OnePlus Nord N100 review: OnePlus’ cheapest smartphone

The OnePlus Nord N100 aims to provide good value for money. With a huge battery, 90Hz panel, as well as Oxygen OS, it’s a respectable effort to keep up with the competition. Nonetheless, to achieve this, it greatly jeopardizes its camera, efficiency, and layout. Eventually, there are much better options out there that won’t require changing as promptly.

Layout: Large yet slim

The OnePlus Nord N100 is nearly similar to the $300 Nord N10 5G that was released at the same time. It’s a tall phone thanks to the large screen as well as substantial bezel, yet it looks solidly fine-tuned for a budget plan mobile.

The OnePlus Nord N100 is plainly packing plastic for both the frame and also backing panel but doesn’t look economical or blandly designed, although the slim support panel really feels a little bit cumbersome to the touch. In fact, the matte Midnight Frost backing looks extra refined than the N10 5G’s reflective support, and also the N100 does not collect almost as many noticeable spots or finger prints either. The finger print sensor below is also higher on the back than on the Nord N10 5G, nevertheless, which can make it awkward to reach for. It’s responsive and exact yet feels simply somewhat out of reach.

Thanks to a punch-hole cam intermediary, the OnePlus Nord N100 is nearly all display on the front, although it features a very noticeable “chin” of bezel below the display and a lesser piece ahead. The Nord N100 is almost 6.5 inches high, that makes it hard to navigate the screen one-handed sometimes, although I found it easy to hold and also keep the phone thanks to a size just under 3 inches as well as a slim-feeling construct. I have big hands, unquestionably, but this isn’t as unwieldy as a few other huge phones out there.

As with the Nord N10 5G, you do not obtain OnePlus’ handy sharp slider– a physical button for easily switching in between notice settings– from its front runner phones. But you do get a 3.5 mm earphone port, as well as a MicroSD slot for expanding upon the moderate 64GB internal storage. Like most budget phones, nonetheless, there is no IP ranking for dirt and water resistance, so be careful around the components.

Show Quality: Low-res however fast-refreshing

As mentioned, the 90Hz revitalize rate is a costs perk that makes an unanticipated appearance right here, providing smoother changes and also animations than a normal 60Hz screen. That stated, you’re not going to see the complete advantages on a budget phone with a low-end cpu, offered the constant littles slowdown that penetrate the day-to-day user experience. Still, I would certainly rather have it than not, and it’s a visible enhancement occasionally.

The low 720p resolution extended across a large 6.52-inch panel implies that the Nord N100’s screen isn’t particularly crisp, and it’s an LCD panel, so it lacks the punchy contrast and deep black degrees of OnePlus’ typical OLED displays. All that said, this is a better-than-average screen for a phone this inexpensive, and it even obtains a smidge brighter than the N10 5G’s dark 1080p display.

Crisp as well as Clear Calls

OnePlus offers the N100 unlocked, however it just deals with AT&T as well as T-Mobile’s networks (which does imply it will certainly benefit MVNOs that make use of either service provider to deliver service). Bands 66 and 71 are significantly absent. Both AT&T as well as T-Mobile utilize band 66 in cities and suburbs to enhance speeds, and also T-Mobile relies upon band 71 to boost coverage to backwoods.

We tested the phone on T-Mobile’s LTE network in Chicago and tape-recorded impressive outcomes. Speeds averaged 78.2 Mbps down and also 38.8 Mbps up. If you’re not in a city, nevertheless, your gas mileage may vary.

Battery: Excellent endurance

5,000 mAh battery
18W quick charging

Thanks to the effective chipset and also low-resolution display screen, the Nord N100’s massive 5,000 mAh battery supplies great battery life. With a mix of LTE and also Wi-Fi use, music and also video clip streaming, and also pc gaming, all at high-brightness, the Nord N100 still managed over two days of battery life. The overall screen-on time statistics was a whopping eight hours throughout both and a half days. Those that don’t utilize their phone as a lot could expect to bill their device just twice a week.

Speaking of billing, the included 18W quick charger tops up the gadget in ~ 134 mins. It’s nowhere near the top speeds we’ve seen for wired charging, but it’s appropriate for a phone at this cost, even if there are options like the Realme 7 or even OnePlus’ own Nord N10 that use 30W rates. As you might expect, there’s also no cordless charging assistance.