OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G hands-on review

Competition

OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G has just launched in Europe with a launch price of €309 for the 128GB/6GB.

You can also find it on AliExpress for around $300 or on Amazon India for INR19,999 (around $250).

However, it's bound to meet some serious competition from Team Xiaomi. For the same sort of price, you could get the Poco X4 Pro 5G or any of its twin siblings - the Indian Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G or the global Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. They all offer an OLED display and a better set of cameras along with faster charging.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G (India) • Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G

We are already past the point of recommending OnePlus phones over the competition for their software. That ship sailed with the launch of OxygenOS 12 and we think Xiaomi may even have an edge now with its consistent looking and more stable MIUI 13.

Verdict

The Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is an entry-level phone for OnePlus and one of the cheapest they have released, so it's not fair to be too hard on it. Even then, there's not much about it that stands out or is noteworthy in any way. While the phone isn't expensive it also doesn't feel great value. In fact, some things like the 120Hz display (which often runs at just 90Hz) and the triple camera system (of which only one is usable) even make you feel a bit shortchanged.

In the end, the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G is an okay entry-level phone from OnePlus. But they will have to do more if they want to stand out in this segment.

Pros

• Large battery
• Headphone jack & microSD slot
• Main camera has punchy colors and wide dynamic range.

Cons

• Max refresh rate varies from app to app
• No ultra-wide camera
• No 4K video recording or playback