OnePlus Nord CE 5G specs leak — and it’s a mid-range powerhouse

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G was only confirmed a few days ago, but a new leak has already revealed most of its key specs ahead of its launch next month.  

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau announced the “Core Edition” Nord last week, promising that it would distill “the original Nord down to its core elements” while adding a few new features along the way. Now Android Central, citing “insider sources,” has revealed almost every aspect of the phone — and it looks like it has the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G in its sights.

For starters, it’s reportedly powered by the same chipset as Samsung’s midranger: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G. That’s a competent chip that offers a decent amount of speed for most people’s needs, though it is some way adrift of the flagship Snapdragon 888. 

In our Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review, the chipset managed 637 in our single-core test and 1,866 in our multi-core one. Notably, those scores are barely distinguishable from those we got from the original OnePlus Nord’s Snapdragon 765G SoC, which is either reassuring or disappointing, depending on how you look at it.

But even if its processing power can be bettered elsewhere, the Snapdragon 750G supports 5G — meaning that it should be up there with the best 5G phones in terms of connection speeds. 

The CE 5G’s screen tech will be virtually unchanged from the original OnePlus Nord, which is a good thing, as it means it’ll still use an AMOLED panel. That was far from guaranteed, given that the lower-priced Nord N10 and N100 made the switch to LCD screens. For the Nord CE 5G, however, you’ll be getting a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate.

While it sounds like the phone will look similar to the original OnePlus Nord, Android Central does highlight a change to the rear camera housing, which will apparently emulate the company’s flagship OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro handsets. Crucially, the lens housed within the camera bump will also be improved on the original OnePlus Nord, with the main sensor being upgraded from 48MP to 64MP. That camera will be one of three on the back, but the report doesn’t detail the specs or function of the two supplementary lenses.

There are still a few gaps to fill, then, but that gives us a solid picture of what the OnePlus Nord CE 5G will look like when it launches on June 10. Notably, when OnePlus CEO Pete Lau spoke to our sister site TechRadar, he said that the device would be a “great everyday phone at an even more affordable price.” 

That suggests that the OnePlus Nord CE 5G will come with a lower price tag than the original, which was itself pretty good value at $482. If that’s the case, we can certainly forgive a degree of familiarity in the core specs.