A pretty phone with a pretty big drawback
Chinese OEM OnePlus has made a name for itself over the years in the budget smartphone market- as in actual budget phones, not flagship killers. The latest entry in its OnePlus Nord line of affordable smartphones is the OnePlus Nord N300. This phone promises to bring some nice specs to the sub $300 Market.
Android headlines had the opportunity to review this device and see if it’s worth the money, no matter how inexpensive it is. So, should this phone be your next device, or should you pass it out? Let’s find out in this review of the OnePlus Nord N300.
OnePlus Nord N300: Build quality and design
The OnePlus Nord N300 is one of those phones that feels a lot more expensive than it actually is. When you pick up this phone, you can tell that it’s not quite a $1,000 flagship smartphone. However, that does not mean that it feels cheap.
The phone feels really solid in the hand. Picking it up, you can feel that it’s solidly built. It has a thick metal frame and the back plastic is also pretty sturdy. The phone itself is unapologetically thick, and that’s always a great sign if you’re looking for a phone that can take a drop or two.
Some of the charm goes away once you turn your attention toward the camera bump. The camera sensors are housed in a plastic housing, not glass like more expensive phones. That does subtract from the feeling of the phone just a bit.
As for the design itself, this is definitely a pretty-looking phone. I tested the black version of it, and it has an extremely sleek look. The design is pretty toned down with a rather bear back. The camera package sits on the top left and it has a dual-tone look to it.
Turning to the front, some of that charm goes away once you look at the display. The display gives this phone a dated look with the teardrop notch up top. Along with the notch, there’s a pretty significant chin bezel on the bottom. From the front, the device doesn’t look too great, admittedly.
OnePlus Nord N300: Display
Let’s dive deeper into this display. This is an LCD panel. Now, you’d expect an LCD display on a sub-$300 phone to look bad. However, it’s the opposite. I was surprised at how nice the display looked. Let’s rip off the Band-Aid, this is a 720p display in the year 2022. Sure, this is a $228 phone, but the $258 TCL Stylus comes with a 1080p+ display.
Regardless of the resolution, the display has some really beautiful colors. The colors aren’t as saturated as what you would get on an AMOLED display, but they’re still vibrant for an LCD display. Out of the box, the color leans a bit toward the cooler side.
As for the contrast, the story is the same. You don’t get the inky blacks like you would get with an OLED display, but the contrast is still rather impressive. I can tell that OnePlus prioritized the display on this phone. You should have no issues using this as your primary media-watching phone.
The only complaint that I have with the display will be the brightness. It’s not quite the dimmest display, but I would say that it’s just below average. This makes outside viewing a bit of a hassle. Just know that if you’re using this phone outside, you might need to find some shade.
OnePlus Nord N300: Speakers
Moving on to the speakers, they’re not going to blow you away. Keeping the phone below $300 required some heavy compromise, and the speakers definitely had to get the short end of the stick.
The speakers lack depth and immersion. Listening to them at higher volumes only leads to heavy distortion and a tinny sound. So, if you want to use this as a replacement for your Bluetooth speaker, you’re not going to have a great time. They do get plenty loud, but they’re not great to listen to.
OnePlus Nord N300: Camera
The camera on this phone is a mixed bag. Let’s start off with the good: the main camera. This phone comes with a 48-megapixel camera, and that’s pretty good for a phone in this price range. I know that megapixel count isn’t the most important aspect of a camera, but this phone was able to utilize it pretty well.
In well-lit conditions, this camera was able to produce some pretty nice images. The colors weren’t overly saturated, but they were pleasantly juicy. The green in the grass and the plants really pops out. Also, the dynamic range is impressive. I took a picture of the ground with a harsh shadow, and it was exposed pretty nicely. So, if using the main camera oh, then you should be fine.
Hi-res mode
As with all cameras with high megapixel counts, this phone uses pixel binning. This means that you’re getting about a 12-megapixel image when you use it out of the box. However, there is a high-resolution mode that utilizes the full 48 megapixels of the sensor.
Using the high-resolution mode, I was able to take sharper images, and they actually look a bit better. I noticed more detail and the grain of the image and less pixelation. This is a change of pace from other cameras who’s high-resolution modes lead to a picture with a watercolor appearance of them.
