Quick Cost: The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite doesn't really feel like a funds cellphone

OPINION: With new flagship telephones just like the Xiaomi 13 Professional and Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely now introduced and available, it’s time for extra inexpensive telephones to take the highlight. 

That features the recently-announced OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite, a budget-focused cellphone coming in at simply £299 whereas providing fairly first rate specs together with a 120Hz 6.72-inch show, principal 108MP digital camera and speedy 67W quick charging capabilities. 

Nonetheless, what I wasn’t anticipating once I went hands-on is simply how good the gadget feels, regardless of the very fact it’s made totally from plastic. 

For a little bit of context, I have a look at a number of funds and mid-range telephones as part of my job as Cellular Editor, and whereas the cheaper telephones are beginning to compete with flagships when it comes to specs, it’s often the construct high quality that lets them down, and the usage of plastic specifically. 

Plastic does have its advantages – it doesn’t shatter like glass and it’s cheaper to make use of than glass, with the latter additionally serving to maintain the value level of the cellphone down – however it doesn’t matter what producers do, telephones have a tendency to really feel a bit low cost, hole and typically even flimsy.

Not the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite although. Lifting the cellphone out of the field for the primary time I used to be shocked at simply how stable the cellphone felt in my hand. It felt like there was substance to it – not sufficient that it was weighty, measuring in at 195g, however sufficient to really feel reassuring within the hand. The rear case specifically feels dense and stable, even when tapping it with a finger. 

“However how?” I hear you cry. Effectively, all of it comes all the way down to the manufacturing course of, with OnePlus doing one thing just a little bit totally different to virtually each different funds producer on the market. Extra particularly, OnePlus has used a colored injection moulding course of to provide the Nord CE 3 Lite, delivering that end that’s nearly ceramic in appear and feel. 

It’s not simply the texture of the cellphone that offers it a premium really feel although; the general design seems to be simply as engaging, with a delicate 2.5-degree curvature on the rear edges to assist the massive smartphone sit properly within the hand, and the way in which that the twin digital camera housing appears to boost from inside the physique with a pleasant curved gradient at its edges is one other good contact. 

I’m additionally an enormous fan of the Pastel Lime end specifically, providing a vivid, daring color with out being too inexperienced. It definitely ties in properly with the Spring launch of the cellphone if nothing else.

So, it’s secure to say that I’ve been totally impressed by the construct high quality of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite – the query is whether or not the remainder of the expertise is simply as spectacular. Testing is ready to start imminently, so I gained’t have too lengthy to seek out out. 

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is accessible to pre-order now beginning at £299, with launch scheduled for 20 April 2023.