**OnePlus Nord N100 Review: A Budget Option with Its Limitations**

The OnePlus Nord N100 is a budget-friendly smartphone that falls short in several areas, making it a questionable purchase for those seeking a reliable and feature-packed device.

As a huge battery, this phone does make sense as it's not a flagship. However, its slow charging capabilities may be a concern for some users who need to top up their battery quickly. Thankfully, the battery life is respectable, but at the same time, it's not going to help you in a pinch. The device will likely not put up with intense usage for long periods of time.

The Oxygen OS, which runs on this phone, is outdated out of the box. It's Android 10-based, instead of Android 11, which is what the OnePlus 8T, an older device, came with. This lack of software platform updates means that the long-term software support isn't going to be very good. With only one software update coming forward, users can expect limited feature enhancements and bug fixes in the future.

Another area where value for money and cost have not met is in the display. The phone features a 90Hz 720p panel, which while sharp enough, doesn't justify the use of a full HD or even standard HD 60Hz panel. The Nord N100's display can be soft at times, making it difficult to notice from a distance. A 60Hz display would have been a better bet, allowing for improved performance and a more refined viewing experience.

The camera capabilities are another aspect where the OnePlus Nord N100 falls short. While they're not going to be groundbreaking in a 179-pound phone, they were considerably worse than what we've seen from competing Redmi Note 9 devices. The two main cameras – an 8-megapixel selfie camera and a 13-megapixel main rear camera – are the ones that matter. However, even with these cameras, image quality is lacking. Over-saturation of colors and softness in images are notable issues.

The lack of sharpness in any of these images is a significant concern. The pixel density may be the culprit here, as some might blame it for the softening effect on images. Fortunately, selfies taken with this phone are more impressive, with better color accuracy and minimal softening.

