Hi Android Studio, Android is basically a software that allows your hardware to function. Android OS gives you access to many applications, including Google's own creation. This allows you to search information on the web, play music and videos, check your location on the map, take a photo using the camera and a lot more besides.
Android is a mobile operating system that is found on many modern devices, the most popular being the smartphone. On top of that you will also find the Android Tablet, the streaming TV and other portable gadgets.
Without Android, all this will not be possible.
OnePlus Nord N10 5G review, Android Device Manager requires two things before you can find the phone. The device must have a remote location enabled, that you find in Google Android Device Manager settings > > remotely found this device (make sure the box is ticked), and need to have access to the location as well. That's in settings Google > location. If this setting is off, then the Device Manager will not be able to find the device.
Check out our guide on how to set up your Android OnePlus Nord N10 5G review for an idea of what you'll need to do to get started. One of your first tasks will be to create a Google account (or sign in to an existing one). This gives you the email functionality and also provides a good way to back up your contacts, keep your files online and so on.
Android Device Manager works for tablets as well, but if you have multiple user accounts, the only tablet '' owner '' can enable features of Android Device Manager (or turn it off again).
Highly customizable Android phones, so they can be changed according Your needs and personal tastes. For example, you can set your own wallpapers, themes and launchers, OnePlus Nord N10 5G review that completely change the look of Your device interface. You can download new applications to do all sorts of things like check Facebook and Twitter feeds, manage your bank account, order a pizza and game play.
Read:
How to get started with Android
In fact, you can synchronize your personal information in all types of Android devices. This includes your favourite web sites, calendar entries and purchased apps. This is all supported seamlessly, background OnePlus Nord N10 5G review
The advantage of this is that if you lose your mobile phone OnePlus Nord N10 5G review All numbers and your important data will be saved. The next time you get an Android phone (or other device) and sign in with your Google account, all your contacts and your number will be displayed in the address book on your new phone immediately. There is no need to transfer them up or back them up somewhere else.
Introduction
In 2020, OnePlus has turned a new leaf in the company's history. With the recent departure of the company's co-founder Carl Pei, a shift in strategy is apparent. OnePlus had suddenly expanded its portfolio with the announcement of the Nord, and the N10 5G is a continuation of the Nord lineup. It's just one step below the Nord and the N10 ships with a brand-new Qualcomm chip that's the first of the 600-series to support 5G.
The Nord, however, isn't available in the US, a large price gap will sit between the N10 5G and the OnePlus 8 5G in OnePlus' North American portfolio. OnePlus is one of the only (somewhat) recognizable brands in the US. A brand that already has rapport with major two major US carriers. If the company can compete in the mid-range price bracket, it might be able to make a mark on budget-phone territory in one of the toughest smartphone markets in the world.
OnePlus Nord N10 5G specs at a glance:
Body: 163 x 74.7 x 8.95 mm; 405 ppi; "Midnight Ice" iridescent plastic build
Memory: 6GB LPDDR4x RAM + 128GB UFS 2.1 (expandable up to 512GB via microSD card or 2nd SIM hybrid slot in EU variant)
Rear cameras:64MP (main) f/1.7 aperture, 0.7µm pixels with AF + 8MP (ultra wide) f/2.25 aperture, 119-degree FOV + 2MP (macro) f/2.4 aperture, 1.75µm pixels + 2MP (monochrome) f/2.4 aperture, 1.75µm pixels; LED flash; support for RAW images w/ main camera
Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner; NFC; Bluetooth 5.1; 3.5mm headphone jack;
OnePlus aims to release the Nord N10 5G in the US as well, and it will have to compete with Samsung, LG, and Motorola's budget phones - brands which dominate in the pre-paid segment. The company's launch of the N10 5G in European markets is a bit puzzling considering the amount of competition that already exists among Chinese brands. This is untrue in the US, however, where high value/low-price smartphones from Xiaomi, vivo, and Oppo are nowhere on the map.
