OnePlus Nord CE 5 review: A premium experience, plus AI, for £299

Best Prices Today: OnePlus Nord CE 5

With no sign of a Lite model this year, the new OnePlus Nord CE 5 looks to be the most affordable offering in the company’s smartphone lineup for 2025.

As with the OnePlus Nord 5, the more premium mid-ranger which it launches alongside, the CE 5’s focus is on bringing the company’s newest wave of AI features to a lower price point.

While you can expect compromises, where any more affordable phone is concerned, the Nord CE 5 still aims to strike a competent balance on performance, battery life and functionality at a reasonable £299 / €349 starting price.

The question is, not whether this is this good value amidst OnePlus’ own smartphone lineup, but whether it’s still worth picking up over a slate of competitively affordable rivals from other manufacturers?

Design & Build

• Polycarbonate frame, composite back
• IP65-certified against dust & water
• 199 grams

This year’s Nord lineup sports a revised design language, with cleaner lines, nicer ergonomics and bolder camera surrounds than last year’s offerings. Based on its standing in this latest lineup, the CE 5 adopts a polycarbonate frame and a composite back, compared to the pricier Nord 5’s glass back.

Even so, the phone still boasts attractive lines, with subtle rounding along its frame making for a comfortable hand-feel, paired to a sub-200 gram weight, ensuring wrist fatigue doesn’t set in, even after extended use. It’s arguably one of the nicest plastic-clad phones to hit the market this year.

Durability-wise, OnePlus has only gone so far as to promise “impact resistant’ cover glass over the CE 5’s display, and not more premium, branded Gorilla Glass, as on the Nord 5 and above. While the the body of my review unit has shown no signs of wear over the weeks I’ve been testing it, the pre-fitted plastic screen protector – although welcome – picks up deep scrapes all too easily.

It’s ideal for the accident-prone

Both dust and water ingress protection has been improved versus the Nord CE 4, with IP65-certification (up from IP54); it’s ideal for the accident prone or those who live in wetter climes.

As for finishes, OnePlus has kept things simple, with only a black or white variant to choose from. Black Infinity (pictured) has a flat satin-finish composite back, contrasted with a glossy OnePlus logo. The bright Marble Mist colourway meanwhile, serves up much more interest, with a nacre-inspired back pattern, resembling mother of pearl.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.77-inch Full HD+ (2392×1080) 120Hz AMOLED
• Optical in-display fingerprint sensor
• Stereo speakers

The CE 5’s display is only fractionally larger than its predecessor’s and otherwise brings familiar hardware – with a Full HD+ 120Hz AMOLED panel – to the table.

There are subtle but appreciated improvements though, like higher brightness output (a high-brightness max of 1300 and a new peak of 1430 nits, compared to a limit of 1100, previously), which better serves outdoor visibility and dynamic range when watching HDR content on supported apps such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

Despite high reflectivity, I was still happy enough viewing content outdoors on the Nord CE 5, with the increased contrast and richer colours that AMOLED tech brings over LCD (which you’re more likely to encounter on phones at lower price points). But brighter is better and OnePlus could have pushed even harder in this area (the OnePlus 13R has a high-brightness limit of 1600 nits).

The fact that the CE 5 utilises that 120Hz peak refresh rate most of the time is nice too; with super-smooth 120fps visuals, even when simply swiping around the phone’s main UI.

Is it loud? Yes. Is it good? Not really

Hitting that peak 120fps was harder when gaming, with OnePlus seemingly optimising support on a title by title basis. Most games ran at 60fps, with a few exceptions topping out at 90fps, while Call of Duty Mobile seemed to be the only game I encountered that had been tailored to capitalise on that 120Hz peak output.

OnePlus has also included the Aqua Touch algorithm, which was exclusive to the Nord 4 amidst last generation’s Nord series. It helps with damp fingers or use in the rain and is a nice everyday bonus that rivals should consider implementing.

Having reviewed the new Nord 5 as well, for whatever reason the in-display optical fingerprint sensor feels fractionally slower to respond on the CE 5, but otherwise proves snappy and reliable; even if it is placed a little too low on the screen for optimum comfort.

If you rely on your phone’s speakers for music or podcast playback on a regular basis, I’d give the Nord CE 5 a miss. Despite being slated as delivering stereo sound, the balance between the earpiece and down-firing speaker is so off-kilter that it essentially delivers mono output.

Not only that, but audio quality from that more prominent down-firing speaker lacks any depth and distorts higher frequencies all too easily. Is it loud? Yes. Is it good? Not really.

Specs & Performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset
• 8GB (LPDDR5X) RAM
• 128 / 256GB (UFS 3.1) storage

The fact that OnePlus allows for the user experience to default to the display’s 120Hz limit at all times speaks to the confidence it has in the performance of the Nord CE 5’s hardware. Having lived with it, the Dimensity chip at its heart seems like a more than respectable choice for an entry-level Nord in 2025.

