Android Advisor - UK (2021-08)

36 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 88

REVIEWS

on version 5.1 – good, but not cutting

edge. Still, for a £299 phone, what you

get is impressive. There’s also NFC, and

that headphone jack.

PHOTOGRAPHY

OnePlus has chopped and changed the

Nord CE’s camera module in a way that

looks like an upgrade on paper, but in

practice it’s not quite so simple.

The main camera has jumped up to

64Mp at f/1.8, and it’s joined by an 8Mp,

f/2.3 ultra-wide and a 2Mp, f/2.4 mono

lens – which doesn’t take photos in its

own right, but is used to provide extra

colour information when you take black-

and-whiteshots.

The 64Mp sensor here may sound

impressive compared to the Nord’s

48Mp. But in that phone OnePlus

was proud to tout its use of Sony’s

capable IMX586 sensor, whereas here

the company is playing coy about the

specific component – which doesn’t

bode well. It’s also ditched the Nord’s

optical stabilization, instead relying only

on electronic support.

In bright light the main lens actually

does a pretty good job despite that.

Shots are bright and well exposed,

with decent dynamic range even in

challenging conditions involving both

bright, direct light and shadowed

areas. There’s a bit of noise, and some

Here’s an

example of

an image

taken with

the main

camera.