OnePlus Nord CE 5 review: Best phone under Rs 25,000?

OnePus Nord-series appeals to the masses with its competitive specs at aggressive price point. Following the success of the Nord 4-series, OnePlus came up with Nord 5-series, part of which is the Nord CE5 5G, which entered the crowded mid-range segment with a clear mission: deliver meaningful upgrades while keeping the price aggressive.

Priced from Rs 24,999, the Nord CE5 checks off several boxes — powerful hardware, an AMOLED display, clean software, and a massive battery. Given its pricing, the phone clearly makes a dent in the mid-range category despite tough competition. But can it cut through the competition? Let's find out. 

Display and design

The 6.77-inch curved AMOLED display on the Nord CE5 is one of its biggest highlights. With Full HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 1430 nits peak brightness, and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, it delivers punchy visuals, smooth animations, and decent outdoor visibility. Add HDR10 support for YouTube and Netflix, and this is ideal for multimedia consumption.

On the design front, OnePlus has gone with slim bezels, and a matte plastic back, giving the phone a stylish look despite the polycarbonate build. The blue finish on our unit looks especially appealing compared to the black. But there's Marble Mist, which gives the impression of a glass with its marble-like design on the back. 

The camera module is familiar but refined, and the phone is rated IP65 for dust and water resistance. At 199g, it's heavier than the CE4, but that's justified by the massive 7100mAh battery.

On the downside, the phone comes with a single bottom-firing speaker, which doesn't complement the immersive display. If not for that, the Nord CE5 has nailed the design aspect and wins big on display as well.

Camera

On the rear, OnePlus Nord CE5 packs a 50MP Sony LYT-600 main sensor, and in daylight, it delivers crisp, vibrant images with solid dynamic range, especially with auto HDR enabled. Even 2x zoom shots retain usable detail, though quality drops beyond that.

Portrait mode produces clean edge separation most of the time. The 8MP ultra-wide sensor sticks to the same color profile but offers average results—decent for landscapes but not standout. Low-light performance is acceptable, with Night Mode helps to an extent, but results vary.

The 16MP front camera performs well under good lighting, though edge detection in portraits is inconsistent. The camera system is an improvement over the CE4, but there's room for better low-light tuning and front camera optimization.

Check out camera samples below:

Performance and software

Under the hood, the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex (4nm) chipset delivers a clear step up from the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 in the previous CE4. Day-to-day performance is smooth—be it app switching, gaming, or multitasking. We did not notice frame drops or app crashes during our review.

The software is where things get interesting. The CE5 runs OxygenOS 15 based on Android 15 and leans heavily into AI. It offers Gemini integration, Circle to Search and tools like AI Summary, AI Translation, AI Writer, AI VoiceScribe and AI Call Assistant. But the translations and transcriptions need refinement. 

OnePlus promises 4 major OS updates and 6 years of security updates, which is decent given the price bracket. Despite having plenty of pre-installed apps, only a handful are third-party, keeping the experience relatively clean.

The stock dialer offers call recording, and the Clear Voice feature reduces background noise effectively. Call quality during tests was excellent, even in noisy environments.

Battery

The 7100mAh battery is a beast, delivering over 7+ hours of screen-on time on 5G usage, easily lasting more than a day and sometimes two with nominal use. With Wi-Fi use, the battery tend to last longer.

The bundled 80W fast charger juices the phone from 20% to 100% in 50 minutes (or 50% in 25 minutes or fully charge in an hour from a drained battery). What's interesting is the Bypass Charging feature, which comes in handy while gaming as it powers the device directly during play sessions to reduce heat and battery stress. It's like running a PC. 

Verdict: Who is it for?

OnePlus Nord CE5 5G delivers where it matters—a large, bright display; excellent battery life; smooth software, and reliable everyday performance. It retains the price tag of its predecessor while bringing enough improvements to justify an upgrade.

Pros:

1. Gorgeous 120Hz AMOLED display
2. Excellent battery life and fast charging
3. Useful AI features baked into OxygenOS
4. Good daylight photography
5. Solid performance

Cons:

1. Single speaker feels like a miss
2. Front camera could be better
3. Gets warm during charging

If you can live without stereo speakers and flagship camera performance, the Nord CE5 is easily one of the best all-rounders under Rs 25,000.