OnePlus Nord CE5 Price, Specs, Features and Best Deals

OnePlus expands its mid-range lineup with the Nord CE5, the latest in the Core Edition series and a more affordable sibling to the Nord 5. OnePlus Nord CE5 features a sleek design and delivers solid performance powered by a Snapdragon chipset with 5G support, ensuring smooth multitasking and power efficiency. The vibrant 6.77-inch AMOLED display, featuring a high refresh rate, offers an immersive viewing experience, while the dual-camera system reliably handles everyday photography.

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Design

The OnePlus Nord CE5 is a thoughtfully crafted mid-range device that blends simplicity, practicality, and a hint of premium flair. While it doesn’t aim to dazzle with extravagant materials, its design is clean, cohesive, and refined, delivering a device that feels more expensive than it actually is.

The Android phone features a composite plastic back and a polycarbonate frame, distinguishing it from its pricier sibling, the Nord 5, which opts for a glass back and metal frame. Despite this difference, the CE5 holds its own in terms of aesthetics.

The back panel has a subtle matte finish that not only resists fingerprints but also lends a soft, smooth feel to the hand. Its slightly rounded edges flow gently into the frame, offering a comfortable grip that feels natural during one-handed use.

OnePlus has paid attention to symmetry and placement. The dual rear camera island, located on the top-left corner, is clean and unobtrusive. The LED flash, now repositioned to the right of the camera module, maintains the design’s visual balance without drawing unnecessary attention. Though the materials are lightweight, the CE5 doesn’t feel hollow or flimsy. In fact, the solid build and tight assembly give it a reassuring sturdiness that’s rare at this price point.

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One distinctive hardware change in this model is the placement of the infrared (IR) transmitter. Unlike the Nord 5, which has it on the top edge, the CE5’s IR blaster is cleverly nestled between the two rear cameras. While this requires the rear of the phone to face appliances for remote control use, the integration is clean and avoids interrupting the smooth frame design.

All physical controls are placed on the right edge of the 5G phone, including the power button and volume rocker, making them easily accessible with the thumb during one-handed use. The left side is clean and uninterrupted, keeping the design minimal and balanced. Notably, the OnePlus Nord CE5 omits the alert slider and Plus Key, a decision likely made to keep the affordable Android phone slim and cost-effective, though some loyal OnePlus fans may miss those trademark features.

The front is home to a flat AMOLED display surrounded by slim bezels, with only a slightly thicker chin at the bottom. The hole-punch selfie camera is positioned neatly in the top-left corner, contributing to the device’s modern, unobtrusive look. The display blends well into the frame, giving the phone a clean, uniform face that looks more premium than most mid-range phones.

At the bottom, you’ll find the USB-C port, speaker grille, and SIM tray. There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack, no surprise in today’s wireless-driven landscape, but it’s something to keep in mind for wired audio users. The phone also ships with a matching TPU case, a charging adapter, and a SIM ejector tool—a thoughtful touch that makes the out-of-the-box experience feel complete.

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While the Nord CE5 lacks official IP certification, its construction feels well-sealed and durable enough for everyday use. It doesn’t scream luxury, but it confidently delivers a minimalist, user-focused design that’s both stylish and practical. For users seeking a device that looks good, feels solid, and doesn’t try too hard to impress with gimmicks, the CE5 is a refreshing and well-executed option.

Display

The OnePlus Nord CE5 continues to impress with its display, which feels remarkably polished for a device in this segment.

On the front is a 6.77-inch Fluid AMOLED panel that stretches nearly edge to edge, offering an ~89.7% screen-to-body ratio and a truly immersive viewing experience. It’s a flat display, no curved gimmicks, which suits the phone’s clean and practical design philosophy.

The display’s 1080 x 2392 resolution produces a sharp ~387 pixels per inch density, striking a pleasing balance between detail clarity and power consumption. Visually, it holds up well against more premium competitors, with punchy colors, deep blacks, and crisp details.

