ISSUE 88 • ANDROID ADVISOR 41frame in my testing, with 35 per cent
in 15 minutes. That’s still pretty good,
and should be plenty fast enough for
most, but does fall slightly short of the
company’s promises.
Charge in 30 minutes
OnePlus Nord CE 5G: 61%
OnePlus Nord: 68%
OnePlus Nord N10: 64%
Poco F3: 72%
Realme 8 Pro: 82%
Google Pixel 4a: 51%
SOFTWARE
If OnePlus has a killer feature, then really
it’s the software. OxygenOS is still the
best Android skin around – even rivalling
Google’s own Pixel software – and the
Nord CE ships with the latest version,
supporting Android 11. That means a
simple, fast UI that’s very customizable
but is still easy and straightforward to
navigate – no easy feat.
This latest version includes niceties
such as an always-on display, options
such as a gaming mode to prioritize
performance or Zen Mode when you
want to avoid distractions, and new
touches such as WellPaper – a wallpaper
app that reflects your phone usage to
help you manage your screen time.
I did mention above that I’ve had
some stutters and freezes using the
phone, and I do suspect that software
issues are to blame, so time will tell if
OnePlus can patch these problems out.
Fortunately the company has a good
track record on fast fixes, and makes a
solid update promise here: two years
of Android version updates (so this
year’s Android 12, and next year’s 13)
witha thirdyearof
securitypatches.VERDICT
The original Nord was
a category defining
device, making every
other mid-range
phone for the last
year look bad.
The Nord CE
doesn’t quite pull
WellPaper helps you manage your screen time. off the same trick.