OnePlus Nord CE5 review: Gets most things right, but slips on a few

I’ve been using the OnePlus Nord CE5 for over a month now. It’s affordable, efficient, and in most cases, easy to recommend. But it’s also not without its compromises, some of them understandable, others slightly frustrating.

Design and Display

The phone feels great in hand. It’s tall, slightly curved, and the back finish looks clean without being too flashy. Mine’s the Nexus Blue, and it hides smudges well.

The display is easily one of its strongest points. It’s a 6.77-inch AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,430 nits peak brightness. Colours are punchy, it’s responsive, and I didn’t struggle with visibility outdoors. OnePlus also added Aqua Touch to this, so the swipes register even when your fingers are slightly wet. I tested it a lot during a recent visit to Goa, where the rain lashed nonstop, and it worked brilliantly. 

Performance

The Dimensity 8350 Apex chip handles daily use without issues. Apps open fast, switching between them is smooth, and scrolling through socials or editing photos isn’t a problem.

Gaming is a mixed bag. Casual titles are fine, and even heavier games like BGMI run well at 90fps. But performance dips after 20–30 minutes, the phone heats up, and frame rates drop slightly. You’ll notice this more if you’re a serious mobile gamer.

Benchmarks show decent numbers, but in real-world use, I’d say performance is good, not exceptional. Also, the haptics feel weak, and animations can stutter now and then, which is odd for a OnePlus phone.

Battery and Charging

This is the highlight. The Nord CE5 packs a 7100mAh battery, and it shows. I comfortably got a day and a half with mixed use, even two full days when I wasn’t gaming or using the camera too much.

Charging is fast as well. 80W SuperVOOC takes it from zero to full in under an hour. There’s also bypass charging for gaming, which helps keep things cooler.

Cameras

You get a 50MP main camera with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 16MP selfie camera.

Daylight shots are good, sharp, balanced colours, and usable dynamic range. But low-light performance is average. Night mode helps, but you’ll still get noise and blur unless you keep your hands steady.

Video tops out at 4K 60fps, though stabilisation is only active at 1080p. Selfies are okay, not standout.

Basically, the camera works, but it won’t wow you.

The Rest

You do get microSD support (up to 1TB), an IR blaster, and IP65 splash resistance, all rare at this price. But you also miss out on stereo speakers and the iconic OnePlus alert slider. The CE5 doesn't get the Plus Key like its elder sibling, the Nord 5. And yes, the haptics are soft.

Verdict

The Nord CE5 is for people who want a phone that lasts long, feels snappy, and stays out of the way. It nails battery life, has a great screen, and delivers stable performance most of the time. But it’s not for gamers or camera-first users. And if you value software polish, especially things like haptics and UI responsiveness, you might notice some corner-cutting.

Still, for a starting price of ₹24,999, it’s hard to complain. It’s not as exciting as the Nord 5, but the Nord CE5 is a dependable phone.