Despite its “Never Settle” brand slogan, the reality of early OnePlus phones was that they did, in fact, settle. But it was a formula that worked, and one that fans, well, settled for: top specs for an affordable price. But then OnePlus grew in ambition and scale, and from last year’s OnePlus 7 Pro to this year’s 8 Pro, one could make a strong argument that OnePlus phones were offering more power and performance than even the most expensive Samsung. With that push to the top came a bigger price tag, and this year’s OnePlus 8 Pro caught a minor backlash for being priced closer to Samsung-level than ever before. The just-released OnePlus Nord, then, is a return to the company’s original strategy: starting at around the US$420 mark, it gives about 90 per cent of flagship performance, but at less than half the price. Design and hardware To untrained eyes the Nord looks like yet another premium 2020 flagship phone. It’s got the same slim bezels and hole-punch design of a Samsung Galaxy ; an almost bezel-less 90Hz OLED screen that pumps out vivid colours and smooth animations; and the same speediness and fluidity of the OnePlus 8 Pro. LG Velvet matches the iPhone, apart from its photos But there are hardware compromises when one looks more closely: the chassis is plastic; apart from the main lenses, the cameras are below par; and the 6.44-inch display panel is flat, which is cheaper to manufacture and assemble than a curved screen. The Nord runs on Qualcomm’s mid-tier 765G chip, but it still supports 5G and packs enough processing power. Software and features OnePlus’ version of Android, OxygenOS, is widely considered best in class. Running on top of Android 10, it’s full of customisation and short-cut gestures without getting in the way of Google’s vision. Other than the omission of a one-hand mode, I have no gripes with OxygenOS. Performance and battery life Although the 765G chip here isn’t the high-end 865 chip used in the last OnePlus phone, the difference will be hard to tell for all but the most hardcore mobile gamers or video editors. I’ve had no issue with the Nord’s processing power or battery endurance – this phone can easily last all day. The Nord has six cameras total – four on the back and two on the front. The main camera on each side is great. The 48-megapixel shooter on the back is the Sony IMX as seen in the 8 Pro, so it’s essentially a flagship-level camera. Expect sharp details and pleasing high contrast, and really good video stabilisation: you can walk and shoot with this thing and won’t get jerky videos. The main 32-megapixel selfie camera is superb too, with its large 0.8-micron pixel size making it able to produce a clean shot even in dimmer situations. The other lenses, however, are just average. The 8-megapixel ultrawide camera is lacking in pixels to fill the wide canvas, so images appear soft. At night, it gets even worse, although OnePlus has a strong software-assisted night mode to remedy some of the noise. The third and fourth lenses are dedicated macro and portrait sensors, and while they work, it’s been proven that modern smartphones do not need dedicated lenses just for those tasks. The other selfie camera is an ultrawide-angle lens, and while it’s great for group selfies, resolution is low. The Mi 10 Pro is Xiaomi’s most powerful flagship yet Conclusion If you are looking for a smartphone and don’t want to spend more than US$400, the Nord is one of the very best options around. The iPhone SE 2020 has a more powerful processor and wireless charging, but the design is jarringly outdated, with thick bezels. Google’s just-released Pixel 4a has the best camera of the three, but its build feels cheap and it has below par battery life. The Nord may be the best compromise. Dimensions : 158.3mm x 73.3mm x 8.2mm Weight: 184g Display: 6.44-inch 1,080 x 2,400 90Hz OLED Battery: 4,115mAh OS version reviewed: Android 10 with OxygenOS10 on top Processor: Snapdragon 765G Cameras: 48-megapixel main lens with f/1.8 aperture; 8-megapixel ultrawide lens; 5-megapixel portrait; 2-megapixel macro lens; 32-megapixel front-facing selfie camera; 8-megapixel wide-angle selfie camera Memory: 6GB/12GB RAM; 128GB/256GB ROM Colours: blue, grey Price: € HK$3,998 (Hong Kong); € 399 (US$472, Europe)