One of the standout features here is its 10-bit color depth, capable of rendering over 1 billion colors. Combined with HDR10+ certification, the OnePlus Nord CE5 delivers vivid contrast and lifelike visuals, whether you’re watching HDR content or simply browsing your photo gallery. The color tuning feels well-calibrated out of the box, saturated without being overdone, making everything from movies to Instagram stories pop without looking artificial.

The display peaks at a remarkable 1,430 nits, with 800 nits typical brightness and 1300 nits in high-brightness mode. Outdoor visibility is excellent, even under direct sunlight, and the display holds up well across different lighting conditions without needing constant manual adjustments.

In terms of refresh rate, OnePlus has a 120Hz refresh rate, which gives users control with three selectable modes: Standard, High, and Auto Select. The panel can dynamically scale between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz, allowing it to conserve power when needed or deliver ultra-smooth scrolling and animations when performance takes priority. The adaptive refresh rate feels intelligent, switching seamlessly based on your activity.

When it comes to streaming, the Nord CE5 checks all the right boxes. It supports Google’s Widevine L1 DRM, enabling full-resolution playback from services like Netflix and Prime Video. While Dolby Vision is not supported, the panel does handle HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG, which is more than sufficient for most users looking to enjoy high-quality content on the go.

Protection-wise, the display is rated at Mohs level 5 for scratch resistance, which should hold up against everyday use—though a screen protector is still a wise choice for long-term durability.

In everyday use, the Nord CE5’s display feels fluid, responsive, and premium. It may not carry the branding power of some higher-end flagships, but when it comes to actual viewing experience, it delivers with confidence and consistency. Whether you’re gaming, watching content, or just scrolling through your day, this screen makes a strong case for being one of the best in its class.

OnePlus rounds out the viewing experience with Widevine L1 DRM certification, enabling users to stream high-definition content seamlessly from platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Protecting this expansive screen is a Mohs level 5-rated glass, offering decent resistance to scratches and daily wear. The slim bezels and approximately 89.7% screen-to-body ratio create an immersive, edge-to-edge viewing experience without distracting interruptions.

Camera

The OnePlus Nord CE5 may not arrive with a triple-lens arsenal or high-end telephoto tricks, but it makes the most of its dual-camera setup—and the results are surprisingly solid, especially in good lighting.

At the center of the experience is a 50MP main camera powered by the Sony LYT-600 sensor, a 1/1.95” unit with 0.8µm pixels. It’s backed by an f/1.8 lens, phase-detection autofocus, and optical image stabilization (OIS). While this sensor debuted in the Nord CE4, the CE5 benefits from OnePlus’ continued refinement, including support for Ultra HDR, RAW HDR, and Real Tone—the same imaging pipeline found on the flagship OnePlus 13.

In everyday use, the main camera delivers crisp, vibrant photos with impressive clarity and color accuracy. The Ultra HDR format does a fantastic job balancing highlight and shadow detail, giving shots a high dynamic range without overprocessing. Colors lean toward natural and balanced rather than overly saturated, and skin tones look especially true to life, thanks to OnePlus’ Real Tone algorithm. Detail is plentiful in daylight shots, with a hint of natural bokeh that subtly elevates close-up photography—even without a dedicated macro mode.

Portrait Mode is software-based but effective, producing solid edge detection and adjustable background blur. It’s not always perfect with complex subjects like hair, but the results are more than serviceable for social sharing.

The secondary camera is an 8MP ultrawide with a 112˚ field of view, based on the OmniVision OV08D10 sensor. It’s a downgrade in sensor quality from last year’s Sony-equipped CE4 ultrawide, but OnePlus compensates with strong color consistency between lenses. In good lighting, ultrawide shots look clean and tonally matched to the main sensor.

However, the lower resolution, lack of autofocus, and smaller 1/4” sensor size do lead to noticeable softness, especially around the edges. Dynamic range also dips, and low-light performance is average at best.

On the front, the OnePlus Nord CE5 sports a 16MP selfie camera using Sony’s IMX480 sensor. It features fixed focus and an f/2.4 aperture, and while it won’t blow anyone away with detail or versatility, it performs well under most lighting conditions.

