OnePlus Nord 5 Review: Upping the Mid-Range Game

Introduction

Now in its fifth iteration, OnePlus has managed to strike a nice balance between a mid-range price tag and a more premium-feeling phone in the £399 OnePlus Nord 5.

I’ve been saying for a few years now that if there’s one area of the smartphone market that has really heated up, it’s amongst the best mid-range phones.

These more budget-friendly devices have continued to wow me for all that they bring to the market as they constantly try to outdo one another, but in the OnePlus Nord 5, the Chinese company has proven that it should not be forgotten amidst recent upgrades from the likes of Honor, Google and Samsung.

This is the first mid-range OnePlus phone that I’ve used, but after spending several weeks with the Nord 5, I now realise that I should have been paying closer attention to OnePlus’ achievements at this end of the market. Here’s my full review.

Design

• New design is a bit bland
• The Alert slider has been replaced with the Plus Key
• Three colourways available

If there’s one thing that has remained wildly inconsistent from one Nord phone to the next, it’s the design.

Unlike Google, or indeed Samsung, OnePlus has yet to settle on a central design language to convey what is (and isn’t) a Nord phone to the average consumer. It’s a shame too, because it felt as if the company had finally struck gold with the look of the OnePlus Nord 4, but that’s been done away with for a safer aesthetic that, at a glance, looks like it could be one of Samsung’s devices.

Instead of the two-tone back from yesteryear, the Nord 5 now features just one solid colour on the back (of which there are three options), and it’s only punctuated by the raised camera bump which, I’ll admit, does have a nice border that matches the same colour as the rest of the backing.

It’s definitely a clean look, and it helps to sell the idea that the Nord 5 is more expensive than it actually is, but it won’t be turning any heads.

There is a crucial change on the side, however, that longtime OnePlus fans are sure to notice: the demise of the alert slider. Following in the footsteps of the OnePlus 13, the Nord 5 has replaced the alert slider of old with the Plus Key, a multi-purpose button that follows Apple’s Action button in principle.

While you can still hold the button to move between the different alert stages, you now also have the freedom to change its functionality, instead launching the camera, torch or recorder, just to name a few options.

As much as I like the alert slider, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had my phone set to anything but silent, especially with a smartwatch in tow to keep me abreast of any incoming calls or messages. As a result, I appreciate the added functionality here; I just wish you could customise it a bit more, like you can with Apple’s Shortcuts app on iPhone.

Screen

• Faster 144Hz refresh rate
• Larger 6.83-inch display
• Tons of colour and solid brightness levels

Of the OnePlus Nord 4’s many facets, one area that we were perfectly content with was the display, but the company has sought to make things bigger (and better) this time around. At its core, there’s the same 1.5K resolution as last year with 450 ppi, now the scale has jumped from 6.74 inches to a sizeable 6.83-inch panel.

Having that added real estate just makes the Nord 5 just that bit better for watching a spot of YouTube or Netflix, and it also makes the phone well-suited for OnePlus’ Open Canvas multitasking software. That’s great for scrolling through social media whilst catching up on the latest videos from your favourite content creators, but what’s really impressive is the leap to a 144Hz refresh rate.

Given that the super high-end Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra caps out at 120Hz, it’s quite something to see just that extra step up on a mid-range phone like the Nord 5, and while it’s good fun for scrolling through apps, it really makes a difference when you take on a spot of gaming.

Diving into a fast-paced first-person shooter like Call of Duty Mobile, the action just feels even more frenetic than usual, but it helps with offering that extra bit of precision to let you get the drop on the enemy.

When using the OnePlus Nord 5 outdoors, I found that the screen’s peak brightness of 1800 nits held up really well against direct sunlight, which was helpful for one particular occasion when I was trying to add more songs to a Spotify playlist during a picnic. This is all complemented by a great eye for colour – it’s not quite as shimmering as what you’ll find on the Honor 400, but it won’t leave any users wanting more.

Cameras

• Larger 1/1.56″ 50MP main lens
• New 50MP selfie camera
• Great shots all round, but the selfie camera stuns

On the camera side of things, the dual-sensor array on the back of the Nord 5 hasn’t changed all that much from the Nord 4. It’s still a 50MP wide-angle lens running the show, which is then flanked by an 8MP ultra-wide sensor.

The key difference is that the main camera is now slightly larger, at 1/1.56” as opposed to 1/1.95”. That might sound small on paper, but it really goes a long way towards helping the Nord 5 capture more light in practice.

When out in London on one of the many sunny days we’ve had recently, the main sensor (and indeed the ultra-wide) did not disappoint. Heading down a busy road on a clear day, the blue of the sky just pops to such a degree that it ends up making the buildings permeating the skyline really striking.

I will say that with just an 8MP capture on the ultra-wide, you do end up losing a lot of detail at the edges when switching over. It’s also 2x digital zoom on the main camera, which still looks pretty good thanks to the higher megapixel count, but if you do go above that, then things do look washed out rather quickly.

Still, what’s really impressive is the nighttime performance of that main sensor. Because it can capture more light, the Nord 5 made short work of some really dark scenes. One scene in particular, which featured a bench hidden away under a sloping tree, managed to pack a ton of colour despite the fact that, to the naked eye, the bench itself wasn’t easily visible unless you knew it was there. Where I think the phone really excels, however, is in the selfie camera.

While the camera tweaks elsewhere are fairly minimal, the selfie camera has now jumped from being a 16MP sensor to a 50MP alternative, and you’ll notice the difference right away. I’m not the biggest fan of taking selfies in general, but the colour composition and detail that the Nord 5 was able to capture had me rethinking the whole thing. This is the first time in a while that I’ve been excited about the prospect of taking and sharing a quick selfie.

