OnePlus Nord 5 Prioritizes Power Over Personality

Forbes

08-07-2025

OnePlus Nord 5 in Marble Sands color
The OnePlus Nord 5 aims to deliver 'flagship features without the flagship price tag.' It is the first Nord phone to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series chipset and adds a few other top-of-the-line elements from the OnePlus 13 series to a more affordable price tag. But to do that, OnePlus had to move away from Nord 4's distinguished look and all-metal body design.
OnePlus' new Nord 5 looks like any other phone on the market. One can confuse the Dry Ice and Phantom Grey color variants for a Galaxy A-series phone, while the Marble Sands model tries to stand out with a textured look. Its platinum white body features a textured finish that shimmers subtly depending on the light source's angle. It reminds me of the OnePlus 11 Marble Odyssey Edition's box.
OnePlus Nord 5 screen
The OnePlus Nord 5 is a big phone. It is both tall and wide, which isn't the best for the ergonomics of a flat-sided phone. At 211 grams, it isn't a heavy phone, but it feels heavier than the on-paper number. If you can get used to it, you're greeted by a large 6.83-inch AMOLED with support for a 1.5K (FHD+) resolution and up to a 144Hz refresh rate. It is sharp, bright, and vivid, and lies under the protection of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i.
The new Nord phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, which is a generation-old Snapdragon 8s-series SoC. The Poco F7 is in a similar price bracket and sports the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 prowess. The Nord 5, however, offers a more intuitive user experience. It is paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
OnePlus Nord 5 camera samples
The Nord 5 sports a dual rear camera setup. It is led by the same 50MP Sony LYT-700 main sensor as the OnePlus 13. It is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide camera with support for macro photos. The colors are saturated and social media-friendly, and you can get photos like above with a couple of quick edits in the default Photos app.
It also supports Live Photo with HDR, which can be great for when you need short videos out of still photos. But it tends to mess up the background in photos shot at 3x or above. The same images shot with Live Photo toggle turned off deliver better results. On the front, you get a 50MP Samsung JN5 sensor that takes good-looking selfies.
OnePlus Nord 4 and OnePlus Nord 5
The OnePlus Nord 5 runs OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, with a suite of AI features, including the Plus Mind from the OnePlus 13s. You get the Plus Key instead of an Alert Slider, which can be used to access Plus Mind or trigger certain functions with a press-and-hold. Other AI features include AI Search, Call Assistant, Translation, VoiceScribe, Google Gemini, and more. Some of these are useful, while others remain a gimmick.
The Nord 5 packs a massive 6,800mAh battery with 80W fast charging support. It'll last you an entire day easily. The phone also supports a bypass charging feature that allows it to draw power directly from the charger instead of routing it through the battery. This is said to reduce heat generation, ease battery strain, and extend long-term battery lifespan.
OnePlus Nord 5's price in India starts at INR 31,999 for the base 8GB RAM / 256GB storage model and goes up to INR 37,999 for the 12GB RAM / 512GB storage variant. The 12GB / 256GB model will cost you INR 34,999.