The first Nord smartphone debuted in 2020, and if you keep up with the industry, you might remember the hype OnePlus created around it. The PR team has clearly been working overtime, and truth be told, the smartphone has largely lived up to the hype. After the original Nord, the company launched a bunch of other phones in the series – some were pretty great, while others not so much.
The Chinese company will soon launch another Nord-branded smartphone called the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite. It is scheduled to debut on April 4 and is expected to target the lower mid-range segment with decent specifications. OnePlus has teased the phone extensively and there is a fair amount of information available. So here we have collected everything about the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite.
Contents
Design and display
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G (well, the name is really a mouthful) will debut with a pretty standard design. The phone will have a slightly curved back panel with two rings located in the upper right corner. One of the rings will house the primary camera, while the other will house the depth and macro shooters. OnePlus has teased the phone in a striking pastel lime color, but there may be other color options.
The front is as usual. You get a flat display with a cutout in the middle at the top. There are thin frames on the sides. However, the chin is relatively stronger. All in all, the Nord CE 3 Lite looks premium like an entry-level smartphone.
According to the company, the smartphone’s display will measure 6.72 inches and offer a refresh rate of 120 Hz. It is currently unclear whether the phone will feature an AMOLED panel, as it features a side-mounted fingerprint reader, suggesting otherwise. In any case, the Nord CE 3 lite’s display is significantly better than its predecessor, which debuted with a 6.52-inch panel supporting only a 90Hz refresh rate.
Specifications
As mentioned earlier, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will arrive as a mid-range smartphone and will sit right below the higher-end Nord phones. OnePlus is marketing the phone as a gaming device, but its processor suggests that it may not be entirely performance-oriented and is instead aimed at everyday tasks. In any case, it should still be able to handle most tasks effectively.
The Snapdragon 695 SoC on the smartphone will be paired with 8GB of RAM plus up to 8GB of extra virtual RAM along with 128GB of storage. Just to remind you, this is the same processor as the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite and features an octa-core architecture with a fast dual-core cluster clocked up to 2.2GHz. The smartphone will be powered by a 5,000mAh battery and will support 67W charging, which is significantly faster than what most phones in this segment offer.
According to reports, the device will receive two years of major OS updates and three years of security updates, which is in line with what other manufacturers typically provide, with the exception of Samsung. The Korean company offers at least three major updates even for its affordable phones.
For photography, the Nord CE 3 Lite will feature a triple camera setup, headed by a 108MP primary camera with support for Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). This is Nord’s first smartphone. OnePlus says the main sensor will offer 3x lossless zoom. It will be accompanied by a 2MP macro lens and a 2MP depth shooter on the back. The handset can be equipped with a 16MP front camera for selfies and video calls.
Expected price
According to the report, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will be available in a single 8GB + 128GB storage configuration in India with an MRP (Maximum Retail Price) of ₹27,999. However, it is common knowledge that the products do not sell at MRP in India, so the actual cost is likely to be lower, perhaps under ₹25,000. Despite this, the device will still be more expensive than its predecessor, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite.