Similar to the ‘Extreme’ version powering Motorola’s recent Edge 60 Pro, OnePlus worked with MediaTek on its own flavour of the Dimensity 8350, called the ‘Apex’.

It uses fractionally more power than the Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 that powered the CE 5’s predecessor, but in return you get significantly better multi-core CPU performance, GPU performance and networking speeds. This translates to smoother everyday use, competent app multitasking and decent fidelity gaming, even when off Wi-Fi.

Practically, the Apex kept app load times to a minimum, and ensured the Nord CE 5 was comfortable with fast-paced 3D games, like Call of Duty Mobile and Zenless Zone Zero. Unlike its beefier launch sibling, while comfortable playing ZZZ on default medium settings, at 30fps, cranking either visual fidelity or frame rate limits did result in CE 5 dropping frames almost instantly.

The Nord CE 5 is also one of the few remaining options to support microSD expandability

Run everything at medium settings or lower, however, and the phone’s Game Engine is on hand to offer quick access to performance optimising tools and notification-muting controls.

In fact, OnePlus grants the Nord CE5 the same Trinity Engine-branded technologies as the likes of the flagship OnePlus 13; with dedicated CPU, system file and memory management tools, meant to optimise performance, particularly across years of use.

RAM Expansion is an ever-appreciated inclusion that lets you manually reallocate some of the phone’s decently-fast UFS 3.1 storage as additional virtual memory, which further improves app load times and multitasking. The Nord CE 5 comes with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM, whichever storage variant you go for, with RAM Expansion letting you double that with an additional 8GB.

If it’s raw storage you’re in need of (highly likely with the phone’s base 128GB of space), while most phones have now forgone this feature, the Nord CE 5 is also one of the few remaining options to support microSD expandability up to a whopping 1TB.

Touching on other functionality you might otherwise miss, the back of the CE 5 conceals an IR blaster, that’s compatible with most IR-based appliances, and extremely useful when I, like clockwork, lose the TV remote.

On the flip side, to accompany its lacklustre loudspeaker performance, I felt that the CE 5’s haptics were equally insipid. A small rotational motor puts out a hollow rattle of vibration on every key press that cheapens the phone’s feel and, as such, is best switched off for common actions like typing.

OnePlus Nord CE 5 benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp Sony LYT-600 f/1.8 main with OIS
• 8Mp OmniVision OV08D10 f/2.2 112º ultra-wide
• 16Mp Sony IMX480 f/2.4 front camera

Despite being an established mid-range sensor, the 50Mp Sony Lytia-based camera that leads the Nord CE 5’s setup impresses in bright conditions. OnePlus’ Ultra HDR format – introduced last year – adds impressive dynamic range to shots, which also deliver accurate colours and a pleasant amount of detail.

While the main sensor is the same as on the Nord CE 4, there’s a different 8MP ultra-wide this year (previously a Sony sensor), that demonstrates a pleasing consistency with the primary camera; thanks to good colour tuning on OnePlus’ part.

The sensor resolution drop does otherwise mean that detail suffers, especially in dimmer lighting conditions, while dynamic range appears more limited in ultra-wide shots too.

The main sensor has a natural bokeh that adds a pleasant depth to macro shots (even though there’s no dedicated macro mode on this phone), while Portrait Mode lets you artificially heighten the effect both at or after capture.

As I found when reviewing the OnePlus Nord 5, however, the company still needs to work on improving its edge detection algorithm, with parts of the background and subject appearing blurred and unblurred erroneously in certain places.

4K 60fps video capture is impressive and decent in good lighting, on a phone of this standing too, with the main sensor’s OIS (optical image stabilisation) system doing a respectable job of evening out motion of footage filmed while walking.

As for selfies, similarly to the main camera, you can expect surprisingly good colour reproduction and detail – just note that the fixed focus system lacks any real depth, resulting in much flatter looking images.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5200mAh battery (as reviewed)
• 80W SuperVOOC wirec charging
• Now supports bypass charging

As with the Nord 5, outside of India, the Nord CE 5 confusingly arrives with a smaller, slower-charging battery than its predecessor.

While that means it loses out on winning any battery life crowns, the phone’s 5200mAh cell is still bigger than the 5000mAh offering in the likes of the mighty Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra uber-flagship, and should provide ample longevity for most users.

In spite of sharing the same capacity as the Nord 5, you get notably better battery life out of the more modest hardware at play on this latest CE model.

It mustered an additional 30 minutes of testing in PCMark’s Battery 3.0 test, but based on my real-world testing, it actually delivered an extra hour of screen-on time, topping out at around 7 hours 45 minutes. That confidently translates to over a day and a half of use on a single charge, without the need for battery anxiety.

Gamers will also appreciate the addition of bypass charging

While battery drain differs, thanks to the same battery capacity and 80W SuperVOOC wired charging as the Nord 5, you get exactly the same recharge speeds on the Nord CE 5: 38% charge after 15 minutes of being plugged in, 74% after 30 minutes, and a fully replenished battery in less than 50 minutes.

Gamers will also appreciate the addition of bypass charging, which lets you keep the Nord CE 5 powered without cycling power through the battery. This allows for longer gaming sessions without reducing battery health and causing unnecessary heat build-up.

The main caveat with charging the Nord CE 5 is that to get peak speeds, you’re going to have to fork out extra for OnePlus’ USB-A 80W SuperVOOC charger (which goes for £39.99 in the UK, at the time of writing), as there’s no power adapter in-box.

There’s no wireless charging either, but at this price point, I’m not surprised or disappointed by this omission.

Software & Apps

• OxygenOS 15.02 atop Android 15 at launch
• AI upgrades, including Plus Mind
• 4 years of OS updates + 6 years of security

After the debut of Plus Mind on the OnePlus 13s in India earlier this year, I was wondering when we were going to see OnePlus’ new swathe of AI features reach other markets internationally.

While the Nord 5 offers the fullest experience for Plus Mind – offering easy content capture via its physical Plus Key (which replaces OnePlus’ iconic alert slider) – the CE 5 gets Plus Mind too.

Similar to Nothing’s Essential Space, Mind Space is where screenshots (kept separate from the ones usually stored in the Photos app) are stored and then analysed by OnePlus’ Plus Mind AI system.

Depending on the content captured (it can be images and/or text), Plus Mind will then extract and summarise information it detects, or offer more proactive functionality, like one-touch event creation in your calendar, based on invitation details in a message or on a concert poster, for example.

As the Nord CE 5 loses out on a dedicated hardware button to capture content for Mind Space, the three-finger swipe up gesture that used to activate split window mode on OxygenOS has now been reassigned (this is also now true for the likes of the flagship OnePlus 13, which also lacks the Plus Key).

While I like the idea of Mind Space and it has its uses, it’s a little inflexible right now, with the need for more granular organisation of entries and the ability to synchronise and/or transfer captures between OnePlus devices, which currently isn’t possible.

Elsewhere, software is arguably the most unfettered part of the Nord CE 5 experience, offering a near-identical user experience to the company’s most expensive phones, in terms of ability and functionality.

The way the Smart Sidebar surfaces AI tools dynamically, based on what you’re doing, is a trait I wish more rivals cribbed, and OxygenOS is generally a clean, responsive and intuitive spin on – at launch – Android 15.

OnePlus also grants the humble CE 5 the same software commitment as its pricier devices: four years of OS updates and six years of security patches, which is all the more impressive at the lower end of the market.

Samsung is pushing hard with its offer of six-generations of support for both OS and security on mid-rangers, but OnePlus isn’t far behind.

Price & Availability

The OnePlus Nord CE 5 landed July 8, in two storage variants: 128GB or 256GB. Expect to pay £299 / €349 for the base model, and £349 / €399 for the higher capacity.

OnePlus is selling the Nord CE 5 directly from its website, while popular online retailers such as Amazon are also stocking it.

Should you buy the OnePlus Nord CE 5?

The hardware on offer won’t blow your socks off, but it’s functional and inoffensive, with strengths that should mean it’ll last you a good few years of use, especially with OnePlus’ software update commitment.

OxygenOS and OnePlus AI efforts are the most attractive and cutting-edge aspects of the Nord CE 5, so if you’re after a good AI-laden smartphone experience in 2025 on a budget, the CE 5 can deliver in a way some rivals can’t.

If it’s more power, a larger battery, faster charging, a more premium build or more capable cameras you’re after, here are some alternatives.

The £309 Poco X7 Pro has a better chip and the Samsung Galaxy A56 can be had with 256GB of storage for less than £300 on Amazon; sporting a more versatile camera system, as well as that extended software support.

There’s also the Nothing Phone (3a) to consider, which serves up a triple camera of its own, and a similarly clean software experience, in a much more interesting design, for the same or less (depending on where you look).

Specs

• OxygenOS 15 atop Android 15 (at launch)
• 6.7-inch 120Hz (1080 x 2392) AMOLED display
• MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset
• 8GB RAM (LPDDR5X)
• 128GB / 256GB (UFS 3.1)
• microSD expandable up to 1TB
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp Sony LYT-600 f/1.8 main with OIS
  • 8Mp OmniVision OV08D10 f/2.2 112º ultra-wide
  • 16Mp Sony IMX480 f/2.4 front camera
• Optical fingerprint sensor
• Stereo speakers
• Dual nano-SIM slot
• Wi-Fi 6 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
• Bluetooth 5.4
• 5200mAh battery
• Up to 80W wired charging
• 163.6 x 76 x 8.2/8.3mm (Black Infinity/Marble Mist)
• 199 grams
• IP65 certified
• Colours: Black Infinity, Marble Mist

Best Prices Today: OnePlus Nord CE 5