In conclusion, while the OnePlus Nord N100 may be an affordable option for those seeking a budget-friendly smartphone, its limitations make it a questionable choice for many users. If you're on a tight budget, consider looking into other options like the Redmi Note 9 from Xiaomi, which offers more value for money. Alternatively, save up and consider purchasing a newer model, such as the OnePlus Nord or Pixel 4A, which will provide better software support, hardware performance, camera capabilities, and overall user experience in the long run.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmany often misconstrued value for money with low cost and that's where i think this phone gets a little dicey for 179 pounds in the uk or 199 euro in europe or in the us some unconfirmed pricing the nord n100 is completely the opposite of the high price high performance ultra flagships that we're used to seeing in 2020 it comes in at around half the price of even the pixel 4a and oneplus nord this is a proper budget smartphone let's get into it what is the nord n100 well it's a super cheap plastic smartphone with a gorilla class coated 720p display that's laid out in the similar kind of way as the nord and the oneplus 8t both much higher end phones as for the specs well there's a snapdragon 460 four gigabytes of ram 64 gigabytes of storage four total cameras a 720p 90hz ips display and a huge 5000mah battery that's a very mixed spec sheet but in short not a lot of power but a great battery oneplus cuts a lot of corners to get this thing down to 179 pounds in the uk and the most obvious of which is definitely in its performance it's not unusable by any means but the n100 is markedly slower than the oneplus nord and the pixel 4a neither of which is particularly powerful zipping around the os with the snapdragon 460 and four gigabytes of ram isn't the smoothest experience in the world and it does put the decision to use an ics display into question when oftentimes it's barely able to match 60 hertz the 64 gigabytes of storage is expandable with a micro sd card up to 256 gigabytes which is handy this isn't a gaming phone most games run on it and they look okay but they do stutter and lag rather often especially the more demanding ones for games like clash royale and 8 ball you should be alright though but here's the thing and i hark back to the start of this video where we were talking about value for money versus budget sure this is a budget smartphone but its value for money is questioned when the performance is slow now in six months when the performance is degraded is it even going to be worth keeping or are you going to want to upgrade at which point have you really saved any money if you're going to be buying two smartphones however because this chipset is such a power sipping component the battery life is fantastic i mean truly brilliant with a mixture of lte and wi-fi connections high brightness spotify and youtube usage and a lot of twitter and reddit scrolling i got two and a half days out of the norden 100 as my main phone that's eight hours total screen on time and it was definitely not easy it was hard to kill this thing and i put it through its paces so a lighter user and with less usage i wouldn't be surprised if you were able to charge this thing just twice a week and the thing is it's nice that you won't have to charge it so often because the 18 watt charger included in the box was it's not super slow does still charge this thing in just over two hours so it actually does take a little while to charge it and it being a huge battery it does make sense this isn't a flagship it's not got super fast charging i think it's rather respectable but at the same time it's not going to help you in a pinch thankfully you probably won't be in a pinch very often with a battery that's this good oxygen os which runs on this thing is outdated out of the box unfortunately it's android 10 based instead of android 11 which the oneplus 8t an older device came with doesn't really make much sense there and this thing is only likely to get one software platform update what this means is the long-term software support isn't going to be very good with only one software platform update coming forward and this isn't the most up-to-date version meaning you're not going to get all the new features that the new oxygen os allows for another area in which value for money and cost really have not met is in the display it's a 90 hertz 720p panel and while the sharpness or lack thereof isn't much of an issue i feel like the use of a full hd or even standard hd 60hz panel would have been a better bet see the nord n100 doesn't really have the processing or gpu chops to consistently hit 90 hertz which makes it kind of a redundant spec from about 30 centimeters or a foot away from your face the display is sharp enough but every now and then you do notice the softness which can be a little distracting i actually think the better bet would have been to put a 60 hertz display in this thing and then use that extra budget to improve the performance or the camera and talking of cameras they were never going to be groundbreaking in a 179 pound phone and i'm just going to tell you they weren't with the n100 however they were considerably worse than what we've seen from the competing redmi note 9 and these images do look kind of weird but before that firstly the two main cameras that you really need to know about are the 8 megapixel selfie camera and 13 megapixel main rear camera those other two on the back are really just to fluff out the spec sheet what you'll really notice in these samples is that the typical oneplus shadow crushing is here but maxed out to a whole new level just look at how much the shadows are crushed in these outdoor shots and with such soft lighting these are much easier conditions than the harsh direct sunlight in which this thing will perform even worse another point of interest is the over saturation of the colours they don't look awful but they're not exactly true to life and probably the biggest thing to note is the lack of sharpness in any of these images no you don't need to wipe your screen they really are that soft some might blame the 13 megapixel sensor but since the pixel 5 has a 12 megapixel sensor i don't think you can really blame resolution here strangely though the selfies look a lot sharper than the main camera photos they're actually not bad at all they're soft ish but nothing crazy skin smoothing just definitely isn't an issue here even in harsh lighting conditions and in portrait mode the n100 manages to do quite well so should you go out and buy this thing well if you're on a budget you should consider it but you should also consider like the redmi note 9 from xiaomi is a fantastic smartphone that at least on paper and from reviews seems to be crushing this thing it costs maybe 20 pounds more but gives you much more value for money however if you can really stretch to what i urge you to save a little more and try and get a oneplus nord or a pixel 4a because you're gonna get better software support down the line much better hardware much later slowdown in terms of the performance hugely better cameras hugely better designs and hugely better overall user experiences and since you're less likely to upgrade those phones sooner it means that you could actually be saving money by doing it that way and that brings us back to the start of this video where i said that value for money and cost are typically misconstrued see there is a point where spending too little won't give you as much value and the oneplus nord n100 is just an example of this it cuts too many corners and seems like oneplus attempt to grab another sector of the smartphone market anyway guys that's it from me and that's it for the oneplus nord n100 video thank you all so much for watching please do check out the full article in the video