Selfies are clean, well-exposed, and skin tones remain accurate, though there’s a slight softness that becomes more apparent in challenging light. The camera also includes a panorama mode, helpful for group selfies or capturing more background when needed.

Video capabilities are another strength of the Nord CE5. The main camera can shoot at 4K resolution at 30 or 60fps, with gyro-EIS and OIS keeping footage stable and smooth. There’s support for 1080p at 30, 60, or 120fps, as well as 480fps slow motion, and even 720p at 960fps for ultra-slow clips. Video color reproduction is pleasing, and stabilization is effective enough for handheld shooting, even during casual movement.

Hardware and Software

The OnePlus Nord CE5 holds its own in the budget segment with a capable and balanced performance setup. Under the hood, it is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset, built on a 4nm process.

It features an octa-core CPU setup with a single Cortex-A715 prime core running at up to 3.35GHz, three more Cortex-A715 performance cores at 3.2GHz, and four efficient Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 2.2GHz.

This architecture allows the OnePlus phone to handle daily tasks, heavy multitasking, and gaming with ease. App launches are quick, navigation is snappy, and even under pressure, the device keeps up without noticeable throttling.

Backing this up is the Mali-G615 MC6 GPU, which OnePlus claims delivers 50% better performance and 55% better power efficiency compared to its predecessor. The GPU easily handles graphically demanding titles like Call of Duty Mobile and Genshin Impact with stable frame rates and reduced thermal output, thanks in part to OnePlus’ advanced thermal management system.

The CryoVelocity VC Cooling System includes a large 7,041 mm² vapor chamber—among the biggest in its class—combined with graphene elements to efficiently dissipate heat, keeping the device cool during extended gaming sessions or charging.

The AI capabilities of the Nord CE5 are a highlight in this generation. With the MediaTek NPU 780 onboard, AI performance sees a 3.3x improvement over previous models. This unlocks a suite of smart tools, including AI Toolbox 2.0, which offers practical features like AI Summary for condensing content into bullet points, AI Speak for reading texts aloud, AI Writer for generating content on the fly, and AI VoiceScribe for transcribing conversations in real time.

The latter supports over 20 languages and integrates smoothly with popular communication platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Meet, and more. Gemini AI and Google’s Circle to Search are also built in, adding another layer of contextual intelligence to the phone’s everyday usability.

On the photography front, the device uses AI for features like AI Unblur, AI Detail Boost, AI Eraser, and AI Reframe, the last of which automatically adjusts framing, aspect ratio, and filters to enhance any photo to professional standards.

Memory and storage are equally future-proof. The OnePlus Nord CE5 comes in configurations of 8GB RAM with 128GB or 256GB storage, and a top-tier 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, all using LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage for high-speed data access.

Storage is expandable via a microSD card, though it shares the second SIM slot. Everyday performance is fluid, with apps staying in memory longer and transitions remaining smooth, even under heavy load.

Running on Android 15 with OxygenOS 15, the software experience feels clean, fast, and familiar—especially to users of ColorOS or Realme UI, given their shared design language. OnePlus has committed to four major Android version upgrades and six years of security patches, which is a notable promise in the mid-range market and a big win for users looking for long-term value and security.

The UI also includes subtle but useful enhancements, such as gesture controls, smart suggestions, and productivity tools, while avoiding the bloat that often plagues mid-range phones.

The OnePlus Nord CE5 is powered by a 5200mAh battery that easily lasts a full day of heavy use, including video streaming, GPS navigation, and gaming. When it’s time to recharge, the 80W wired charging gets the battery from empty to full in under 40 minutes. The phone also supports bypass charging, which routes power directly to the system during gaming, minimizing battery stress and heat buildup—a feature typically reserved for gaming-centric phones.

OnePlus Nord CE5 Price and Availability

OnePlus Nord CE5 price starts at around $299.99 at leading retailers. The model offering 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM retails for $605.00, 249.00 GBP, and €329.00 on Amazon stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The Nord CE5 price in Nigeria starts at around ₦480,000 for the model with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM. The smartphone costs around 889 AED in Dubai and the UAE, 35,999 BDT in Bangladesh, 24,999 INR in India, and 1,499 MYR in Malaysia.