

But OnePlus’ decision to ditch the metal frame in favour of plastic seems a big step down from last year’s all-metallic Nord 4, plus the cameras need some improvement especially in night photography. Despite these shortcomings, the OnePlus Nord 5 is still a solid all-rounder option without costing a premium.