Low light
Moving into low light, the results aren’t fantastic. They were able to illuminate the scene and bring out some additional detail. Using the night mode, the phone took a longer exposure. The only issue is that the results came out very grainy and noisy. You’ll be able to take brighter images, but they will not be aesthetically pleasing.
Stabilization
The stabilization on this camera is really bad. When using it, I could see every slight movement of my hands, and the camera couldn’t really do anything to compensate. This came to a head when I tried recording a video. Walking down on a flat sidewalk, trying my best to keep the phone steady, still led to very shaky and jittery video.
Overall, if you want to use this phone for a regular point-and-shoot camera in good lighting conditions, then you’ll get some pleasing results. They definitely look good on the phone’s display. However, using any of the other functions like the low-life, video, portrait mode, etc won’t yield the best results. The company prioritized the results for the main sensor, but the other features fell by the wayside.
OnePlus Nord N300: performance
If it’s one area that this phone fails in, it’s the performance. Honestly, I think that the performance is inexcusable at most points. There are times when I’m able to easily glide through the software with no issue. However, once I started using the phone, the performance tanks. There were heavy stutters in the software just going from the app to the home screen and vice versa. There will be times when I would swipe up to go back to the home screen, and have to wait several seconds for it to even register.
There are other times when the phone would lock up just minimizing an app. Apps would fail to function and freeze for a while before registering any commands. It doesn’t only feel like the phone is slow, it feels as though it can’t even support its own software.
It’s using the MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC. People tend to associate the brand MediaTek with low performance. However, the TCL Stylus was able to get much better performance using the MediaTek 700 chip. Maybe future updates will help iron out these performance issues.
Gaming
When it comes to gaming, the OnePlus Nord N300 was able to handle simple 2D titles. That’s to be expected. Jumping into 3D games, we start to see stutters and hiccups, but it’s not too drastic for most games. I was able to run the graphically pleasing Sky: Children Of Light very well. There were definitely stutters and lag in the software but it was more than playable.
Cutting right to the chase, I downloaded and ran Genshin Impact just to see how hard I can push this device. Well, it was not able to pass the test. Genshin Impact was not playable, and that was to be expected. If the game looks like it’ll be graphically intensive, just know that you may definitely experience some lag.
OnePlus Nord N300: Battery
One of the main strengths of this phone is its battery life. It comes with a large 5000mAh battery, and I was able to test it out. The battery was able to survive my initial test hands down. I got over 8 hours of screen-on time from this phone.
You’ll have no issue using this phone for more than a day and a half with moderate usage. If you need to charge the phone, this one comes with a respectable 33W charger. With this, I was able to get about 51% battery on a 30-minute charge. Charging it from 0% to 100% took about 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s not too bad considering that the battery is so big.
OnePlus Nord N300: software
This phone is running on OnePlus’ Oxygen OS version 12. It’s a heavily-skinned version of Android and it definitely shows. However, this is a good thing, as OnePlus was able to bring a bunch of customization options to Android.
There are so many options for customizing the UI to your liking that it’s tough to list them all. You have deep customizations when it comes to personalizing your home screen. This includes adjusting the size and shape of the icons, the transition effects, layout, animation speed, and much more.
Some of my favorite bits from the software include being able to manually adjust the size and shape of the app icons and the one-handed mode. Swiping up from one side of the screen will compress all of the app icons down to the bottom of the screen, and you can just slide your finger over to the icon you want to use
Overall, I love the software and the amount of options you have for customizing the phone to your liking.
OnePlus Nord N300: Conclusion
Overall, giving the final rating on this phone is tough. There are several really good aspects of this phone. The display has great colors and contrast, the battery life is amazing, and the camera is decent. However, the extremely sluggish performance drags everything down. It’s bad to the point where other mid-range devices are lapping it in terms of performance.
You should buy this phone if:
- You like to watch movies/TV shows
- You want a nice point-and-shoot camera experience
- You want a phone with excellent battery life
- You want a phone with customizable software
You shouldn’t buy this phone if:
- You want a phone with good performance
- You want a phone that’s good when it comes to gaming
- You want a phone with good camera stabilization
- You want to phone with good speakers
Chinese OEM OnePlus has made a name for itself over the years in the budget smartphone market- as in actual budget phones, not flagship killers. The latest entry in its OnePlus Nord line of affordable smartphones is the OnePlus Nord N300. This phone promises to bring some nice specs to the sub $300 Market.
