The OnePlus Nord 5 is here, and it’s aiming to reclaim its spot as the go-to choice for value-conscious smartphone buyers. Priced smartly and packed with premium features, it’s positioned just above the budget crowd but below true flagships—right where OnePlus’ Nord range made its name. The OnePlus Nord 5 brings meaningful upgrades across the board, refining its design, boosting performance, and extending battery life—all while staying under the Rs. 36,000 mark. With a new premium rear finish, a flagship-grade 50-megapixel main camera, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, and a massive 6,800mAh battery, the Nord 5 pushes the mid-range bar higher.
Positioned competitively, is the Nord 5 really worth your money? We tested the phone for several days and here’s our detailed review:
OnePlus Nord 5 design
The OnePlus Nord 5 marks a bold departure in design from its predecessor, with a fresh aesthetic that’s both modern and distinctive. The most noticeable change is the rear camera module—gone is the minimal vertical alignment of the Nord 4. In its place, you now get a pill-shaped, capsule-like enclosure that houses two large camera sensors and an LED flash. The back panel is made of velvety textured glass, which not only adds a premium feel but also improves grip during everyday use. However, OnePlus has opted for a plastic frame this time, a curious downgrade from the sturdier metal build of the Nord 4.
OnePlus Nord 5 sees a change in design from predecessor |
Button and port placements are largely intuitive. You’ll find the speaker grille, USB Type-C port, and SIM tray at the bottom, while the top edge houses a secondary microphone and ambient sensor. The volume rocker and power button sit on the right side, and unlike most phones in this segment, OnePlus has retained the iconic alert slider—now placed on the left edge. One thing to note: the Nord 5 is slightly bulkier and heavier than the Nord 4, which may be due to internal upgrades, bigger screen, and the larger battery. Despite the added weight, the phone still feels well-balanced in the hand, with good ergonomics for everyday use. The OnePlus Nord 5 is 8.1mm thick and the display has Corning Gorilla 7i protection.
My OnePlus Nord 5 review unit arrived in the refreshingly cool Dry Ice colour, a soft, glacial blue that truly stands out in hand. If you prefer a different vibe, OnePlus also offers two more striking options: Marble Sands and Phantom Grey. Looking beyond aesthetics, the Nord 5 is rated IP65, ensuring comprehensive protection against dust and strong water jets—excellent assurance for daily spills and splashes. To compare, the Oppo Reno 14 upstages the Nord 5 with a higher IP69 rating, which means it withstands not just water jets but also high-pressure and high-temperature water sprays. In any case, always slap on a good protective cover and apply a screen guard right out of the box. Even with Gorilla Glass 7i protection on the Nord 5 or top-tier durability claims elsewhere, daily wear-and-tear, minor drops, and those dreaded micro-scratches are inevitable. A simple case and a quality screen protector go a long way in preserving your device’s longevity, resale value, and, most importantly, peace of mind.
OnePlus Nord 5 Display
The OnePlus Nord 5 has a 6.83-inch Swift AMOLED panel. It has ultra-narrow bezels on all sides and a screen-to-body ratio of over 93% percent. Outdoor usage is decent: the screen comfortably pushes 1,800nits peak brightness in high-brightness mode, with typical levels at 800nits and up to 1,400nits HBM, ensuring crisp clarity even in direct sunlight. HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support mean content gets all the bold colors, deep shadows, and dynamic highlights it deserves, and the 10-bit color depth (1.07 billion colors) helps everything pop. The 3,000Hz touch response and the adaptive 144Hz refresh rate (switching between 60/90/120/144Hz as needed) makes transitions and animations feel seamless, while 1.5K resolution (2,800x1,272px, 450ppi) keeps everything sharp and super-detailed.
OnePlus Nord 5 offers up to 1800nits peak brightness |
The Corning Gorilla Glass 7i ensures durability up front, and OnePlus adds thoughtful extras like Aqua Touch 2.0 to keep the touchscreen responsive, even with wet fingers—handy for sudden rain showers or post-workout texts.
OnePlus Nord 5 software
The OnePlus Nord 5 runs OxygenOS 15, and for me, this is hands down one of the cleanest, most delightful Android experiences you can get—no contest. OnePlus promises a generous four years of Android OS updates and six years of security patches, a major reassurance in today’s fast-paced smartphone market. Day-to-day use is a breeze: the system is intuitive, slick, and bloatware is kept to a minimum.
OnePlus Nord 5 runs on OxygenOS 15 |
You’ll find just a handful of removable pre-installed apps, so there’s nothing here to bog down your phone or clutter the interface unnecessarily. Customisation is a highlight, with plenty of subtle settings that let you tailor everything from gestures to gaming profiles and system themes. In all my usage, app launches and multi-tasking have been lightning-fast, and the fluidity truly lives up to OnePlus’s reputation—no lag, no bugs, just a genuinely smooth and reliable experience. OxygenOS continues to strike the perfect balance between simplicity and power-user flexibility, and that’s why it remains my personal favourite Android skin on the market today.
