OnePlus Nord 5 review: Still the best option for young users

Indian Express

08-07-2025

Over the past few years, whenever someone has asked me to recommend a phone for a young person, I have suggested the Nord series from OnePlus. That is because these phones are stylish, no-nonsense, and powerful, yet priced reasonably. The OnePlus Nord 5 has a lot to live up to, given that the series has been quite successful in the Indian market so far.
The new OnePlus Nord 5 features a stylish design, one that stands out despite not pushing the envelope or trying something radical. The Marble Sands finish I got for the review is new and not something we are used to seeing. It feels like a marble slab, also because the device is thin, with just an 8.1 mm thickness, and a relatively muted camera bump. However, this might not be something kids would want to tout in college and they might gravitate towards the other finishes on offer like Dry Ice and Phantom Grey.
Note: FAQs at the end of the end of the review.
The phone has a Plus Key on the left which can be customised and is especially useful to summon the AI-led Save to Mind feature. On the right, you have the power and volume keys. The phone offers a good grip thanks to the bold edges and is not too heavy at 211g.
The Nord 5 has one of the brightest displays I have used in recent times. So much so that while playing Candy Crush in an attempt to find sleep at night, you have to ensure the brightness does not go towards the peak range of 1400 Nits. The same is perfect though when framing a photo at Nehru Garden under the bright June Delhi sun.
The display stands out also because it has one of the thinnest bezels in this segment at just 1.65 mm. At first look, this gives the appearance of a phone that is all screen. In fact, the 144 Hz OLED display is stunning and a pleasure to play games and consume content on.
But wait, the thin bezel creates a small issue that I have not experienced before. While watching videos on full screen, the progress bar is so close to the bezel that I end up cycling the apps instead of jumping to a later part of the video. This was quite irritating.
Powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, the Nord 5 is capable of handling most tasks from multi-tasking to the inbuilt AI features. I am used to opening multiple tabs on both Chrome and Brave browsers as I go about my day checking the news cycle across various time zones and topics. The phone had no issues here.
Even with gaming, the phone stays cool and you can see the gaming mode come up instinctively. I am not a gamer in any sense of the term. But I am sure younger users will appreciate the VC cooling system that's yoked to the Adreno 735 GPU. This phone is actually made for those who play games much more intensive than my bedtime Candy Crush sessions.
With all this power built into the phone, it would be a shame not to have some AI functions that go beyond what Google Gemini offers. OnePlus has done this well with its Save to Mind feature, which is activated with the Plus Key. I find it especially useful for my kind of use cases, where while browsing a website, I can just press the button to save the page or whatever was on my screen with an AI summary coming up on its own. I slowly started making a habit of saving even photos that helped me remember something actionable for later.
Talking of photos, the Nord 5 has the same camera settings as the flagship OnePlus 13 series. The 50MP Sony LYT-700 main sensor means the images are sharp, natural-looking and rich in detail. With some photos I shot while browsing at a FabIndia outlet, I could zoom in to see the intricate weaves that are highlighted in Indian fabrics.
In lower light, food pictures shone through and were good enough to impress people on Instagram and trigger some green vibes.
The portraits are good too as the front camera with Samsung Isocell JN5 sensor might well be best in class.
The 8MP ultrawide camera does struggle a bit when the light conditions are not that favourable, but can click great HRD landscapes in the outdoors. I missed telephoto capabilities, which I have been seeing on a lot of phones these days. But the 4K 60fps recording capabilities will ensure you can start your creator journey without any future investment.
One stunning feature of the phone is its battery life. It is almost shocking how such a light and slim phone can now house a 6800 mAh battery. The battery was large enough for the phone to last as my secondary device for almost a week. As a primary phone, I could use it well into the second day. This comes with 80W fast charging and can juice up in a few minutes to have you settled for the next few hours.
At Rs xxxx, the OnePlus Nord 5 is an affordable flagship in every sense with no major compromises when it comes to either performance or experience. I would continue recommending this phone for younger users for it ticks all the boxes without hurting the pockets of parents too much.
It's an excellent option for young users, offering style, power, and a reasonable price.
It boasts a sleek look, featuring a new 'Marble Sands' finish as well as a slim 8.1mm profile and subdued camera bump. It also comes with a Plus Key you can customize.
It boasts one of the brightest displays (up to 1400 Nits) and incredibly thin bezels (1.65mm), giving an 'all-screen' appearance. It's a 144Hz OLED display, great for gaming and content.
Yes, because of their thin bezels, interaction can sometimes become difficult while watching full-screen videos and may result in accidental cycling of apps.
It's equipped with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, which can manage multitasking, gaming, and AI functionalities effectively.
Yes. It has a VC cooling system and Adreno 735 GPU, so it can handle extended gaming sessions.
It's a Plus Key AI-activated feature that automatically saves pages or on-screen content with a summary created by AI. Great for saving things you can do later.
It has the same camera settings as the flagship OnePlus 13 series, with a 50MP Sony LYT-700 main sensor for sharp, natural, and detailed images. The front camera (Samsung Isocell JN5) is also considered best in class for portraits.
Ultrawide 8MP camera doesn't perform well under dim lighting, and it doesn't have a telephoto lens. It does, though, offer 4K 60fps video capture.
The Nord 5 has a stunning 6800 mAh battery, which can last almost a week as a secondary device or well into the second day as a primary phone. It also supports 80W fast charging.
Yes, It is considered a cost-effective flagship which offers good quality performance and experience with no compromises and hence is well-recommended.