Android headlines had the opportunity to review this device and see if it’s worth the money, no matter how inexpensive it is. So, should this phone be your next device, or should you pass it out? Let’s find out in this review of the OnePlus Nord N300.
OnePlus Nord N300: Build quality and design
The OnePlus Nord N300 is one of those phones that feels a lot more expensive than it actually is. When you pick up this phone, you can tell that it’s not quite a $1,000 flagship smartphone. However, that does not mean that it feels cheap.
The phone feels really solid in the hand. Picking it up, you can feel that it’s solidly built. It has a thick metal frame and the back plastic is also pretty sturdy. The phone itself is unapologetically thick, and that’s always a great sign if you’re looking for a phone that can take a drop or two.
Some of the charm goes away once you turn your attention toward the camera bump. The camera sensors are housed in a plastic housing, not glass like more expensive phones. That does subtract from the feeling of the phone just a bit.
As for the design itself, this is definitely a pretty-looking phone. I tested the black version of it, and it has an extremely sleek look. The design is pretty toned down with a rather bear back. The camera package sits on the top left and it has a dual-tone look to it.
Turning to the front, some of that charm goes away once you look at the display. The display gives this phone a dated look with the teardrop notch up top. Along with the notch, there’s a pretty significant chin bezel on the bottom. From the front, the device doesn’t look too great, admittedly.
OnePlus Nord N300: Display
Let’s dive deeper into this display. This is an LCD panel. Now, you’d expect an LCD display on a sub-$300 phone to look bad. However, it’s the opposite. I was surprised at how nice the display looked. Let’s rip off the Band-Aid, this is a 720p display in the year 2022. Sure, this is a $228 phone, but the $258 TCL Stylus comes with a 1080p+ display.
Regardless of the resolution, the display has some really beautiful colors. The colors aren’t as saturated as what you would get on an AMOLED display, but they’re still vibrant for an LCD display. Out of the box, the color leans a bit toward the cooler side.
As for the contrast, the story is the same. You don’t get the inky blacks like you would get with an OLED display, but the contrast is still rather impressive. I can tell that OnePlus prioritized the display on this phone. You should have no issues using this as your primary media-watching phone.
The only complaint that I have with the display will be the brightness. It’s not quite the dimmest display, but I would say that it’s just below average. This makes outside viewing a bit of a hassle. Just know that if you’re using this phone outside, you might need to find some shade.
OnePlus Nord N300: Speakers
Moving on to the speakers, they’re not going to blow you away. Keeping the phone below $300 required some heavy compromise, and the speakers definitely had to get the short end of the stick.
The speakers lack depth and immersion. Listening to them at higher volumes only leads to heavy distortion and a tinny sound. So, if you want to use this as a replacement for your Bluetooth speaker, you’re not going to have a great time. They do get plenty loud, but they’re not great to listen to.
OnePlus Nord N300: Camera
The camera on this phone is a mixed bag. Let’s start off with the good: the main camera. This phone comes with a 48-megapixel camera, and that’s pretty good for a phone in this price range. I know that megapixel count isn’t the most important aspect of a camera, but this phone was able to utilize it pretty well.
In well-lit conditions, this camera was able to produce some pretty nice images. The colors weren’t overly saturated, but they were pleasantly juicy. The green in the grass and the plants really pops out. Also, the dynamic range is impressive. I took a picture of the ground with a harsh shadow, and it was exposed pretty nicely. So, if using the main camera oh, then you should be fine.
Hi-res mode
As with all cameras with high megapixel counts, this phone uses pixel binning. This means that you’re getting about a 12-megapixel image when you use it out of the box. However, there is a high-resolution mode that utilizes the full 48 megapixels of the sensor.
Using the high-resolution mode, I was able to take sharper images, and they actually look a bit better. I noticed more detail and the grain of the image and less pixelation. This is a change of pace from other cameras who’s high-resolution modes lead to a picture with a watercolor appearance of them.
