OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite treads a different path to achieve Android affordability

OnePlus’ most affordable phone in India at this time, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, has a spec sheet that is quite solid — Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chip, a 6.59-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate, fast charging and a 64-megapixel camera

Android phones that start just below the ₹20,000 price mark are becoming increasingly more powerful, capable, and therefore have a higher future-proofing ceiling. It has been in the offing for a while. One will be able to hold on to them much longer, something we couldn’t have said a couple of years ago. What has been possible is the rushed improvement Qualcomm rival chipmaker MediaTek has been engaged in. That defines two very different paths which Android phones are taking to achieve the same result.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite.

OnePlus’ most affordable phone in India at this time, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, has a spec sheet that isn’t weak. The power comes from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chip, a 6.59-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate, fast charging and a 64-megapixel camera at the helm of a troika. Prices for the Nord CE 2 Lite start around ₹19,999. Yet, the question remains simple — Is this enough?

A quick comparison with its closest rival, the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 Pro, is relevant. It’s undercutting the Nord CE 2 Lite slightly with prices starting around ₹17,999, with slightly larger display (6.67-inches with 120Hz), MediaTek Helio G96, a 108-megapixel camera leading the quad set-up, and faster charging (67-watt compared to 33-watt).

There may be a chance you’d be wondering — why not spend a little extra ( ₹23,999 onwards) on the Nord CE 2 for that much bit more power and potential longevity? Though it definitely ticks the performance aspect with MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset, what you’d get instead is a slightly smaller display (6.43-inches) and limited to 90Hz refresh rate (that’s perplexing!), but 45-watt faster charging with a smaller 4,500 mAh battery (instead of 5,000 mAh).

From the design perspective, you’ll get two colours — Blue Tide and Black Dusk. There’s a subtle dual tone finish. In the Blue, you’d get a bit of glimmer, while Black reminds us of the sandstone finish that OnePlus has always done so well. Fairly conventional looks and finish, at par with expectations, but nothing that stands out. Except the 3.5mm headphone jack, which would likely be very useful for a lot of users.

OnePlus has taken advantage of the comparative performance advantage ‘Snapdragon 695’ offers. It has faster core frequencies for processing cores and graphics, but that in itself makes a difference during multitasking — those occasional stutters are reduced while switching apps or navigating visually heavy interfaces. What’d also help is choosing the 8GB RAM spec instead of 6GB RAM, purely for the added headroom you’ll inevitably need for apps.

While this chip is comparatively faster than its direct rival, it is all relative. This is a phone that’s still going to touch the performance limits soon enough. The 120Hz refresh rate in a way accentuates slightly slower interface transitions. Open too many apps and load times get a bit longer. Surprisingly, it is quite pronounced when accessing content in-app too, including Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome web browsers; it feels like your broadband connection has suddenly slowed down. Affordable Android phones and their uniqueness!

The clean Oxygen OS 12.1 does prevent any further load on system resources. That’s on par with the software layer that’s common across all OnePlus phones. There is a touch of simplicity and minimalism about Oxygen OS, even after being significantly revamped. There is the virtual memory option that can redirect some of the system space to act as a bolted-on RAM, but we didn’t notice any performance boost with this turned on. Best to leave it off, and not strain the storage bandwidth.

This is a fairly bright display to work with. Almost 6.6-inch screen is the space that should do well for most apps. But the tech is quite basic. It’s a simple LCD screen, and that means an always-on display option isn’t on the menu. Colours are rich, and the white itself doesn’t seem very accurate (it leans towards cool). Enough colour settings to try out, and things look up soon enough. Adequately sharp and has largely the same pixel density as Nord CE 2’s slightly smaller display.

While a 64-megapixel sensor leads the way (others being macro and depth sensors, both 2-megapixels, each), you’ll have to work hard with most photos you click. By default, this will capture 16-megapixel photos, with 64-megapixel high-definition mode too. Landscapes and still subjects come through rather nicely but moving subjects and rustling leaves end up looking blurred or smudged often — it indicates an inability to process photos quick enough.

You’ll like the colour richness and the dynamic range when the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite’s camera is used with patience and poise. The camera app itself is quite simple, which should be helpful in getting the hang of it soon enough. There is no ‘raw’ photo mode available, but then again, that’s to be expected.

Would we recommend the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite? The answer is affirmative, for the most part if you keep in mind the limitations. As a phone, this is competent enough to not get in the way. Looks good, the software is reminiscent of more expensive OnePlus phones, and battery stamina elicits no complaints at all. The camera requires you to be patient, while the performance doesn’t stretch far enough to allow for any real serious games.