OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite Review: After Using Some time My Opinion and Details

REASONS TO BUY

+  6.59-inch screen, 120Hz

+  Solid camera system

+  Protective case included

REASONS TO AVOID

-  Average performance

-  Unimpressive battery life

-  Not waterproof

If you're looking for a low-cost phone, this OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite review is a good place to start. It's a stripped-down handset, but it still looks great and packs in a lot more than you'd expect for the price.

I reviewed the OnePlus Nord CE 2 earlier this year, calling it a "cheap phone with a good screen, decent performance, and a long-lasting battery." OnePlus has gone a step further, adding a new smartphone to the lineup, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, which is even more affordable.

I was able to obtain the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite in order to determine whether it is one of the best cheap phones available.

Everything you need to know about it is right here, from what's new to its design and display to my thoughts on its camera system, performance, and battery.

Also Read: OnePlus Nord 2T Review

ONEPLUS NORD CE 2 LITE REVIEW: PRICE AND WHAT’S NEW 

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite is currently available for $279 in the United States, £279 in the United Kingdom, and AU$450 in Australia. Look at the widgets on this page to see where you can get one.

So, what sets it apart from the OnePlus Nord CE 2? Starting with the display, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite has a larger 6.59-inch screen than the OnePlus Nord CE 2, which has a 6.43-inch screen. As a result, the device is slightly larger and heavier. The Lite model lacks Gorilla Glass 5, and the screen technology is more basic, lacking features like HDR10+ support and AI Color Enhancement.

Instead of an in-display fingerprint sensor, it has been relocated to the right side of the frame. The hardware has also been reduced; the MediaTek Dimensity 900 CPU has been replaced with a Snapdragon 695 5G, and the battery has been increased to 5,000mAh, but the charging technology has been reduced from 65W to 33W.

The camera system is made up of a 64MP main lens, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor, as opposed to a 64MP main lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP mono lens previously. You'll also be limited to 1080p at 30fps FHD video recording, rather than 4K like on the OnePlus Nord CE 2.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus Review

ONEPLUS NORD CE 2 LITE REVIEW: DESIGN AND DISPLAY

(Image credit: OnePlus)

 

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite has the same design language as its older sibling and is available in two colorways: Blue Tide and Black Dusk.

I tried out the blue version, which has a cool gradient effect climbing the matte plastic casing. It's not waterproof, but it appears to be durable and resists dirty fingerprint marks well, so I felt comfortable using it without a case, even though it does come with one in the box. You'll want to brag about it.

To be honest, the black colorway appears to be a lot less interesting; in fact, I'd go so far as to say it appears quite bland.

A rectangular camera notch sits in the top left corner of the back, but it doesn't protrude too far, so the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite doesn't wobble when used on a table. Turn it over, and the front is almost entirely screen, even if the bezels are slightly thicker than on a more expensive handset. The only thing interfering with the display is a small hole-punch style camera.

Around the frame, things are exactly as you'd expect, though there's no alert slider like on other OnePlus phones. On the left, a volume rocker sits beneath the SIM card slot, while on the right, the power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone. You could use facial recognition, as well as the usual password, pattern, or pin, in addition to the fingerprint scanner (which I found works very quickly each time).

Giving you a small sneak peek of one of our heroes you will see later at 3 PM BST in our Speed Games. ????#OnePlusNordCE2Lite

— OnePlus UK (@OnePlus_UK) May 19, 2022

A USB-C charging port is located next to the 3.5mm headphone jack along the bottom edge. Downfiring speakers are also installed on the frame's bottom. You won't get the most immersive sound, but it will be loud enough to watch a YouTube video without needing to plug in your headphones every time.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite's size appealed to me because it is neither too large nor too heavy - it measures 164.3 x 75.6 x 8.5mm and weighs approximately 195g. It was simple to use one-handed, and it fit in my jeans pocket without protruding too far.

The display has a 6.59-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 2412 x 1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. It's bright, colorful, and sharp, making it ideal for just about any task, whether it's browsing the web or flinging an Angry Bird or two. It's worth noting that it won't completely blow you away because it lacks HDR10+ support and there's no AI color enhancement, but OnePlus has gone above and beyond with the screen for such a low price.

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ONEPLUS NORD CE 2 LITE REVIEW: CAMERA SYSTEM 

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Even though it won't win any awards, the camera system is solid. With a 16MP front camera, you get a 64MP main lens, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite can take good photos; they are colorful and bright, if a little over-saturated at times. To be sure, the camera struggles with focusing, which means that rushed photos may lack sharpness. Nonetheless, the results are far superior to what you would expect from a phone of this price.

I shot landscapes, cityscapes, people, and plants, and I was mostly pleasantly surprised. Selfies looked good as well, and while they won't compete with magazine-worthy photos taken on the best phones in the world, front-facing photos are still relatively flattering and suitable for use on social media.

If you're looking for a strong zoom, this isn't the place to be. It has a maximum digital zoom of 6x and you won't get much detail above about 2x zoom.

Another disadvantage is the video. You can only shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second. There is no 4K video recording available here. The quality difference is quite noticeable; the videos are slightly grainy, but the recordings do a good job of keeping things steady.

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ONEPLUS NORD CE 2 LITE REVIEW: PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY 

(Image credit: OnePlus)

The truth is that you wouldn't expect a phone this cheap to go very far in terms of performance, and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite is no exception, but it will still work perfectly fine for most people.

The Snapdragon 695 5G processor is paired with the Qualcomm Adreno 619 GPU, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage (which is expandable if you pop in a MicroSD card).

The phone performed admirably; it loaded apps quickly and did not lag when I flipped through a few open windows. However, it struggled a little with larger games and overheated at times.

On Geekbench 5, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite scored 685 in single-core and 1,737 in multicore, placing it slightly below the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and more in line with the original OnePlus Nord from 2020, or around the same level as lesser-known handsets like the TCL 20 Pro.

You get 5G connectivity, which means you'll have the fastest internet if your area has the most up-to-date mobile networks, but even if it doesn't, you'll be prepared for when it does.

With a 5,000mAh battery, I was expecting big things from the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, but I was let down. It got me through the workday with some juice left over, but only just. I then performed a test in which I downloaded and played a video at full brightness for over two hours, during which time the battery level dropped by 18%. That means I'd have gotten slightly more than 11 hours out of it. That's acceptable, but not exceptional; some mid-range phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy A53, lasted a whopping 25 hours in the same test.

Charging the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite again took less than an hour and a half using the included 33W charger, which is perfectly acceptable if not as impressive as the thirty minutes it took to charge the OnePlus Nord 2T. Unfortunately, you will not be able to charge this wirelessly.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, which runs on OxygenOS 12.1 and is based on Android 12, is a joy to use. To navigate the system, you can use buttons or gestures, and all of your apps are kept in a handy drawer that you can pull up from the bottom of the screen.

The user interface isn't quite as good as stock Android on a Google Pixel 6 phone, but it's also not overly colorful or cartoonish. Oxygen OS is one of the better-operating systems out there, and I've used it a lot on this phone and others. You'll come across a small bug now and then, but nothing major, as far as I can tell.

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ONEPLUS NORD CE 2 LITE REVIEW: VERDICT

 

Despite being such a low-cost phone, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite performed admirably across the board. Nothing about it will impress you, but you will be satisfied with what it has to offer.

It has a large screen that is bright and vibrant, a decent camera, and a very respectable charge time. While the performance won't be up to par for more demanding users, most people will be fine with it.

The weak battery life, which barely lasts a day, and the fact that it is not waterproof are both drawbacks to be aware of. It's up to you whether those are deal breakers or not.