description which will have way more camera samples on there and more analysis since i can go into more detail in a longer form article whilst you're down there please do hit like and subscribe to never miss a video like this one i've been ryan thomas with android authority and i'll catch you latermany often misconstrued value for money with low cost and that's where i think this phone gets a little dicey for 179 pounds in the uk or 199 euro in europe or in the us some unconfirmed pricing the nord n100 is completely the opposite of the high price high performance ultra flagships that we're used to seeing in 2020 it comes in at around half the price of even the pixel 4a and oneplus nord this is a proper budget smartphone let's get into it what is the nord n100 well it's a super cheap plastic smartphone with a gorilla class coated 720p display that's laid out in the similar kind of way as the nord and the oneplus 8t both much higher end phones as for the specs well there's a snapdragon 460 four gigabytes of ram 64 gigabytes of storage four total cameras a 720p 90hz ips display and a huge 5000mah battery that's a very mixed spec sheet but in short not a lot of power but a great battery oneplus cuts a lot of corners to get this thing down to 179 pounds in the uk and the most obvious of which is definitely in its performance it's not unusable by any means but the n100 is markedly slower than the oneplus nord and the pixel 4a neither of which is particularly powerful zipping around the os with the snapdragon 460 and four gigabytes of ram isn't the smoothest experience in the world and it does put the decision to use an ics display into question when oftentimes it's barely able to match 60 hertz the 64 gigabytes of storage is expandable with a micro sd card up to 256 gigabytes which is handy this isn't a gaming phone most games run on it and they look okay but they do stutter and lag rather often especially the more demanding ones for games like clash royale and 8 ball you should be alright though but here's the thing and i hark back to the start of this video where we were talking about value for money versus budget sure this is a budget smartphone but its value for money is questioned when the performance is slow now in six months when the performance is degraded is it even going to be worth keeping or are you going to want to upgrade at which point have you really saved any money if you're going to be buying two smartphones however because this chipset is such a power sipping component the battery life is fantastic i mean truly brilliant with a mixture of lte and wi-fi connections high brightness spotify and youtube usage and a lot of twitter and reddit scrolling i got two and a half days out of the norden 100 as my main phone that's eight hours total screen on time and it was definitely not easy it was hard to kill this thing and i put it through its paces so a lighter user and with less usage i wouldn't be surprised if you were able to charge this thing just twice a week and the thing is it's nice that you won't have to charge it so often because the 18 watt charger included in the box was it's not super slow does still charge this thing in just over two hours so it actually does take a little while to charge it and it being a huge battery it does make sense this isn't a flagship it's not got super fast charging i think it's rather respectable but at the same time it's not going to help you in a pinch thankfully you probably won't be in a pinch very often with a battery that's this good oxygen os which runs on this thing is outdated out of the box unfortunately it's android 10 based instead of android 11 which the oneplus 8t an older device came with doesn't really make much sense there and this thing is only likely to get one software platform update what this means is the long-term software support isn't going to be very good with only one software platform update coming forward and this isn't the most up-to-date version meaning you're not going to get all the new features that the new oxygen os allows for another area in which value for money and cost really have not met is in the display it's a 90 hertz 720p panel and while the sharpness or lack thereof isn't much of an issue i feel like the use of a full hd or even standard hd 60hz panel would have been a better bet see the nord n100 doesn't really have the processing or gpu chops to consistently hit 90 hertz which makes it kind of a redundant spec from about 30 centimeters or a foot away from your face the display is sharp enough but every now and then you do notice the softness which can be a little distracting i actually think the better bet would have been to put a 60 hertz display in this thing and then use that extra budget to improve the performance or the camera and talking of cameras they were never going to be groundbreaking in a 179 pound phone and i'm just going to tell you they weren't with the n100 however they were considerably worse than what we've seen from the competing redmi note 9 and these images do look kind of weird but before that firstly the two main cameras that you really need to know about are the 8 megapixel selfie camera and 13 megapixel main rear camera those other two on the back are really just to fluff out the spec sheet what you'll really notice in these samples is that the typical oneplus shadow crushing is here but maxed out to a whole new level just look at how much the shadows are crushed in these outdoor shots and with such soft lighting these are much easier conditions than the harsh direct sunlight in which this thing will perform even worse another point of interest is the over saturation of the colours they don't look awful but they're not exactly true to life and probably the biggest thing to note is the lack of sharpness in any of these images no you don't need to wipe your screen they really are that soft some might blame the 13 megapixel sensor but since the pixel 5 has a 12 megapixel sensor i don't think you can really blame resolution here strangely though the selfies look a lot sharper than the main camera photos they're actually not bad at all they're soft ish but nothing crazy skin smoothing just definitely isn't an issue here even in harsh lighting conditions and in portrait mode the n100 manages to do quite well so should you go out and buy this thing well if you're on a budget you should consider it but you should also consider like the redmi note 9 from xiaomi is a fantastic smartphone that at least on paper and from reviews seems to be crushing this thing it costs maybe 20 pounds more but gives you much more value for money however if you can really stretch to what i urge you to save a little more and try and get a oneplus nord or a pixel 4a because you're gonna get better software support down the line much better hardware much later slowdown in terms of the performance hugely better cameras hugely better designs and hugely better overall user experiences and since you're less likely to upgrade those phones sooner it means that you could actually be saving money by doing it that way and that brings us back to the start of this video where i said that value for money and cost are typically misconstrued see there is a point where spending too little won't give you as much value and the oneplus nord n100 is just an example of this it cuts too many corners and seems like oneplus attempt to grab another sector of the smartphone market anyway guys that's it from me and that's it for the oneplus nord n100 video thank you all so much for watching please do check out the full article in the video description which will have way more camera samples on there and more analysis since i can go into more detail in a longer form article whilst you're down there please do hit like and subscribe to never miss a video like this one i've been ryan thomas with android authority and i'll catch you later\n"