OnePlus Nord N10 5G review

Competition

The OnePlus Nord is superior to the N10 5G in every possible way, though it does sit one price bracket above the N10. We get that price could be a dealbreaker for many, but in any case, you won't find the Nord in the US. The N10 5G is coming to the US and Europe, the latter of which might already have a similar Oppo or Realme counterpart available.

If your budget doesn't allow for the Nord and you're not really set on 5G, you should consider a 4G phone because 5G chipsets don't come cheap, and manufacturers are forced to cut corners elsewhere.

The Google Pixel 4a has proven to be an excellent value and all-around smartphone package. The phone itself is much smaller, but the performance and software are well-polished. Although there's no ultra-wide camera, the single-sensor setup on the Pixel 4a is simpler and takes more consistent photos with better details and more vibrant colors.

Samsung's budget 5G phone is the Galaxy A51 5G, and if you ask us, this might be the device that influenced inspired the look of the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. With the exception of fast-charging, the Galaxy A51 seems to do better with display (Super AMOLED with in-display fingerprint), performance (Exynos 980 is comparable to the Snapdragon 765G) and matches the 128GB of storage of expandable storage and 6GB of RAM.

OnePlus Nord • Google Pixel 4a • Samsung Galaxy A51 5G

The verdict

The closest device from an OnePlus sister brand is perhaps the Realme X7 Pro. Although it's powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, it features the same camera main camera setup on paper. Although, the Realme X7 Pro does have a larger battery, AMOLED screen with a higher 120Hz refresh rate, and slightly larger 4500 mAh battery.

The thing is, there's plenty of competition for the N10 5G in the European market from its own sister brands Oppo and Realme, so it doesn't make too much sense as to why it's launching there. The US, however, is a prime market for OnePlus to flourish. It's the only Chinese smartphone brand that's actually got a presence inside US Carrier stores, and adding the new Nord variants might boost its market share if OnePlus can strike deals with prepaid carriers like Metro by T-Mobile or Yahoo! Mobile (owned by Verizon).

If it weren't for Oxygen OS, the Nord N10 5G wouldn't be recognizable as an OnePlus phone at all. It feels more like an Oppo or Realme device that's (traditionally) intended to receive a few tweaks before it would be branded as an OnePlus phone. So, in other words, the Nord N10 5G feels like an OnePlus phone that hasn't been fully realized. There's something missing from the soul and vision of this phone to be an OnePlus device. Something is missing quite literally, too - every OnePlus smartphone before the Nord N10 5G has had the physical alert switch, and we're heartbroken that it's not here.

This phone is missing the special sauce that makes OnePlus stand out. Perhaps if it had a standout feature (besides 5G), it would have been more in line with the OnePlus philosophy to "Never Settle." If it wasn't for the logo and OnePlus branding, the N10 5G would be just another slab in a crowd of slabs.

Pros:

• 5G support at an affordable price point
• Warp Charge 30T
• Oxygen OS is smooth and feature-packed
• Great battery life
• Nightscape takes great lowlight shots

Cons:

• Uninspiring design
• Display is meh
• Won't be updated past Android 11
• Underwhelming ultra-wide camera performance
• No physical alert slider
• Weak vibrate motor
• Fingerprint reader is slow