Chinese smartphone-maker OnePlus just dropped its latest affordable yet premium offering in the Indian smartphone market dubbed the OnePlus Nord.
Claiming to be the most stellar performer in the sub-25k category, the OnePlus Nord faces a stiff challenge from the likes of the Vivo V17 and the Samsung A70s in this price range.
Undoubtedly the OnePlus Nord boasts an impressive spec sheet but is it really the best smartphone for you? Let’s find out.
Design & Display
While both the OnePlus Nord and the Vivo V17 come with 6.4-inch displays, the 6.7-inch screen on the A70s is slightly bigger. It’s not that big of a difference but does help Samsung’s case when one is looking for a big screen to binge on Netflix or YouTube.
All three displays push out almost the same amount of pixels with a Full HD+ screen, however, the OnePlus Nord display supports 90Hz refresh rate which makes it compelling enough to be picked over the other two.
All three smartphones come with bezel-less displays with the OnePlus Nord leading this race with 86.2 percent screen to body ratio.
As far as the design goes, the OnePlus Nord feels more premium thanks to an all-glass design. Since it uses Gorilla Glass 5 there’s not really much to worry about even if you drop it accidentally.
The use of plastic on the Vivo V17 and the Samsung Galaxy A70s takes the sheen away from the devices and make them look bulkier.
Hardware & Storage
The trio comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner and dual-SIM capabilities. With the Vivo V17 and the Galaxy A70s, you get the option to expand the in-built memory but the case is not the same with the OnePlus Nord as it comes with no memory card slot.
You get up to 256GB of internal storage on the Nord but for that, you’ll have to shell out extra cash.
The OnePlus Nord runs on a Snapdragon 765G processor coupled with RAM up to 12GB which beats the pants off the competition here. Not only does it house an updated chipset it also brings in the power of a better graphics processor with the Adreno 620 GPU.
The 765G is a gaming-dedicated processor so you can expect it to run high definition games with ease.
Both the V17 and the A70s are capable of handling multi-tasking but get left behind in processing power.
While the Nord is running on Android 10, both the Galaxy A70s and the Vivo V17 come with Android 9 out-of-the-box with the option to upgrade.
Camera
On paper, the OnePlus Nord seems to be ideal for all your photography needs. It comes with a 48-megapixel primary sensor backed by an 8-megapixel ultra-wide and 5-megapixel depth sensor. This setup also adds a 2-megapixel sensor for macro shots.
To complement the above, the OnePlus Nord also comes with OIS (optical image stabilisation ) and EIS (electronic image stabilisation) for video and a dual selfie camera setup.
Also on paper, the Galaxy A70s has a bigger primary sensor at 64MP. It also has an ultra-wide lens. \however, it has no macro lens and that’s where it loses points.
The rear camera setup on the Vivo V17 is almost similar to the OnePlus, only that it has a 2-megapixel depth sensor which is lesser than the OnePlus Nord. Also, no EIS is a big miss.
Overall on paper, the OnePlus Nord wins this megapixel battle but we’ll reserve our final judgement for when we get the device in our hands and review how the images come out.
Battery Life
Both the Vivo V17 and the Galaxy A70s come with 4,500mAh battery capacity and support for fast charging. While the A70s supports 25W fast charging, the V17 comes with 18W fast charge support.
In comparison to the above, the OnePlus Nord comes with a 4,115mAh battery with 30W fast charging that the company claim can charge the phone up to 70 percent in 30 minutes.
The Samsung A70s wins this round due to the extra standby time on offer bundled with fast charging tech that just 5W lesser than the OnePlus.
Which One to Go For?
Being the latest smartphone in this lineup I’d say the OnePlus Nord has the added advantage due to its processing prowess and a more than impressive camera setup.
Ergonomically, it’s a good looking device and currently one of the best smartphones you can buy under Rs 25,000.
The Samsung A70s is a safe bet and will appeal to those who need the extra battery juice and are not into hardcore gaming.
The Vivo V17 is also a good phone but misses out on the processing power compared to the Nord.
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