OnePlus' phones have always had some element of surprise, or a feature that really made it stand out amongst competitors, but the Nord N10 5G doesn't feel like that at all; it feels like a run of the mill smartphone that's meant to fill a gap in the company's rapidly expanding portfolio. It sounds a lot like the opposite of "Never Settle" to us.
The N10 5G's main story will take place in the US, where OnePlus pushes 5G access to the sub-$400 mark. The current entry-level 5G phones sit at $399 so let's see if OnePlus has what it takes to steal some market share from LG, Samsung, and Motorola.
Unboxing
We always praise OnePlus for its high-quality packaging on its flagships, but you won't find that with the Nord phones. The Nord lineup's packaging is black and blue, and inside the box is the phone itself, the Warp Charge 30T charger, and a bright red USB-A to USB-C charging cable.
There's also a SIM-ejector tool, and some documentation. There was no freebie clear case that normally comes with other OnePlus phones. We were also a bit bummed out there were no OnePlus stickers in the box.
Next let's get a closer look at the design of the N10 5G.
Design
The N10 5G's design is, to be honest, uninspiring. At first glance, you might mistake it for the Samsung Galaxy A51 with its rectangular, quad-camera setup. Although the back panel and frame are both made of plastic, they convincingly look like glass and metal, all that convincing is gone once you pick it up and feel the materials.
In the hand, the phone feels light and a bit hollow, but not enough to say it's flimsy. Given the offset that the lower bezel gives, the phone itself is slightly bottom heavy, so it shouldn't feel like it's about to tip out of your hand. The shiny plastic does make this a very slippery device if you decide to use it without a case.
The back panel is iridescent and while this isn't an original design choice, it's executed well and really sells the premium look of this otherwise plastic phone. The 1+ logo and branding are printed under the surface, so they won't rub off.
The fingerprint scanner is right in the middle of the back and easy to find by feel. The camera bump does protrude a bit, though not as much as some of this year's Samsung Galaxy flagships - it's prone to some light rocking when placed on a table.
There are no visible antenna lines around the frame, so it seamlessly wraps all the way around the phone. One complaint we have is the frame is rounded and rather narrow along the sides, due to the curved backside and the buffer layer between the frame and display. If the frame were a bit more flattened or thicker, perhaps it would be more comfortable to hold during extended periods of use. This, of course, assuming it won't live in a case.
The physical power and volume keys here are sturdy and tactile. There a power key on the upper right side and a volume rocker on the left. The SIM tray is also on the left, above the volume keys and, depending on the variant, the tray will support either one or two SIM cards. All variants will support a microSD card.
Left • Right • Hybrid SIM (EU)
There's a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom of the phone, to the left of the in-call microphone and USB-C port. There's also a downward-firing loudspeaker grille. Meanwhile, there's a single mic hole at the top of the phone.
On the front, the N10 5G's LCD screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and the display is one of the main areas where OnePlus had to compromise to keep costs down. The lower bezel is larger than the rest, and the upper bezel is slightly larger than the side ones. Even with the uneven bezels, the loudspeakers don't disappoint on this phone. The earpiece doubles as one of the stereo speakers and the hole-punch selfie camera minimizes distraction when using full-screen apps compared to a notch.
SPEAKER SECTION HERE_________________________
Next, we'll take a deeper look into the display's brightness and color accuracy, as well as battery life.
90Hz IPS LCD
The N10 5G comes with an IPS LCD that measures 6.49-inches diagonally with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 px, coming out to aspect ratio of 20:9. It supports the smooth 90Hz refresh rate.
The high refresh rate here doesn't look as good here as it does on an OLED display. Although looks are subjective, it doesn't change the fact that OnePlus chose a display panel with cost-savings in mind and its very apparent with the N10 5G.
This panel is a very noticeable step down in quality from the Nord's AMOLED display. Even so, the display manages to keep up in this price range. Brightness maxes out at 440 nits and it doesn't get any higher when automatic brightness kicks in. Meanwhile, minimum brightness is just 2.4 nits. Sunlight legibility is generally okay for the price range. The display does do some contrast shifting to make it easier to see in bright conditions.