OnePlus Nord 5 performance
The OnePlus Nord 5 sports the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip built on a 4nm process. This translates into impressive performance, whether you’re gaming at extreme FPS, multitasking, or just plowing through day-to-day apps. Heavy-duty tasks run smoothly alongside advanced AI processing, and thanks to the category’s largest vapor chamber cooling, heat is kept impressively under control—even during extended gaming sessions. The Nord 5 excels at sustained high-fps gaming and feels more responsive under load.
The OnePlus Nord 5 is available in three configurations: 8GB RAM + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB, all using fast LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. You also get RAM Expansion up to 12GB, ensuring smooth multitasking even in heavier workflows. All variants of the OnePlus Nord 5 come with UFS 3.1 storage. Interestingly, even the higher-end models miss out on UFS 4.0—despite it being available in the previous generation. It's a noticeable omission, especially for users expecting the latest storage tech in this price segment.
OnePlus Nord 5 gets an overall score of 1,438,864 on AnTuTu |
The OnePlus Nord 5 delivers solid benchmark performance with a Geekbench 6 CPU single-core score of 1,918 and a multi-core score of 4,866, while its GPU OpenCL score stands at 9,412. On AnTuTu (v10.5.1), the device achieved an overall score of 1,438,864, with component breakdowns of 384,447 for CPU, 501,724 for GPU, 263,630 for memory, and 289,063 for user experience. These scores indicate the Nord 5 offers balanced performance suited for demanding tasks and everyday use.
OnePlus Nord 5 Camera
The camera system on the OnePlus Nord 5 is a definitive upgrade over the Nord 4, making a strong statement in this price segment. The main rear camera now uses a flagship-grade 50-megapixel Sony LYT-700 sensor with triple-axis OIS, capturing images with excellent sharpness, rich detail, and impressive dynamic range—particularly noticeable in daylight, where colors are vivid but faithful and even complex scenes retain depth across highlights and shadows.
Daylight photography is a treat: the Nord 5 produces crisp, natural shots, with great balance between detail and texture. Portrait mode leverages sensor hardware and sophisticated algorithms to nail subject-background separation, delivering genuinely striking results. In low-light, the main sensor impresses by reducing noise without smudging details; colors remain accurate and images don't suffer from artificial over-brightening—a leap above its predecessor.
OnePlus Nord 5 camera sample in 2x zoom |
The 8-megapixel ultra-wide rear lens, while serviceable, doesn’t stand out, and there’s nothing particularly noteworthy to report here. It’s handy for group shots or capturing more of a landscape but isn’t the highlight of the camera setup.
OnePlus Nors 5 has several AI editing features |
Selfies have received a huge facelift as well, thanks to the introduction of a new 50-megapixel ISOCELL JN5 sensor on the front, which delivers stunning clarity and natural color tones. The sensor’s large size ensures selfies are sharp, evenly exposed, and packed with color dept. There’s clear separation between subjects and backgrounds, making portrait selfies especially appealing, with accurate skin tones and pleasing background blur.
There's also a host of editing options thanks to the AI Editor that allows users to smoothen out skin tone, improve clarity, and composition.
OnePlus Nord 5 Battery
The OnePlus Nord 5 brings a substantial leap in battery life, packing a giant 6,800mAh battery—an upgrade that’s hard to miss when coming from the Nord 4’s 5,500mAh cell. While the Nord 4 carried faster 100W charging, the Nord 5’s 80W SUPERVOOC charging still feels plenty rapid in daily life. In practice, a quick 10-minute top-up reliably gives you about five hours of solid use, so real-world convenience barely suffers.
Where you really notice the improvement is in screen-on time and ongoing endurance: the Nord 5 easily delivers 10–11 hours of active screen time per charge, outlasting most rivals and making power anxiety nearly obsolete. The larger battery dramatically extends use between charges and is keenly felt in long gaming sessions, video calls, or all-day navigation. It’s an upgrade that pays dividends in actual ownership—and one that’s absolutely welcome for power users, commuters, or anyone sick of carrying a power bank around.
OnePlus Nord 5 price in India and availability
OnePlus Nord 5 is priced in India at Rs. 29,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, Rs. 32,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage, and Rs. 35,999 for the 12GB RAM + 512GB storage options. The phone is available on Amazon India, OnePlus website, OnePlus stores, and partnered retail stores across India.
Conclusion
The OnePlus Nord 5 delivers where it counts—performance, battery life, display quality, and camera output—making it one of the most well-rounded mid-range phones under Rs. 36,000. Its clean software and premium feel further enhance the experience. However, the plastic frame and omission of UFS 4.0 are noticeable compromises. If you're considering alternatives, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro and the Motorola Edge 60 Pro can be considered.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
