At $299.99, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G teeters on the line between the budget phone and midrange phone markets. It’s one of OnePlus’s first budget phones, and it couldn’t come at a better time, since many people continue to struggle with financial setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With its sleek design, vivid 90Hz display, and 5G connectivity on T-Mobile’s network, the N10 punches well above its weight, surpassing not just the similarly priced Motorola Moto G Power but also the more expensive Motorola One 5G Ace. It handily wins our Editors’ Choice award for budget phones.
Sharp Looks
The N10 sports a refined design that’s both sleek and functional. At 6.4 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and 6.7 ounces, it’s a big phone, but it doesn’t feel like one. Slight differences in its measurements and weight make it more comfortable to hold than the G Power.
On the front of the phone you’ll find a bezel-less 6.5-inch hole punch display. The 2,400-by-1,080-pixel 90Hz LCD is punchy with excellent color accuracy for the price, and is easy to see in direct sunlight.
Both the frame and the back of the phone are made of a glossy blue-black plastic. Like all glossy backplates, it quickly collects fingerprints and smudges.
The rectangular rear camera bump, in the top left corner, juts out just enough to give the phone a little wobble when it’s sitting on a desk. You’ll also find a fingerprint sensor back there that’s quick and accurate.
The volume rocker and SIM/MicroSD slot are on the left side of the phone; the Power button is on the right. The buttons provide a satisfying click when tapped and are pretty easy to reach with small hands. The headphone jack, USB-C charging port, and speaker grille sit on the bottom of the phone.
Durability is on par with other budget phones. The display is constructed of Gorilla Glass 3 and should handle small drops and dings without much damage. There’s no IP rating for water resistance, so if you drop it in the tub, be prepared to pay for a new phone.
5G and NFC Too
The Nord N10 5G has limited LTE support for all US carriers, and it’s optimized for MVNOs that use T-Mobile’s network, such as Metro by T-Mobile.
The sub–6GHz 5G only works on T-Mobile. Overall, 5G connectivity is excellent. Our test speeds averaged 168Mbps down and 78.8Mbps up, which is plenty for most people’s needs.
Dual-band Wi-Fi is capable of stellar speeds when you don’t need to use mobile data. We tested the N10 on a gigabit network and recorded average speeds of 338.2Mbps down and 38.4Mbps down. That’s significantly better than what we recorded in our Nord N10 preview in 2020.
With a maximum volume of 86dB, the earpiece is loud enough to hear in almost any environment. Call quality is clear and noise cancellation works without a hitch.
The N10’s stereo speakers, which top out at 97dB, fail to impress. Bass is non-existent and mids are aggressively pushed forward. Lower mids sound boxy while the uppers are nasal. Highs are airy with significant distortion at higher volumes. Luckily, there’s a headphone jack to save you.
Bluetooth 5.1 is on board for wearable connectivity. You’ll also find NFC—somewhat rare for phones at this price—for mobile payments and boarding passes.
Peak Performer
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 chipset and 6GB of RAM power the Nord N10. There’s 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage on board with about 104GB available out of the box. There’s also a microSD slot should you need more storage.
The N10 ups the ante in just about every way when compared with the Moto G Power. It has a more powerful processor, double the storage, and extra RAM to prevent bottlenecks.
See How We Test PhonesSee How We Test Phones
With the exception of some minor boot lag, the N10 feels snappy and responsive. It handles multitasking with ease, and its 90Hz refresh rate means you won’t experience any stutters when scrolling through your Instagram feed.
Gaming, on the other hand, is hit or miss. We noticed a few skipped frames when playing Alto’s Odyssey for an hour, but it didn’t effect the overall experience. On more resource-hungry games such as Genshin Impact, we experienced long load times and plenty of dropped frames. If you’re on the hunt for a solid gaming phone, your least expensive options are the Google Pixel 4a or Apple iPhone SE.
On GeekBench 5, a suite of tests that quantify raw performance, the N10 scored 610 single-core (SC) and 1,834 multi-core (MC). That’s a significant jump over the Moto G Power’s 313 SC and 1,538 MC scores.
The N10’s 4,300mAh battery holds enough juice to get most users through a full day between charges. On our battery drain test, which streams HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness, the N10 ran for 10 hours, 8 minutes before powering down. That’s about 5 hours behind the Moto G Power, but more conservative use should give you a few more hours of battery life. If you’re concerned about running out of battery midday, a USB-C power bank will give you peace of mind.
There’s a 30W fast charging adapter in the box. Wireless charging is not supported.
Pretty Solid Cameras
On the back of the N10 you’ll find a quad camera stack. The 64MP primary lens has an f/1.8 aperture. There’s also an 8MP ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.3 aperture and 2MP depth and macro sensors with f/2.4 apertures. The front-facing lens is 16MP with an f/2.1 aperture.
The primary and ultra-wide lenses perform well in good light. Our test shots featured excellent depth of field and color accuracy. There’s some loss of fine detail with both lenses, but it’s more prominent on the ultra-wide lens. Overall, our test shots looked excellent for a budget phone.
Low-light performance is inconsistent even with Night mode enabled. Our best test shots with both lenses had significant light flares and a loss of fine detail; the worst were flat and muddy. The ultra-wide photos were particularly disappointing.
After taking hundreds of photos in our lab trying to isolate the issue, we believe we finally found the culprit. The N10 struggles specifically with low light in the 3,000–4,000K range—the color temperature used for most indoor ambient lighting. Nearly all of our test shots taken with LED panels in this temperature range featured over-aggressive noise cancellation, flattening, and blurring. Distortion also reared its ugly head on test shots taken with the ultra-wide lens.
Low-light photos taken under cooler lights, on the other hand, are acceptable. Our test shots still looked soft, and there were large light flares, but noise cancellation worked as intended and there was less noise and blurring overall.
The macro lens on the N10 does a decent job with good light and a steady hand. Our best test shots (taken on a tripod with two LED panels) were soft and lacked the level of detail you’ll get with a macro lens on a good DSLR or mirrorless camera, but weren’t the blurry mess we typically see on other smartphones.
Selfies are surprisingly good in any lighting scenario. In daylight, the 16MP shooter takes a crisp and vivid shot. If you prefer Portrait mode, you’ll be happy to know the N10 does an excellent job of image mapping and creating a natural bokeh. Low-light photos tell much the same story, though you’ll likely notice some loss of fine detail.
Make no mistake: The N10’s cameras are not on par with the more expensive Pixel 4a 5G or even the iPhone SE. If you’re looking to take the best photos possible, you’ll need to pay more for the privilege. But the N10 takes better photos than any other budget phone available in the US, so if you’re a photo fiend who needs to pinch pennies, this is the way to go.
Android 10 Sparkles With Oxygen OS
The N10 ships with Android 10 with OnePlus’s Oxygen OS skin. If you’re not familiar with Oxygen OS, it’s a light-handed, very helpful update to Android’s stock UI.
Oxygen OS adds features you’ll actually want, including an improved Quick Settings menu and a Reading mode that makes the display monochrome to create an e-reader–like experience. There are also a few customized apps, such as Gallery and Messages, that feel more refined than what you’ll find on stock Android.
OnePlus said it will update the N10 to Android 11 later this year. After that, further upgrades are not guaranteed. Samsung’s A-series and Android One phones offer multi-year Android updates, and we hope OnePlus and other budget phone makers will follow suit in the future.
The Budget Phone You’ve Been Waiting For
Motorola’s Moto G series has frequently topped our Editors’ Choice list for budget phones, and when the 2021 models failed to make the grade, we received reader email asking which low-cost phone is the best. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is our answer. It ticks off all the necessities, has very good cameras for the price, keeps budget phone features such as the headphone jack, and adds a few perks such as 5G connectivity and a 90Hz display.
T-Mobile customers will get the most out of the N10. If you’re not a T-Mobile customer or simply aren’t worried about 5G connectivity, the $350 Google Pixel 4a is a strong LTE alternative that works on every carrier. But when it comes to reasonably priced 5G phones in 2021, the N10 is our top pick.