Display test
100% brightness
Black,cd/m2
White,cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Oppo Reno4 Pro (Max Auto)
0
843
∞
Google Pixel 4a (Max Auto)
0
803
∞
OnePlus Nord (Max Auto)
0
756
∞
Google Pixel 5 (Max Auto)
0
699
∞
Apple iPhone SE (2020)
0.434
670
1544:1
Samsung Galaxy A51 5G (Max Auto)
0
642
∞
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (Max Auto)
0.475
631
1328:1
LG Velvet (Max Auto)
0
617
∞
Motorola Moto G 5G Plus (Max Auto)
0.466
543
1165:1
Oppo Reno4 Pro
0
508
∞
vivo X50 Pro (Max Auto)
0
503
∞
vivo X50 Pro
0
489
∞
Google Pixel 5
0
475
∞
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8
0.311
473
1521:1
Google Pixel 4a
0
456
∞
Motorola Moto G 5G Plus
0.349
443
1269:1
OnePlus Nord N10 5G
0.304
440
1447:1
Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
0
410
∞
LG Velvet
0
405
∞
OnePlus Nord
0
323
∞
There aren't any color profiles, but there's a color temperature slider that can potentially help with color accuracy. By default, the slider is set to the cooler end. This results in a default setting of cool whites like many OEMs tend to do out of the box. We got the most accurate colors by setting the slider to about 5/8 of the way to the right. The display has an average deltaE of 3.4 with a maximum deltaE of 6 but we saw better numbers when we shifted the slider a bit warmer: average deltaE of 2.5 with a max of 5.
Between the Nord and the Nord N10 5G, this phone's display is a noticeable step below the Nord's AMOLED display with deeper blacks, smoother colors, and wider viewing angles. The N10 5G's LCD screen is by no means top notch. You'll be able to watch videos on it, play games, and make video calls just fine, but if you're looking for a better viewing experience, you might want to look one or two price brackets higher.
Battery life
The N10 packs a 4300 mAh battery - not a small capacity and not a huge either. In our endurance tests, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G scored an overall 99h of endurance with 29:43h of talk time. On-screen tests scored above 15h, with a web browsing score of 15:23h and 15:10h of video playback.
We're pleased with the N10's battery endurance. It was really easy to reach the end of the day with enough battery to rollover to the next day. Warp Charging is a nice touch and if you don't have it handy, it'll still quick charge with a USB-C PD charger, though not at the advertised peak speeds.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the OnePlus Nord N10 5G for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Battery charging
The Nord N10 supports OnePlus' Warp Charge 30T and comes with such an adapter bundled. The company promises "a day's power in half an hour" and we can vouch for OnePlus' claim. The included charger restores 66% of the N10 5G's dead battery in just half an hour. Fully charging the phone only took a total of 52 minutes.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G 97%
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 65%
OnePlus Nord 60%
Google Pixel 4a 45%
Samsung Galaxy A51 5G 39%
Motorola Edge 37%
LG Velvet 36%
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G 0:32h
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 0:52h
OnePlus Nord 1:05h
Samsung Galaxy A51 5G 1:30h
Google Pixel 4a 1:37h
LG Velvet 1:52h
Motorola Edge 2:32h
Speaker test
The Nord N10 5G has a dual speaker setup with one unit firing out the bottom and the earpiece doubling as another. Mind you, we're saying 'dual' as opposed to 'stereo' - there's no channel separation and both speakers output the same sound.
They do so loudly, at least, which is nice - the phone posted a 'Very Good' rating in our testing and that puts ahead of most potential rivals.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
The reason for that is that most phones that arrived for testing were already excellent in this regard and whatever difference there was, it was marginal and probably indistinguishable to anything but our lab equipment.
Android 10
OnePlus has recently confirmed that it only plans to update the N10 5G to Android 11 and offer two years of security patches, so this might be worth keeping in mind if you expect longevity from this device. OnePlus defended its decision, saying that the update schedule was in line with other devices in within the N10 5G's price point.
All the software features that we saw on Oxygen OS with other OnePlus flagships have made their way here except some features that are not available due to hardware limitations like always-on display or color profiles.
