OnePlus Nord N30 5G Review: Affordable 5G With A Special 108MP Camera
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Review: Better Shooter, Lesser Display, Same Great Value
| OnePlus
Nord N30 5G - Starting at $299 The
OnePlus Nord N30 5G is a decent 5G budget phone that boasts a
108MP camera with lossless 3x zoom.
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Over the years, BBK Group (the parent company for Oppo, OnePlus,
Realme, Vivo, and IQOO) has perfected the art of binning components and making
similar phones across brands from a standardized set of parts. This is
nothing new. Xiaomi spearheaded this approach, sharing parts between its
Xiaomi, Redmi, and Poco brands, and sometimes even releasing handsets that have nearly identical specs but are cosmetically different.
Which brings us to today’s phone, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G, also known as the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite in Europe. This handset is based on last year’s Realme 10 Pro and is related to this year’s Oppo F23. It shares its relatives’ 6.72-inch IPS display, Snapdragon 695 SoC, and 5000mAh battery. But, the N30 5G is the successor to the OnePlus Nord N20 5G we reviewed (and recommended) in 2022.
And while the N30 5G gains a tricked-out 108MP camera, it loses its predecessor’s lovely 6.43-inch AMOLED screen. So, was this substitution worth it? What else has changed, if anything? Does this budget phone still deliver the same excellent value? Let’s find out...
Which brings us to today’s phone, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G, also known as the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite in Europe. This handset is based on last year’s Realme 10 Pro and is related to this year’s Oppo F23. It shares its relatives’ 6.72-inch IPS display, Snapdragon 695 SoC, and 5000mAh battery. But, the N30 5G is the successor to the OnePlus Nord N20 5G we reviewed (and recommended) in 2022.
And while the N30 5G gains a tricked-out 108MP camera, it loses its predecessor’s lovely 6.43-inch AMOLED screen. So, was this substitution worth it? What else has changed, if anything? Does this budget phone still deliver the same excellent value? Let’s find out...
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Hardware And Design
Design wise, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G has a lot in common with last
year’s sleek N20 5G, including the iPhone-like flat sides and twin round
camera pods. Unfortunately, between the glossy, fingerprint-happy
faux-glass back and forgettable Chromatic Gray finish, the N30 5G doesn’t
look or feel nearly as premium as its predecessor. It’s not a terrible
design by any means, but it’s arguably a step backwards.
Things could have been different. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite – the N30 5G’s European identical twin – comes in an additional Pastel Lime colorway, which is absolutely striking. But apparently, here in North America, we can’t have nice things, so we only get the boring hue. And that’s just a bummer, because stylish design is what made last year’s N20 5G stand out in a sea of lackluster Moto Gs.
Things could have been different. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite – the N30 5G’s European identical twin – comes in an additional Pastel Lime colorway, which is absolutely striking. But apparently, here in North America, we can’t have nice things, so we only get the boring hue. And that’s just a bummer, because stylish design is what made last year’s N20 5G stand out in a sea of lackluster Moto Gs.
At least the two oversized lens rings – which actually house three shooters (108MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth) – plus the ornate LED flash, bring some excitement to N30 5G’s rear panel. In front, the display is larger (6.72 vs 6.43-inch) and smoother (120Hz vs. 60Hz), but last year’s beautiful AMOLED panel gives way to an IPS screen with a top center punch hole for the 16MP selfie camera and a massive chin below.
As for the button and connector layout, it’s classic OnePlus. You’ll find the power/lock key (which doubles as a capacitive fingerprint sensor) on the right, plus a speaker, USB Type-C port, primary mic, and headphone jack along the bottom edge. The left side is home to the volume rocker and combination nano-SIM / microSD tray, and there’s a secondary mic on top. In addition, the N30 5G is IP54 dust and splash resistant.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Specs And Features
| Processing and 5G Platform | Qualcomm
Snapdragon 695 5G + integrated Snapdragon X51 5G Modem |
| Display | 6.72" FHD+ (20:9) IPS LCD, 2400x1080 resolution, 120Hz |
| Memory | 8GB LPDDR4x |
| Storage | 128GB
UFS 2.2 + microSD |
| Rear-Facing Cameras | 108MP f/1.75
Main PDAF - 2MP f/2.4 Macro - 2MP f/2.4 Depth |
| Front-Facing Cameras | 16MP f/2.4 |
| Video Recording | Up to 1080p @ 30fps, 720p slow-mo |
| Battery | 5000
mAh, 50W wired charging, no wireless charging |
| OS | Android 13 With
OxygenOS 13.1 |
| Dimensions | 165.5 x 76 x 8.3mm |
| Weight | 195 grams |
| Connectivity | 802.11ac
Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1+LE, NFC, USB-C, LTE, sub-6GHz 5G |
| Colors | Chromatic Gray |
| Pricing | Find the OnePlus Nord N30 5G @ Amazon, Starting at $299 |
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Display Quality
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G uses a rather ordinary 6.72-inch FHD+ IPS
display (2400 x 1080 pixels, 391ppi) with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 120Hz
refresh rate. It delivers vibrant colors, good contrast, and decent
viewing angles, but maximum brightness leaves room for improvement – at
least in direct sunlight. Overall, this display gets the job done, and
other than the excessive chin, we have no major complaints.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Camera Performance And Image Quality
When it comes to imaging, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G’s main shooter is the
star of the show. It pairs a 108MP 0.64-micron 1/1.67-inch sensor (with
PDAF) with a six-element f/1.75 lens (without OIS). This sensor (Samsung
ISOCELL HM6) is unique in that it supports both 9-in-1 pixel binning (12MP
output,1.92-micron pixels), and sensor cropping for lossless 3x digital
zoom (12MP output, 0.64-micron pixels).
