Testing the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G: it lasts several days even with fast charging

The (snappily-named) OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G comes with two prominent cameras and in two different shades of green. For a mid-range smartphone, it has a good processor and a large 5000 mAh battery. For the price, you get a durable device with minor weaknesses.

Smartphones

EUR222,46

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite

128 GB, Pastel Lime, 6.70", Hybrid Dual SIM, 108 Mpx, 5G

39

Smartphones

EUR222,46

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite

128 GB, Pastel Lime, 6.70", Hybrid Dual SIM, 108 Mpx, 5G

39

A fresh green outfit

The Nord CE 3 Lite 5G has a 6.72-inch display with 2400 × 1080 pixel resolution. The LCD impresses in terms of brightness, but there are compromises on deep black tones. It has a refresh rate of up to 120 Hertz, adapting to the screen’s content and intended to conserve battery power. With Gorilla Glass 5, the display survives 80 per cent of all falls from 1.6 metres, according to the manufacturer. The transparent silicone cover provided also protects the housing.

There are two colour options: a dark green and the light green shown here. I really like this because of the subtle shine. The plastic of the case doesn’t feel that good and it’s a bit slippy in the hand. The metal-effect frame doesn’t really feel high-quality either. In return, I get a relatively light smartphone at 195 grams.

Not much better than the previous model

There are hardly any new features on the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite compared to its predecessor. The Nord CE 2 Lite has a lower camera resolution of 64 megapixels for the main camera and still uses Android 12. Both smartphones have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor.

I use Geekbench 6 software to test the processor’s performance and better categorise it. The Nord CE 3 Lite achieved a single-core score of 855. Its multi-core score is 2,048 points. Unsurprisingly, its predecessor, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, achieves similar values according to Geekbench. The Samsung Galaxy A54 meanwhile puts in a clearly better performance. It scores 1,008 points in the single-core test and 2,866 points in the multi-core test. This sounds bad for the OnePlus at first. However, I didn’t notice any disadvantages compared to the Samsung Galaxy in everyday use. On the contrary, the OnePlus runs very smoothly and has no stuttering problems. The CPU-intensive game Genshin Impact runs with reduced graphics performance like on the Galaxy A54, but starts much faster thanks to the OnePlus games engine.

There are eight gigabytes of RAM and 128 gigabytes of internal memory. The smartphone’s SIM slot fits two SIM cards or one SIM plus a microSD to increase this.

The Nord CE 3 Lite 5G has a 5000 mAh battery, which I charged to 80 per cent in 30 minutes. A full charge took about 45 minutes with the 67-watt power adapter provided. That’s very speedy. The battery lasts a really long time, too. Doing the maths, I can watch over 14 hours of high-resolution YouTube videos and make more than six hours of video calls. The battery easily lasts me two or three days of everyday use.

OnePlus software with good features

The Nord CE 3 Lite 5G uses the Android 13 operating system with the OnePlus-customised OxygenOS 13.1 user interface. Google services and twelve mostly necessary and useful apps from OnePlus are preinstalled. That’s manageable and suits me. There are also some battery-saving features. For example, you can see which background apps are draining your battery. The software adapts the refresh rate and brightness to your usage. A quick startup feature gives you faster access to games.

OnePlus guarantees Android updates for the Nord CE 3 Lite for two years and aims to provide security patches for three years.

The 108-megapixel camera takes decent photos

There are two large, round camera modules on the back of the smartphone. I like the look of them. Probably because, combined with the flash, they look like a face. But the equipment is more important. With an impressive 108 megapixels, the main camera has a higher resolution than any previous OnePlus phone. The second module, on the other hand, has a two-megapixel macro camera and one for depth of field, also with two megapixels. These are both rather useless.

Images taken with the main camera have a resolution of 12 megapixels as standard. OnePlus uses pixel binning here to combine nine pixels into one. Among other things, this should increase light sensitivity and improve image quality. However, some of the images lack sharpness. The colours are obviously edited and beautiful to look at.

I compared the camera to the one on the Samsung Galaxy A54. The details are a little finer on the latter. The colours on the OnePlus also appear slightly yellow. This makes photos taken in good weather look warmer, but the Galaxy’s colour adjustment works better on cloudy skies.

OnePlus advertises its 3x digital zoom as lossless. Due to the high pixel resolution, a zoomed photo supposedly still has the same quality. I find the results exciting: at maximum 6x zoom, I can read the writing on a sign that I can’t decipher with the single or triple zoom. The triple zoom doesn’t actually improve anything at all. I’d stay away from this and just go straight to the 6x zoom.

The two-megapixel depth camera is said to help create a better bokeh effect (the blurred background of a portrait). I try it out with a comparison of the 108-megapixel main and 16-megapixel front cameras.

In any case, the depth effect in the portrait isn’t very clean in the trickier areas, such as my hair. Otherwise, the photos are nice. Overall, I prefer the result with the main camera. The picture has more depth and more natural colours. The level of detail seems about the same for both.

The selfie I like best is actually taken with the front camera and without portrait mode. This photo doesn’t look overexposed, has natural colours and the shadows are clearer. There’s also a natural-looking soft focus on my skin.

The macro camera is useless. I took a few photos with it and varied the distance a bit, but the photo was always blurred. I’ll show you one of the numerous examples below.

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G can record Full HD videos at 30 fps. For slow-motion videos, it’s still 720p at 120 fps. The quality is good when filming in normal mode. However, make sure you keep the camera as still as possible – the image stabiliser is unreliable. It has trouble with walking or even climbing stairs. I’m not impressed by the time-lapse (in the first video below) or slow-motion. Both appear pixelated, and the poor image stabilisation is particularly annoying when it comes to time-lapse.

Value for money

You get a decent smartphone for 329 francs or euros. Its biggest strength is the battery, which lasts for a really long time and charges to 80 per cent in 30 minutes. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G gives you a smooth experience and fast-launching apps. The photos aren’t always outstanding, but they’re satisfactory. And the 6x zoom is great. The Full HD display is bright, but the black tones are too bright. The videos aren’t as rich in contrast, but you get 14 hours of streaming before you have to charge your phone again. All in all, it’s a solid smartphone with a few weaknesses, but a lot of endurance.

If you want a little more detail in photos and a nice OLED display (and you’re willing to pay for the privilege), I recommend the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G. Another, slightly cheaper alternative than the Samsung with a special, beautiful design and good features is the Nothing Phone (1).