Even after dark, a large portion of the screen lights up as the viewfinder minimises, adding more light to the scene and producing some of the best night-time selfie shots I’ve ever seen from a smartphone. The fact that this is coming from a mid-range handset just makes it all the more outstanding.

Performance

• Upgraded Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset
• Outstanding gaming performance
• Runs multitasking brilliantly

For the first time on a Nord handset, the Nord 5 has made the leap to Qualcomm’s 8-series chipsets, with the powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 under the hood. That’s the same chipset found within the Honor 200 Pro and the Poco F6, so it’s already something of a mid-range darling, even though the newer 8s Gen 4 has started to appear in handsets like the Poco F7.

Still, being just slightly behind the most cutting-edge of Snapdragon’s offering doesn’t do much to hold the Nord 5 back in daily use. I never noticed any moments of irritation caused by slowdown or app crashes, and the gaming performance is more than up to scratch.

Diving into a round of Zombies in Call of Duty Mobile, the phone never once stuttered in spite of there being a sizeable amount of NPCs on screen at one time, and when paired with the aforementioned 144Hz refresh rate, there’s a case to be made that the Nord 5 is one of the best mid-range options out there for gamers. All being well, you shouldn’t feel the need to upgrade your phone anytime soon either.

The OnePlus Nord 5 comes with a full six years of promised updates, which just goes even further towards making the device a more cost-effective option against much of the competition. Sure, it’s not the seven years offered by Google and Samsung, but it’s close, and the Nord 5 is cheaper.

Even the entry-level version of the Nord 5 still comes with a hefty 256GB of storage and 8GB RAM, both of which can be expanded to 512GB and 12GB, respectively, for a relatively small uptick in price.

Software

• Laid back approach to AI
• Open Canvas works brilliantly
• Some software bugs during use

One thing I appreciate about OnePlus’ current smartphone strategy is that, unlike many of its competitors, it doesn’t seem to be obsessed with throwing AI at me at every turn. In fact, OnePlus’ far more relaxed approach to AI appeals to me, and it only serves to complement the already solid foundations of OxygenOS.

Admittedly, some of these AI features work better than others. If you’re in a rush but you want to know about the contents of an article, AI Summary works incredibly well in a pinch, while AI Speak gives you the opportunity to listen to the article in question, much like you would a podcast. Both of these features are great and easily accessible in the ‘smart functions’ tab that always sits in the upper right-hand corner of the display.

On the other end of that equation is Mind Space, which isn’t too dissimilar to Nothing’s ‘Essential space’ concept in that it analyses what’s on your screen, saves it and creates a quick little summary as well as any suggested events off the back of it.

The problem is that the summary is only based on the exact portion of what’s onscreen, so if you’re reading an article then it won’t summarise its entirety, and even though it’ll let you know in which app you took the screenshot, it doesn’t save a link for it so that you can return there quickly. Unlike the other AI features, Mind Space is a bit half-baked, so I wouldn’t rely on it until it sees an improvement.

What is always outstanding, however, is OnePlus’ Open Canvas software. While it is better suited for the likes of the OnePlus Open and the OnePlus Pad 3, having a larger display on the Nord 5 does mean that OnePlus’ multitasking software feels more at home here.

It’s perfect for instances like watching a film trailer on YouTube whilst booking cinema tickets in Chrome, and I never encountered any hiccups here with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 in tow. Unfortunately, I can’t say that my entire experience with the OnePlus Nord 5 was a smooth one.

I don’t know if there’s just something wrong with my review unit, or there needs to be an optimisation patch on launch day, but I encountered quite a few bugs during my time with the Nord 5.

For instance, email notifications would never come through despite being toggled in the settings, and playback on Audible would abruptly stop, even though the audiobook was downloaded. For whatever reason, the phone simply would not get on with my Wi-Fi, constantly dropping out at random, which did become quite a hassle when it came to downloading apps.

Again, I don’t know if this is an issue limited to my review unit, but on the chance that it isn’t, I felt it worth mentioning. It’s a shame, too, because other than these software quirks, I’ve very much enjoyed my time with the Nord 5.

Battery

• Smaller 5200mAh cell
• Slower 80W charging
• No wireless charging

While the OnePlus Nord 5 has seen improvements elsewhere, unfortunately, one area where it has taken a hit is in battery and charging. The overall battery experience is by no means a bad one, but it’s definitely a bit surprising to see OnePlus take a step backwards here.

Instead of the 5500mAh cell found on the Nord 4, there’s now a 5200mAh battery instead. Similarly, the charging speed has been reduced from 100W to 80W. Much like last year, there’s no wireless charging here whatsoever. Even with those downgrades, however, I never found myself at odds with the Nord 5’s longevity on a day-by-day basis.

When documented on a fairly active workday, the Nord 5 was able to get from 9:30am to about 10:30pm with 40% left in the tank, and that was after taking tons of pictures, a combined hour and 30 minutes of social media, NFC payments and about 30 minutes of writing in Google Docs, amongst other activities.

That’s not bad at all, and while I probably wouldn’t want to add too much gaming into that mix, I think it’ll be more than enough to get most people happily through a day.

Thankfully, charging is a similarly stress-free affair. While you’ll need to buy a SuperVOOC-branded 80W fast charger separately, I still picked up on some impressive results when using a generic 65W charger.

It took just over 30 minutes to reach 50% from a dead battery, and a total of one hour and 26 minutes to hit 100%. Of course, I don’t recommend letting the battery completely drop to 0%, so even when starting a charge with just 10% left, I was able to reach 74% after a 40-minute top-up, which is good to see.

With all that in mind, I would say that you shouldn’t be too dismayed by the downgrades here, as the Nord 5 can still take on quite a lot throughout a day, and you can easily charge it up whilst you’re getting ready for work.

Should you buy it?

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