OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review: A stylish mid-ranger with average camera


The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite has been one of the highest-selling 5G phones of 2022. Many people I know considered the Nord CE Lite as it was a OnePlus device. Cut to the chase, the company has now launched the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite with the same Snapdragon 695 SoC.

I have been playing around with the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite for the last two weeks and here is my take on what could probably be the most affordable 5G smartphone from OnePlus in 2023.

The Nord CE 3 Lite has a boxy design with plastic frame and a plastic back panel (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

Design: Better than the predecessor in many ways

After unboxing the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite, I couldn’t help but marvel at the pastel lime colour of the device which also has some neon green accents. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite does look a lot like the Realme 10 Pro. However, the subtle OnePlus branding at the back does make all the difference.

The Nord CE 3 Lite being a budget offering, has the basics covered, including a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card slot, although not a dedicated one. While it lacks the iconic alert slider, it’s quite understandable how OnePlus is pitching the alert slider as more of a premium feature.

The Nord CE 3 Lite is also available in black colour, but that just looks blunt, at least in my opinion. It has a plastic back panel like its predecessor. While it does attract smudges and fingerprints, they aren’t very evident, at least on the lemon green variant. Overall, when compared to its predecessor, the latest Nord CE 3 Lite looks and feels a lot more premium.

The Nord CE 3’s display is almost similar to that of it’s predecessor (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite display is good but not the best

Just like the Nord CE 2 Lite, the latest entrant has a 120Hz IPS display while most phones in this price range offer OLED, albeit, with a lower refresh rate.

Again, the display is good for most. However, if someone is switching from a phone with an OLED, the contrast and colours on the Nord CE 3 Lite don’t make the cut. For the rest, the big and bright ( indoors) display should do the job while gaming and content consumption. And the display is protected by a dragon Asahi glass.

My Netflix binging experience and even BGMI sessions were thoroughly enjoyable on this phone and it also comes with Widevine L1 certification and supports HD content streaming on major OTT platforms like prime video Hotstar and Netflix.

This is the first OnePlus phone to feature a 108MP camera (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

Upgraded primary camera gets the job done

The Nord CE 3 Lite is the first phone from the company to feature a 108MP camera along with two 2MP sensors, one for macros and one for depth sensing. Then there is a 16MP selfie camera at the front.

Despite the higher MP count, the camera performance of the Nord CE 3 Lite is almost similar to the Nord CE 2 Lite. The one new feature that the CE 3 Lite brings into the picture is the in-sensor zoom, where, it crops the middle of the sensor to capture 3x almost optical zoom-like pictures.

Here are some camera samples from the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite.

Taking using the regular mode, the subject looks sharp and vivid (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
The same image captured using 3x zoom mode (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
In indoor lighting, the colours do look a bit faded (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
Macro shot captured using the 2MP sensor, which is a bit soft and noisy (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
Captured using the primary camera (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
The phone manages to capture good photos in the daytime (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)
Selfie took on a plane (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

The performance leaves a lot to be desired

The chip that powered the Nord CE 2 Lite also powers this one, which makes it really hard to justify the price hike, given the Nord CE 2 Lite is now available for Rs 19,000. The Snapdragon 695 SoC-powered Nord CE 3 Lite is more than capable of handling day-to-day tasks when paired with at least 6GB RAM. However, if you push it to its limits, the phone starts to struggle, especially if you are a multi-tasker.

The Nord CE 3 Lite scores slightly over 4 lakh points on AnTuTu, again, similar to its predecessor and I was able to play BGMI and COD: Mobile with medium graphics settings with ease. The device does get hot with continuous gaming, especially in summer and it also quickly cools off. When compared to its predecessor, there is no considerable uplift in performance on the new Nord CE Lite.

The phone came with a third-party web browser, which can be disabled but cannot be deleted (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

Is OxygenOS losing its charm?

While many complained about how the new OxygenOS was nothing but a clean ColorOS, I actually liked it a lot, especially the feature-rich customisation options. However, when I set up the Nord CE 3 Lite, I saw a third-party app and an app recommendation folder, for the first time on a OnePlus phone.

With this, the distinction between ColorOS and OxygenOS narrows down. I personally feel this could impact the overall experience. However, on the bright side, the brand has confirmed that the device will get two major Android OS updates and three years of security patches.

The phone has a 5,000 mAh battery and supports 67W fast charging (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

Connectivity and battery

A 5,000 mAh battery combined with 67W charging makes this one of the fastest-charging phones in this segment and the phone actually ships with 80W fast charging. Not just that, the phone can easily last for over a day and a quick 20 minutes charge time could offer enough juice to keep the device going for another day.

Even in terms of connectivity, I had no issues. It supports both Airtel and Jio 5G networks and I could easily get over 700Mbps download speed on Jio 5G network. The call quality and Wi-Fi reception were also on par with the competition.

When compared to it’s predecessor, the Nord CE 3 Lite definitely looks a lot more trendy and premium (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar / Indian Express)

Verdict: A visual upgrade

When compared to the Nord CE 2 Lite, the Nord CE 3 Lite definitely looks a lot more modern and trendy. That said, except for the slightly faster charging and a slightly better camera, the Nord CE 3 Lite brings nothing much to the party.

With the pricing difference of Rs 5,000, the Nord CE 2 Lite comes out as a really compelling package for those who want an affordable OnePlus Phone while the Nord CE 3 Lite only shines with its fresh looks.



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