Low light
Moving into low light, the results aren’t fantastic. They were able to illuminate the scene and bring out some additional detail. Using the night mode, the phone took a longer exposure. The only issue is that the results came out very grainy and noisy. You’ll be able to take brighter images, but they will not be aesthetically pleasing.
Stabilization
The stabilization on this camera is really bad. When using it, I could see every slight movement of my hands, and the camera couldn’t really do anything to compensate. This came to a head when I tried recording a video. Walking down on a flat sidewalk, trying my best to keep the phone steady, still led to very shaky and jittery video.
Overall, if you want to use this phone for a regular point-and-shoot camera in good lighting conditions, then you’ll get some pleasing results. They definitely look good on the phone’s display. However, using any of the other functions like the low-life, video, portrait mode, etc won’t yield the best results. The company prioritized the results for the main sensor, but the other features fell by the wayside.
OnePlus Nord N300: performance
If it’s one area that this phone fails in, it’s the performance. Honestly, I think that the performance is inexcusable at most points. There are times when I’m able to easily glide through the software with no issue. However, once I started using the phone, the performance tanks. There were heavy stutters in the software just going from the app to the home screen and vice versa. There will be times when I would swipe up to go back to the home screen, and have to wait several seconds for it to even register.
There are other times when the phone would lock up just minimizing an app. Apps would fail to function and freeze for a while before registering any commands. It doesn’t only feel like the phone is slow, it feels as though it can’t even support its own software.
It’s using the MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC. People tend to associate the brand MediaTek with low performance. However, the TCL Stylus was able to get much better performance using the MediaTek 700 chip. Maybe future updates will help iron out these performance issues.
Gaming
When it comes to gaming, the OnePlus Nord N300 was able to handle simple 2D titles. That’s to be expected. Jumping into 3D games, we start to see stutters and hiccups, but it’s not too drastic for most games. I was able to run the graphically pleasing Sky: Children Of Light very well. There were definitely stutters and lag in the software but it was more than playable.
Cutting right to the chase, I downloaded and ran Genshin Impact just to see how hard I can push this device. Well, it was not able to pass the test. Genshin Impact was not playable, and that was to be expected. If the game looks like it’ll be graphically intensive, just know that you may definitely experience some lag.
OnePlus Nord N300: Battery
One of the main strengths of this phone is its battery life. It comes with a large 5000mAh battery, and I was able to test it out. The battery was able to survive my initial test hands down. I got over 8 hours of screen-on time from this phone.
You’ll have no issue using this phone for more than a day and a half with moderate usage. If you need to charge the phone, this one comes with a respectable 33W charger. With this, I was able to get about 51% battery on a 30-minute charge. Charging it from 0% to 100% took about 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s not too bad considering that the battery is so big.
OnePlus Nord N300: software
This phone is running on OnePlus’ Oxygen OS version 12. It’s a heavily-skinned version of Android and it definitely shows. However, this is a good thing, as OnePlus was able to bring a bunch of customization options to Android.
There are so many options for customizing the UI to your liking that it’s tough to list them all. You have deep customizations when it comes to personalizing your home screen. This includes adjusting the size and shape of the icons, the transition effects, layout, animation speed, and much more.
Some of my favorite bits from the software include being able to manually adjust the size and shape of the app icons and the one-handed mode. Swiping up from one side of the screen will compress all of the app icons down to the bottom of the screen, and you can just slide your finger over to the icon you want to use
Overall, I love the software and the amount of options you have for customizing the phone to your liking.
OnePlus Nord N300: Conclusion
Overall, giving the final rating on this phone is tough. There are several really good aspects of this phone. The display has great colors and contrast, the battery life is amazing, and the camera is decent. However, the extremely sluggish performance drags everything down. It’s bad to the point where other mid-range devices are lapping it in terms of performance.
You should buy this phone if:
- You like to watch movies/TV shows
- You want a nice point-and-shoot camera experience
- You want a phone with excellent battery life
- You want a phone with customizable software
You shouldn’t buy this phone if:
- You want a phone with good performance
- You want a phone that’s good when it comes to gaming
- You want a phone with good camera stabilization
- You want to phone with good speakers
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