Although there isn't an "always-on" screen within the Ambient display setting, you can set it to activate when you lift the phone or when a notification comes in, so the usefulness of the feature isn't entirely dumbed down.
The use of a lower-cost LCD panel has removed the display's ability to use color profiles, but there is still a color-temperature slider in case you want to adjust the white tones. This display also supports a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and navigating. - you can always switch it back to the industry-standard 60Hz.
Ambient display • Display temperature • Refresh rate
The LCD screen limited the possibility of an in-display fingerprint scanner, so the reader is on the back of the phone, though we would have preferred a side-mounted one. We did experience some severe inconsistencies with the scanner, but a recent OTA update fixed the issue so it works more consistently now. It is, however, rather slow.
Fingerprint enrollment
OnePlus makes it easy to migrate data with the OnePlus Switch app. It works with either Android or iOS devices and will transfer almost everything. There is, however, the occasional app that needs to be manually transferred like WhatsApp or apps you need to log into.
OnePlus Switch
The OnePlus launcher is quite simple and straightforward. Your Google feed lives on the leftmost home screen, your app drawer is just a swipe-up away, and the OnePlus Shelf is accessible with a swipe down from any point on the home screen. The shelf is a collection of widgets and shortcuts that you can customize to your liking. This is different from accessing the notification shade, which requires you to pull from the top of the screen.
Home screen • Google feed • App drawer • OnePlus shelf
You can customize the launcher within the Settings. Here's where you can switch between light and dark themes, the ambient display clock style, accent color, system icon shape, icon packs, and the font.
UI and launcher customizable options
Pinching in on any home screen lets you access Hidden Space. It's a quick way to hide any apps you don't want to appear in the app drawer. Of course, you should combine this with "App locker" (in the Utilities section of the Settings) if you want to take it a step further and limit access from the app with a passcode or fingerprint.
The OnePlus launcher also supports Parallel apps. Supported apps like WhatsApp or Snapchat would populate this list and let you manage dual instances (or accounts) on a single device.
Hidden Space and App locker
First introduced with the OnePlus 8 series, there's an Optimized charging setting that learns your charging patterns and can reduce overnight charging loads. You'll still be charged up when you unplug in the morning.
Optimized charging
We can't leave the software section without mentioning that the vibration motor on the N10 5G is not great. It's a generic motor so text and touch inputs don't feel as stellar as they do on the OnePlus Nord. Also, there's no physical alert slider as OnePlus has had on every device before the Nord N10.
Synthetic benchmarks
This phone is one of the first to arrive with Qualcomm's newest chipset with 5G support. The Snapdragon 690 is a higher-end SoC in the 600-series, though support for 5G only comes in the sub-6GHz flavor. Still, phones with these chipsets are more future proof than before. Now let's see how well the processor would stand the test of time.
The Snapdragon 690 5G is an octa-core chipset built on the 8nm process. It's made up of 2 clusters, one with 2 x 2.0GHz Kryo 560 Gold and another with 6 x 1.7GHz Kryo 560 Silver cores. Graphics are powered by the Adreno 619L GPU.
Starting with the CPU-intensive GeekBench 5 test, the N10 5G's single core test scored just as it did on several other devices running the Snapdragon 765G chipset. Meanwhile, the multi-core test was somewhere on the lower spectrum of Snadpragon 765 devices and above other devices powered by the Snapdragon 730 and the 675.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 1953
OnePlus Nord (Fnatic) 1945
vivo X50 Pro 1937
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 1927
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 1848
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 1815
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 1694
Google Pixel 5 1647
Google Pixel 4a 1626
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 1624
Motorola One Zoom 1534
Oppo Reno3 Pro 1517
Samsung Galaxy A51 1294
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
vivo X50 Pro 636
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 616
OnePlus Nord 610
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 609
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 608
OnePlus Nord (Fnatic) 605
Google Pixel 5 594
Google Pixel 4a 553
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 521
Motorola One Zoom 509
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 508
Oppo Reno3 Pro 398
Samsung Galaxy A51 347
AnTuTu combines CPU, GPU, and UX performance - which rewards devices with well-optimized software. The N10 5G was right in the gap between the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 5's performance scores on the same benchmark. Again, it falls somewhere around the Snapdragon 730's performance.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
vivo X50 Pro 323736
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 318117
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 315641
OnePlus Nord 312794
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 308231
Google Pixel 5 289261
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 279579
Google Pixel 4a 268714
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 256717
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 253271
Oppo Reno3 Pro 227810
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 215308
Motorola One Zoom 180000
Samsung Galaxy A51 175363
In graphics performance, the N10 5G pulled through. It scored better than the other Snapdragon 600-series phones and even did marginally better than the Snapdragon730G-powered Pixel 4a.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 38
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 38
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 38
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 38
vivo X50 Pro 36
Google Pixel 4a 30
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 30
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 30
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 26
Google Pixel 5 22
Oppo Reno3 Pro 20
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 17
Samsung Galaxy A70 15
Motorola One Zoom 15
Samsung Galaxy A51 10
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 34
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 34
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 32
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 32
vivo X50 Pro 31
Google Pixel 4a 27
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 27
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 26
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 23
Google Pixel 5 22
Oppo Reno3 Pro 17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 15
Samsung Galaxy A70 13
Motorola One Zoom 13
Samsung Galaxy A51 8.9
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 21
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 21
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 21
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 21
vivo X50 Pro 20
Google Pixel 4a 17
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 17
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 17
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 14
Google Pixel 5 13
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 8.7
Motorola One Zoom 8.1
Samsung Galaxy A70 8
Oppo Reno3 Pro 7.3
Samsung Galaxy A51 6.6
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 19
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 19
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 18
vivo X50 Pro 17
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 17
Google Pixel 4a 16
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 15
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 15
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 13
Google Pixel 5 12
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 7.9
Oppo Reno3 Pro 7.4
Motorola One Zoom 7.1
Samsung Galaxy A70 7
Samsung Galaxy A51 5.6
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)
Higher is better
OnePlus Nord 13
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 13
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 12
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 12
Google Pixel 4a 11
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 10
Google Pixel 5 9.1
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 5.7
Samsung Galaxy A51 5.6
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 5.3
Samsung Galaxy A70 4.7
Motorola One Zoom 4.7
3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 3294
OnePlus Nord 3285
vivo X50 Pro 3214
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 3214
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 3187
Google Pixel 4a 2487
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 2467
Google Pixel 5 2318
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 2166
Samsung Galaxy A51 1574
Oppo Reno3 Pro 1243
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 1091
Samsung Galaxy A70 974
Motorola One Zoom 972
3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G 3080
OnePlus Nord 3067
Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G 2995
vivo X50 Pro 2983
OnePlus Nord (60Hz) 2960
Google Pixel 4a 2275
Google Pixel 5 2267
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite 2248
OnePlus Nord N10 5G 2012
Samsung Galaxy A51 1554
Oppo Reno3 Pro 1551
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 1169
Samsung Galaxy A70 1061
Motorola One Zoom 1055
These days, pretty much all games are optimized to run on any smartphone. Although there are always other smartphones that can run mobile games better, the Nord N10 5G will run any game just fine.
The Snapdragon 690 is by no means an entry-level chipset. Daily performance was snappy and responsive enough, but performance is certainly not the phone's strong suit. Based on our experience with the N10 5G, the Snapdragon 690 feels like a 5G-enabled version of the Snapdragon 730G with the same balance between performance and battery endurance. Of course, 5G radios might drain the battery faster.
64MP main camera
Having a 64MP camera on a budget phone isn't unheard of these days. That large number is cute on spec sheets, but the execution of software, optics, and ISP (image signal processing) are all what contribute to image quality and the Nord N10 5G's seems to be well-equipped for any job. Sadly, none of these cameras are optically stabilized and only the main camera features autofocus.
The main camera is a 64MP shooter with an f/1.79 aperture lens that isn't optically stabilized, and it has 0.7µm pixels. The second camera is an 8MP ultra-wide shooter with a 119-degree field of view and f/2.25 aperture lens.
There's a 2MP macro camera and 2MP monochrome shooter, both with identical optics: they have f/2.4 aperture lenses and feature the same sensors with 1.75 µm pixels. The low-res monochrome sensor works in tandem with the main sensor to provide a higher-resolution monochrome shot. Its usefulness is questionable, but when you cover the monochrome sensor while in the monochrome mode, the camera app will ask you to unblock this camera - so at least something is happening.
The camera UI is identical to that of the higher-end OnePlus phones and it even includes Nightscape mode. There's a full resolution feature to shoot with in the camera's native 64MP resolution, Pro mode, Time lapse, panorama, timer, HEVC video, and you can scan something with Google Lens right from the Camera app.
Camera settings • Camera UI • Macro • Full-res • Monochrome • Video
Let's look at the image quality of these cameras. How well does OnePlus' cheapest 5G phone take photos?
Image quality
In daylight, the N10 5G's camera was mostly consistent, but it's more hit or miss to get a great shot. White balance might vary between shots from time to time while contrast was sometimes on point. Other times it was not enough.
Daylight camera samples
Daylight photos look quite good. The issue with dynamic range comes when shooting a shaded scene that has bright areas surrounding it. The image processing tries to compensate too much, and the shaded area no longer looks shaded, resulting in washed colors and low contrast. Colors may also become washed out as a result.
In ideal lighting, colors are vibrant and resolved details are quite good. Again, we do wish that the camera would occasionally let shadows be shadows to give the photos more depth. Sometimes, we notice a color smoothening that does a good enough job of balancing out the softness in the optics.
For fun, we added some images shot with the Pixel 4a for comparison.
Pixel 4a daylight samples
Seeing the Pixel 4a's photos side by side with the N10 5G's, we immediately notice that the overall tones in the N10's camera are quite cool, though this tends to be the case with many Chinese phones. As well, the Pixel's processing doesn't let highlights blow out while the N10 is guilty of this.
Photos are pixel-binned from the full resolution of the main camera and are saved as 16MP images. There's an easily accessible option to shoot in the camera's full 64MP resolution, however the camera app itself warns that the standard 16MP image will have superior dynamic range. Here are some full resolution 64MP images.
Full-resolution 64MP images
The full-resolution mode works well in brightly lit scenarios and it doesn't require a tripod. The downside to using this mode is if you're going to take photos to publish to social media, they're going to be compressed on the way up anyway. Most casual photo takers should stick to using the regular shooting mode, though we sometimes preferred the more natural-looking contrast that comes from the full-res shots.
The N10 5G doesn't have a dedicated zoom camera, but the camera has a 2X zoom preset, which crops from the main sensor.
2X zoom samples
How do they compare to Google's Super Res Zoom on the Pixel 4a?
Pixel 4a Super Res Zoom samples
Compared to Super Res Zoom, Google's processing here comes out on top. Although they both are close in exposure, Super Res maintains more details and its shots aren't as soft as the N10's. There's also less noise throughout the Pixel 4a's zoomed-in shots.
One more thing, since its cropping from the main camera, colors and tones on the N10 5G are consistent with 1X shots. The same can't be said, however, for the ultrawide camera.
Ultrawide samples
Well that's not entirely true. Colors and white balance do appear in line with the main camera's. The most obvious difference is dynamic range, which is a result of the smaller and lower-resolution sensor behind the 119-degree lens.
Details are not at the same caliber as they are on the main camera - for obvious reasons. As the camera struggles with dynamic range, there's more noise apparent throughout the image - mostly in the shadowed areas of a scene. For what it's worth, it could have been much worse. We'll come back to the ultrawide camera in the lowlight section. Let's take a look at some monochrome shots.
Monochrome
One of the two extra cameras on the N10 is a 2MP monochrome camera. This camera works in tandem with the main 64MP sensor to produce the monochrome shots in 16MP output files.
Monochrome samples
We wonder how this is different from shooting a color photo with the main camera, and then desaturating it... Well... We found out. We took an image in color and desaturated it, here it is next to the photo of the same scene captured in monochrome mode.