Like last year’s N20 5G, the N30 5G also includes a pair of questionable 2MP f/2.4 lenses in lieu of an ultrawide, along with the same 16MP f/2.4 1.0-micron selfie camera. The first 2MP shooter is for macro, which is mostly useless since it lacks autofocus; the second one is a depth sensor, but it’s unclear how necessary it actually is. An ultrawide camera would really have made more sense and offered more value.
As you’d expect, the N30 5G’s main camera is pretty decent. Generally speaking, it handles color balance, exposure, and dynamic range quite well. But it’s the lossless 3x zoom that really shines – as long as there’s enough light – with shots looking fine up to the 6x maximum zoom level. In the dark, though, the main shooter is quite noisy. Thankfully, night mode really helps, and turns mediocre low-light pictures into serviceable ones.
Overall, this 108MP camera is a definite upgrade over last year’s
middling 64MP setup, thanks especially to the lossless 3x zoom and
low-light performance improvement, but the other shooters are basically
unchanged. For closeups, you’re still better off ignoring the macro and
using the main camera’s lossless 3x zoom. Selfies remain pleasant, but
aren’t anything spectacular.
Shooting modes include portrait, night, and panorama (main/selfie),
plus pro (manual), macro, text scanner, hi-res (108MP), and extra HD (main
only). The N30 5G captures stabilized video with stereo audio at up to
1080p 30fps, plus slow motion (720p 120fps), time lapse (1080p 30fps), and
dual-view (720p 30fps). Extra HD stacks multiple 108MP frames and uses
image processing to generate even sharper 108MP (1x) and 48MP (2x) photos.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Audio, Data, And Call Reception
We used the OnePlus Nord N30 5G primarily on T-Mobile and Telus’
sub-6GHz 5G and 4G LTE networks in San Francisco and Vancouver (Canada),
and didn’t experience any problems. Calls sounded clear and data speeds
matched our expectations. The N30 5G is available for T-Mobile / Metro but
also unlocked (like our review unit), and supports sub-6GHz 5G and 4G LTE
bands for all major US carriers.
On the audio front, the N30 5G features stereo speakers (bottom edge plus earpiece) with Dirac audio enhancement. These sound fantastic, and are a big improvement over the N20 5G’s mono speaker. As a bonus, there’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack with a quality DAC and an amp powerful enough to drive high-impedance headphones. If you’d rather go wireless, the N30 5G supports aptX HD and LDAC lossless audio over Bluetooth.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Performance And Battery Life
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G packs the same
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 6nm mid-range 5G SoC as its predecessor, but
comes with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM (vs. 6GB previously) and 128GB of UFS 2.2
storage (plus microSD support up to 1TB). We ran a few benchmarks (see our
results below), and as you’d expect, the N30 5G basically matches the N20
5G in terms of performance. No surprises here.
Subjectively however, the N30 5G feels faster and more responsive than last year’s N20 5G. This is likely due to the higher 120Hz refresh rate and newer, more optimized version of OxygenOS. Just don’t expect the same ultra-smooth experience you’ll find on a OnePlus flagship. That being said, the N30 5G handled our usual collection of productivity and entertainment apps without skipping a beat.
Battery life is outstanding. The large 5000mAh cell and efficient 6nm chip make for a winning combination. We’re still running our battery life tests, but we fully expect this handset to last two days on a charge with moderate use. Filling back up is a breeze, too. The N30 5G supports 50W SuperVOOC fast charging and ships with a 50W charger in the box. Obviously, there’s no wireless charging here.
The remaining specs are pretty standard for a mid-range
Snapdragon-equipped device, and include sub-6GHz 5G, CAT 15 LTE, dual-band
WiFi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.1 (LE), NFC for contactless payments, and
A-GPS / BDS, GLONASS / Galileo / QZSS – plus the usual array of sensors.
Haptics feel pretty cheap, but get the job done. The side-mounted
capacitive fingerprint sensor is quick and reliable, and so is face
unlock.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Software And User Experience
OnePlus usually delivers great software,
and overall, that’s still true with the Oneplus Nord N30 5G. It runs
ColorOS-based OxygenOS 13.1 on top of Android 13. So basically, this is
Oppo’s ColorOS skinned to look like OxygenOS. And while it’s not nearly as
quick and responsive as Oxygen OS used to be before it was merged with
ColorOS, it’s still clean and refined, and a pleasure to use.
This includes OxygenOS’s helpful customizations, which you can read more about in our OnePlus 8T review. Go ahead, we’ll wait. With the N30 5G, OnePlus is promising one OS upgrade and three years of security updates. Thankfully, the unlocked handset we reviewed came with just OnePlus and Google apps pre-installed, plus Netflix. We expect T-Mobile’s version to have more bloatware, so keep this in mind.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G Final Verdict
There’s no doubt that the OnePlus Nord N30 5G is a decent 5G budget
smartphone. It boasts a capable 108MP shooter with lossless 3x digital
zoom, fantastic stereo speakers, outstanding battery life, and good software. The headphone jack, microSD expansion, and supplied 50W brick
are all welcome extras too. But while the N30 5G still offers great value, it
isn’t a significant upgrade over last year’s N20 5G.
If anything, the design isn’t as stylish and colorful as before, the IPS screen is a step back (despite the smoother 120Hz refresh rate), and the continued lack of an ultrawide camera is disappointing. But if you don’t mind these limitations, the N30 5G will be available unlocked for $299 from OnePlus, Amazon, and Best Buy starting today (June 15), and T-Mobile will offer the N30 5G for $264 or free with a new line. That's a nice, budget-friendly price for a decent 5G handset.
