OnePlus Nord N300 5G review: fast charging isn't enough - The Verge

“Free” phones are casual to travel by, and though the OnePlus Nord N300 has a neat diagnostic that’s uncommon successful fund phones, you tin bash better. This is doubly existent if you’re paying for it retired of pouch — determination are amended options astir the aforesaid terms and immoderate worthwhile upgrades if you tin walk a small more.

The N300’s wired accelerated charging is genuinely useful. Its 33W apical velocity is faster than what you’ll get with galore phones that outgo overmuch more. It does necessitate a proprietary charger to deed those complaint rates — it’s not modular USB-PD — but astatine slightest the charger comes successful the box. That is not the lawsuit with today’s flagship phones.

Fast charging is handy, but it doesn’t marque up for the N300’s lackluster day-to-day performance. The 6.5-inch show looks a small shabby with a debased 720p resolution. Onboard retention is skimpy astatine conscionable 64GB, and the processor struggles from clip to clip with heavier tasks. OnePlus chopped immoderate of these corners to marque mode for accelerated charging, and personally, I’d alternatively unrecorded with slower charging and person a telephone that gets the basics right.

The N300 uses a MediaTek Dimensity 810 processor with 4GB of RAM. It handles airy browsing and regular tasks conscionable fine, but if you inquire excessively overmuch of it, you’ll spot it stutter and dilatory down. During my archetypal setup, arsenic I downloaded a batch of updates and signed into a 100 services, I saw apps clang a mates of times nether the heavier workload. That hasn’t been a persistent problem, but I bash announcement the occasional hold loading and jumping rapidly betwixt apps oregon dilatory effect to registry a pat arsenic it chugs. 

There’s conscionable 64GB of built-in storage, and connected my reappraisal device, 13GB of that is occupied by strategy files. That doesn’t permission overmuch country for photos, videos, and apps, truthful see a $15 oregon $20 microSD paper portion of the acquisition price. If you privation to truly spell for it, you tin adhd up to 1TB of other abstraction this way.

On the outside, the N300 is simply a likable device. I similar its consecutive rails implicit the curved edges connected different fund phones like the Motorola Moto G 5G — they look nicer, and they’re easier to grab. The backmost sheet is simply a composite integrative with a subtle shimmery finish. Haptics are pleasantly brushed arsenic I pat and type: reassuring but not jarring (“like a bunny” is the operation I utilized successful my investigating notes). There’s adjacent a headphone jack, praise be. There’s nary wireless charging oregon IP rating, some of which are uncommon anyhow successful this class, and it ships with Android 12 installed. The N300 volition get 1 OS upgrade to Android 13 and conscionable 2 years of information updates — connected the debased side, adjacent for fund phones.

The N300 is simply a T-Mobile exclusive astatine property time, and it supports the close 5G bands to entree the company’s precise bully mid-band “Ultra Capacity” 5G network. There’s nary mmWave 5G support, but that’s nary large nonaccomplishment — it’s highly range-limited, and T-Mobile doesn’t connection a full batch of it anyway. There’s NFC truthful you tin usage Google Pay for contactless payment, which not each telephone astatine this terms offers.

The 6.56-inch surface is plentifulness big, and the 90Hz refresh complaint makes scrolling and animations a small smoother than a modular 60Hz display. But the happening I announcement much than that is the 720p resolution, which is comparatively debased for specified a large screen. Icons and images person unsmooth edges wherever you tin marque retired the idiosyncratic pixels. It’s an LCD screen, and portion it gets passably agleam successful nonstop sunlight, it’s not arsenic vibrant arsenic the OLED sheet connected the OnePlus N20.

The N300’s artillery isn’t conscionable speedy to complaint — it’s besides a immense 5,000mAh compartment that provides capable powerfulness for conscionable astir anyone to get done a afloat time of use. Heavy video streaming oregon gaming mightiness tally it down by the extremity of the day, but I ever got good into a 2nd time without needing a recharge. 

When it’s clip to refuel, accelerated charging is astatine your service. I realized halfway done babe naptime 1 day that I was coasting connected 15 percent aft skipping the overnight recharge. I utilized the accidental to spot if I could complaint it up 100 percent earlier helium woke up. It charged successful conscionable implicit an hr and finished conscionable successful time.

Fast charging is useful successful a jam, but if you’re already successful an overnight recharging habit, past it’s astir apt not going to beryllium a slayer diagnostic for you — particularly considering that the N300’s artillery beingness is truthful bully anyway. It’s bully to spot it disposable successful a telephone astatine this price, but if you’re already spiritual astir nightly charging, you astir apt won’t get overmuch usage retired of it.

On the N300, OnePlus has stripped distant the unnecessary rear cameras it likes to worldly into its devices, and that deserves a circular of applause. There’s conscionable 1 main 48-megapixel f/1.8 camera connected the back, accompanied by a 2-megapixel extent sensor to assistance retired with representation mode shots. There’s besides a 16-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera. 

It’s a decent, basal camera strategy for snapshots, but it struggles successful debased light, wherever it applies immoderate dense smoothing to details and tegument tones. Outside of that, I similar however OnePlus handles representation processing. Photos are pleasantly contrast-y, and colors are vibrant without going afloat Samsung. However, there’s noticeable lag successful the camera app, particularly successful representation mode. The lag was atrocious capable that it could hardly support up with my toddler successful mean light, adjacent erstwhile helium was (relatively) still. That’s a pugnacious script for a fund smartphone camera — you’d person to wage a batch much for a telephone that handles this concern good — but the N300 had a peculiarly hard clip with it.

The OnePlus N300 offers earnestly accelerated charging successful a terms bracket wherever it’s seldom seen. It’s a useful feature, but I don’t deliberation its usefulness makes up for the N300’s different shortcomings, similar a low-res surface and sometimes shaky performance.

OnePlus’ ain Nord N20 is simply a large alternative. Its MSRP — $282 if you’re buying from T-Mobile oregon $299 unlocked — is inactive good wrong the fund range. But it’s overmuch much enjoyable to use, with a affluent 1080p OLED screen, amended processing performance, and doubly arsenic overmuch storage. The aforesaid 33W accelerated charging is included, too. Right now, it’s besides 1 of T-Mobile’s “free” telephone promotions, and it’s a amended prime wide whether you’re paying upfront oregon not. The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G is simply a bully alternative, too. It’s priced a small person to the N300 astatine $249, and its show is snappier with day-to-day tasks.

There’s nary facet of the N300 that’s show-stoppingly bad, but determination are a fewer cardinal places wherever it could beryllium conscionable a spot better. Those things person much of an interaction connected my day-to-day than being capable to complaint up my telephone successful a flash. I fishy a batch of radical consciousness the aforesaid way, and that makes the N300 hard to recommend. There’s a slim statement successful its favour if you truly privation accelerated charging, and it’s your champion “free” telephone enactment astatine the time. Otherwise, you’re amended disconnected with OnePlus’ somewhat pricier N20 oregon settling for the slow-charging life.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge