OnePlus Nord N10: the complete Review

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What happens to OnePlus? A time known for its high-end smartphones at discounted prices, the Chinese manufacturer has recently launched into entry / mid-range mobiles in addition to smart health connected accessories, such as a bracelet or headphones. As if all this were not enough, OnePlus has separated from its iconic founder Carl Pei and, for no apparent reason, has also decided to close most of its European subsidiaries (OnePlus France no longer exists). An action inconsistent with its desire to diversify, which feeds the theory that its parent company (Oppo) has regained control of the company.

With the Nord N10 5G, OnePlus is targeting the mid-range. Marketed at a price of 349 euros, this 5G smartphone faces certain star devices such as the Samsung Galaxy A51, the Pixel 4a or the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite. Does OnePlus succeed in keeping its DNA on the mid-range? If you’ve read the title of this Review, you already know the answer.

A very plastic design

Aesthetically alone, the OnePlus Nord N10 disappoints. Say goodbye to the iconic “slider” button used by the Chinese brand since its inception, it is impossible to switch to vibration mode or silent mode easily on this device. OnePlus loses that little touch of originality that was its trademark.

Another unfortunate change, the plastic back used by the device is very cheap. To be honest, we thought during the first hours of our Review to use the OnePlus Nord N100 at 200 euros … We also regret the use of a dorsal fingerprint sensor which, in addition to not being very fast, is less convenient as a sensor under the screen. In short, this mid-range smartphone is very … entry-level. The lower border of its screen, which can also be described as a chin, is also much too thick in our opinion. OnePlus has accustomed us to more perfectionism.

A dimly lit LCD screen, seriously?

Exactly, let’s talk about the screen of the OnePlus Nord N10. At 350 euros, most manufacturers on the market use OLED panels, although there are still a few manufacturers offering smartphones with an LCD screen (Xiaomi’s Mi 10T Lite for example). We are therefore not really shocked by this choice of OnePlus. However, what is more surprising is the poor quality of this panel. With a maximum brightness of 449 cd / m2, the screen of the OnePlus Nord N10 arrives well below what the competition offers (550 cd / m2 at least, in LCD as in OLED). As soon as you use this smartphone in the street, the lack of brightness is felt. Of course, who says LCD also says non-infinite contrast ratio (1547: 1 here). It really isn’t that good. Fortunately, color fidelity (Delta E = 2.08) saves the OnePlus Nord N10. All is not catastrophic, but we do not go far from a real failure.

Finally, know that OnePlus boasts of using a panel with a refresh rate of 90 Hz on its smartphone. Unfortunately, the difference with a smartphone equipped with a 60 Hz screen is not very noticeable. We have noticed lately that more and more manufacturers are announcing to use 90, 120 or 144 Hz panels on their devices but are choosing entry-level panels, which makes the show less famous. This is undeniably the case here. On the contrary, we sometimes even notice lags.

A Nord N10 5G without 5G

Another frustrating point, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is not yet compatible with French 5G at the time of writing. The Chinese brand will offer an update of its smartphone to teach it to recognize the networks of Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free in the coming months. We can imagine the surprise of whoever will receive this device to experience 5G and will discover in the settings that only 3G and 4G are available.

A preserved software experience

Fortunately for OnePlus, its OxygenOS overlay is still just as good. If we can only regret that this device is delivered under Android 10 while the most expensive OnePlus already benefit from Android 11, we can only recognize that the user experience is very satisfactory on the brand’s smartphones. The menus are easy to understand, the software animations are successful and, good news for the most tech-savvy users, there are plenty of options to personalize your mobile. Too bad its processor, the Snapdragon 690, lacks pep on certain occasions (especially in games or when you do several things at the same time, such as watching a video using pedestrian GPS). When unlocking, we also find the smartphone slow. Double-tapping a notification does not open the affected application immediately.

On the positive side, the presence of a jack and the quality of the stereo speakers. As an anecdote, the brand offers free USB-C headphones when purchasing this smartphone. For us, this is proof of the current inconsistency of the manufacturer’s ranges. Does OnePlus know where it’s going?

A high level of autonomy

Equipped with a 4300 mAh battery, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G enjoys excellent autonomy according to the measurements of our laboratory. The device withstood our versatile battery life Review at 3:31 p.m., 11:35 in video streaming and 27:33 in communication. In use, with normal but not intense use, we had to recharge it about once every two days. OnePlus provides a 30W charger in the box capable of recharging the device in 1h01.

An illusory quadruple camera module

Finally, let’s talk about the photo. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G has a quadruple camera module. For once, a Chinese manufacturer is increasing the number of cameras on the back of its device in order to deceive consumers. The Nord N10 has a macro sensor and a monochrome sensor which, let’s be clear, are absolutely useless. So let’s correct the technical sheet of the device: the OnePlus Nord N10 5G has a dual camera module.

Thus, there is a main sensor of 64 Mpix on the back of the OnePlus Nord N10 (the latter is attached to a module opening at f / 1.79). In addition, the mobile has an ultra wide-angle camera attached to an 8 Mpix sensor (f / 2.25). A classic score for the midrange.

During the day, the photos taken with the main sensor of the OnePlus Nord N10 5G are very satisfactory. The smartphone is doing well and offers a good enough dive for a mid-range smartphone. At night, it is immediately more complicated, even if OnePlus is once again doing well. The management of light and movement is not perfect, but the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is not bad.

On the other hand, the ultra wide-angle of the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is a small disaster. The photos taken by the smartphone do not suffer much from a distortion phenomenon but… are completely blurry and grainy. The OnePlus mystery.

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