The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is the latest tempting budget phone from OnePlus , constitute the cheapest way of life to get into the OnePlus ecosystem at just £ 299 while offering premium specs like a big 120Hz display , a large battery aliveness , fast charging and a high - res main rearward camera .
The question is , how does it compare toSamsung ’s popular Galaxy A54 ? The A54 boasts a gorgeousAMOLED video display , Samsung ’s a la mode mid - range C.P.U. , a open 50MP lens and all - day battery life , after all .
Crucially , the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite come in at a whopping £ 150 less than Samsung ’s £ 449mid - ranger , so can itreallycompete with Samsung ’s best ? You might in reality be surprised .
Design and screen
When it come to general design , the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and Samsung Galaxy A54 do n’t seem all that different , with both romp the same general feeling , down to the minimalistic camera trapping on the rear – though the Nord CE 3 ’s cameras take up much more way than the A54s .
Instead , the difference in design between the two smartphones are more nuanced .
The 8.2mm - thickset Galaxy A54 has a categoric invention on both the front and rear much like theGalaxy S23 , whereas the 8.3mm - thick OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite has go down the curvy route with the compounding of a flat display and a slight 2.8 - degree turn on the back covert to make it meet that little chip nicer in hand .
Considering the large 6.72 - inch presentation on fling from the Nord , that ’s certainly appreciated .
There ’s also a divergence in the materials used , with the Nord CE 3 Lite opting for an all - plastic body while the A54 hop to attend and find that little bit more premium with a deoxyephedrine rearward and polycarbonate body .
It seems like Samsung has this one in the bag then , but the charge card of the Nord CE 3 Lite is n’t standard – it ’s produced using a colored injection modelling process that gives it a much firm feel in the hand than standard plastic . It ’s still not quite glassful - level , but it does feel very nice .
That ’s complimented by the gorgeous , vivacious Pastel Green finish , and there ’s a more dull Chromatic Grey finish also available , though Samsung also has that front covered with the A54 ’s Lime , Violet , Graphite and White finishes .
Elsewhere , both speech sound sport aUSB - one C portfor charging , a power clitoris and intensity controls , though the OnePlus also sport a 3.5 mm headphone jackfruit – a feature that did n’t make it to the A54 despite still being a pop feature of many budget and mid - range smartphones . The A54 does haveIP67 water resistancethough .
The two companies also differ when it comes to exhibit , not only in term of sheer sizing but the technical school on offering . The 6.72 - inch Nord CE 3 Lite measure the big of the two , but size is n’t everything . While the Galaxy A54 has a smaller 6.4 - inch display , it ’s anAMOLED panelthat delivers much good colours and deeper inkiness than theLCD displayof the Nord CE 3 Lite .
The two are fairly evenly matched with both offering a 120Hz refresh pace , though Samsung ’s board is brighter with a 1000nit peak brightness compared to 680 nit of the Nord CE 3 Lite .
So , it really come down to whether you want a diminished , higher - timbre board or a big display that might not lookquiteas good when watching movies on Netflix .
Cameras
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite has a main 108MP lens with fairly adequate specs like a 1/1.67 - inch sensing element , a fairly spacious f/1.75 aperture and 9 - in-1pixel binning techthat delivers large 1.92um pixels for more detail and good calorie-free capture . The high firmness of purpose also countenance the earpiece to pop the question a digital 3x lens , though OnePlus says this is much more than just work in on a full - res 108MP double .
That ’s flanked by a 2MP macro able to take exposure as lilliputian as 4 cm away , and a 2MP depth help camera to improve portrait photography .
That sure enough sounds like a decent apparatus , but the eagle - eyed among you will notice that there is n’t an ultra - broad tv camera . That ’s a conscious decision on OnePlus ’ part to hit the tempting £ 299 price distributor point , and rather than sticking in a low-toned - caliber ultrawide , it spent more time and money on the principal sensor – aka the one people use the most often .
It clear sense to me – I ’d rather a single high quality genus Lens than a handful of terrible lenses – but I ’m sure there will be some that hate the idea .
The Samsung Galaxy A54 , on the other deal , frolic a main 50MP sensor with OIS , a fairly wide f/1.8 aperture and PDAF autofocus tech that I was fairly impressed with in my brushup , peculiarly when it came to colour and detail . It has the key signature sonority of Samsung phone that are n’t quite true to living but bully for share on social media .
That ’s backed up by a 12MP 123 - arcdegree ultrawide lens for appropriate more of a shooting , and a 5MP macro lense similar to that of the OnePlus .
It seems Samsung is the succeeder here when it come to bluff versatility , but it ’ll be interesting to see how the Nord CE 3 Lite in reality performs .
Performance
carrying out is one of the main orbit where the two smartphones really disagree .
The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite packs aSnapdragon 695 5 G chipset , which while comme il faut , was first harbinger back in 2021 . Compared to the Exynos 1380 of the Galaxy A54 that was announced just week prior to the smartphone ’s reveal , it ’s looking a little bit long in the tooth .
I ’ve not yet benchmarked the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite so I ca n’t say for certain , but I ’m expecting it to fall short of the Galaxy A54 ’s new , more power - efficient chipset . Whether that ’ll be noticeable in day - to - day use , however , is another history .
That ’s geminate with 8 GB of RAM as standard across both smartphones , a particular plus given the Nord CE 3 Lite ’s gaudy cost tag end , with the Nord also able to deliver an extra 8 GB of RAM using spare ROM in particularly ability - enceinte tasks .
That ’s pair with 128 GB with the Nord , while the Galaxy A54 can be pick up with either 128- or 256 GB of storage . Both have a microSD card slot that can exposit store up to 1 TB , so do n’t sense pressured to get more storehouse at purchase .
Both have down - burn down stereophony speaker accompaniment that should make watching videos feel a footling bit more immersive , but OnePlus has taken things a step further with what it calls an ultra mass mode that allows the utterer to go ‘ up to 200 % ’ in particularly loud environments . It ’s a first for a OnePlus speech sound , but chances are it ’s not the last clip we ’ll see it .
software package - wise , both phones ship withAndroid 13 , though the A54 comes with Samsung ’s OneUI 5.1 and the Nord CE 3 Lite comes with OnePlus ’ OxygenOS 13.1 .
bombardment life history should be fairly adequate between the two smartphones with both frisk a large 5,000mAh battery . However , OnePlus has the edge with 67W SuperVooc charging that delivers a full charge in 41 minutes , compare to the 25W charging of the Galaxy A54 that I ’ve incur take around 90 minute of arc for a full billing .
Early thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is more subject in most surface area equate to the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite , but considering it cost £ 150 more , that should n’t be much of a surprisal .
What ’s most surprising is that it ’s not a clear - cutting winner , with OnePlus superintend to contend with much more bounty smartphones with a courteous design , large display , a solid main television camera and some of the libertine charging I ’ve seen at the price point , though I ’ll withhold my final thoughts until I ’ve reviewed the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite in full .
