Futura was able to take charge of the OnePlus North which will be released at the beginning of August. Planned to dominate the mid-range market, with its contained price and muscular components, the mobile seems indeed well equipped to achieve this.
From its inception, OnePlus has written in its DNA its desire to provide smartphones incorporating the most powerful components of the moment to compete with premium models, while maintaining a contained price. Over the generations, smartphones have kept this spirit with a gradual move upmarket, but also a price that has ended up inflating.
Instead of a single model, the range has expanded to a standard version and a pro model that comes close to the price of the best, very high-end smartphones. Today, with the OnePlus North, the brand is tackling the highly populated mid-range to become the star mobile in this category with a mobile sold for less than 400 euros. Scheduled for sale on August 4, OnePlus is where Google plans to attack with the release of its Pixel 4a which will be marketed on August 3.
Futura was able to take charge of the OnePlus Nord with a very good general impression compared to the other models of the brand. The mobile takes more or less the design of its big brother, the OnePlus 8 , with rounded edges and a glass back . It also features a 6.44-inch, virtually borderless Super Amoled display with 2,400 x 1,080 pixels. On this point, the North impresses for a smartphone of its rank.
The display is neat and takes up practically all the strengths of high-end mobiles, with in particular a default refresh set to 90 Hz which confers appreciable fluidity. No complaints at this level, except for the fairly visible presence of the double selfie sensor at the top left of the screen. Below this screen, we find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. This mid-range centered processor is an evolution of the Snapdragon 765. It would improve its graphics performance by 20% for video games and strengthen the AI . It also allows a mobile of this range to benefit from compatibility with the5G.
A very fast charger provided
In the version Futura has in hand, the Nord is equipped with 12 GB of RAM . A maximum quantity that is usually only found on the top of the superior range and at a full price. If we have not tested the games, for the rest of the uses, whether in terms of the fluidity of the display or the applications , there is nothing wrong with the mobile. It must also be doing very well in its version equipped with 8 GB of RAM. On the storage side, the device comes with 128 GB or 256 GB of memory. Remember that on the OnePlus, nothing is planned to extend this capacity.
In terms of autonomy , the OnePlus Nord surprised us by its endurance with its 4,115 mAh battery. With the screen set to 90 Hz, it kept the mobile active for a little less than 24 hours. And if that is not enough, you should know that OnePlus provides its 30 Watt fast charger . With it, it only takes thirty minutes to exceed 60% recharge, a rare occurrence on the mid-range. On the other hand, it does not have induction charging. Moreover, if the mobile is not certified waterproof to the IP68 standard, this is a priori the case since the manufacturer usually saves on certification by approving only its most high-end models.
Very correct photos for the range
It is on the side of the photo that the OnePlus still struggle to compete with the premium models. For the North, the result is very satisfactory for a mid-range mobile. It sins, as it often does with shots taken in the dark, but it still manages to do better than many others with its night-time shooting mode . Overall, OnePlus has not skimped on the equipment, with a Sony main sensor of 48 megapixels (f / 1.75) and an ultra wide-angle of 8 megapixels, another of depth of 5 megapixels and a small 2 megapixels for macros. Stabilized “optically”, the mobile does not have zoom other than digital. It is possible to shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second with this set. Surprisingly, the sensors on the front can push the frame rate to 60 fps.