Monochrome mode shot • Desaturated color photo • Original shot in color
By using the monochrome camera, it uses the information to tell the main camera how to meter midtones and shadows, both of which are notably lower (and look more natural) when using the monochrome mode, resulting in higher contrast - a staple of any black and white photo. Resolved details and noise don't seem to differ between modes.
Macro samples
The phone can shoot macro samples. The camera app recommends a distance between 1 and 1.5 inches away from the subject. Shots are well exposed and as detailed as a 2MP camera can be.
Lowlight
The N10's main and ultrawide cameras can be used to shoot Nightscape photos. Even though the 2X zoom is cropped from the main camera, it's not possible to shoot nightscape photos in 2X zoom.
Lowlight samples
Nightscape samples
We noticed something interesting. Regular low light photos are shot in the camera's full frame, but the Nightscape photos were cropped in - likely to compensate for the lack of optical image stabilization. We must admit, these Nightscape photos look better than we anticipated. Despite the crop, Nightscape photos are still output in 16MP resolution.
Although there's a noticeable softening applied to the images, the exposure is nicely balanced and there's very low noise. Granted, that's for Nightscape. The camera doesn't do well at night without it - images are noisy, soft, and underexposed.
Let's see how the Pixel 4a did by comparison with Night Sight.
Pixel 4a lowlight
Pixel 4a Night Sight
Night Sight on the Pixel 4a barely made a difference in exposure over the regular shots. Night Sight did, however, tune the white balance (made it a bit warmer) and leveled out the highlights that clipped in the fountain shot.
Although with some noise, the Pixel 4a's Night Sight shots were sharper and more detailed, and with less noise overall.
Moving on, the ultrawide camera is not suitable for lowlight shooting. Nightscape can't save these photos.
Ultrawide lowlight
Ultrawide Nightscape
Portrait photos look okay, though the bokeh does do better in outdoor lighting. The frame doesn't crop when switching to portrait mode and there's no way to switch to a tighter crop.
Portrait samples
Selifes
This phone has a 16MP front facing camera that's capable of shooting up to 1080p video at 30 fps.
Selfies
The selfie camera was not great at metering exposure in bright light, but the shots it got were okay. The issue from the main camera was that some shots don't have enough contrast, but that issue was far more apparent with this selfie camera. To be fair, reviewer Ricky was wearing a dark shirt, which could have affected the camera's exposure metering.
Selfie portraits
To be fair, the Pixel struggled with selfie portraits too, and the same selfie scene was overexposed because of the dark shirt.
Pixel 4a portrait selfies
Video
The OnePlus Nord N10 5G can shoot video up to 4K resolution at 30fps, or 1080p at 60fps. The camera purely relies on electronic stabilization for all video modes - except for 60fps video and 2X zoom video, which are not stabilized.
The ultrawide camera is limited to 1080p video at 30 fps, and the 4K 30 mode doesn't work with a 2X crop zoom. All of that said, let's look at some samples.
Video exposure metering is, again, too bright. At the same time, you can see the dynamic range of the 4K recording isn't stellar. The shadows are still pretty dark, considering how bright the overall image is. Details are okay and noise is surprisingly low. Meanwhile, colors are still very cool when the sun is on its way down and giving off warm light.
Full HD video was not bad. Details had less noise over them and the dynamic range was slightly better this time around. Noise is low and colors are still fairly cool.
The ultrawide camera sees a noticeable drop in sharpness and detail. Colors are not as vibrant as they are with the main camera and there's noticeable noise and near-blurry softness.
At 2X zoom, Full HD video was better than we expected. There was some noticeable shuddering from lack of physical stabilization, but zoomed footage was not half bad. In a pinch, the footage is still usable if there's an ample amount of light.
Higher frame rate video shows noticeably more noise throughout the textures in the video, though the sky did remain noise-free.
The electronic stabilization is not amazing, but it's not terrible. Full HD video did stabilize a little better, but both videos were still shaky at best.
Competition
The OnePlus Nord is superior to the N10 5G in every possible way, though it does sit one price bracket above the N10. We get that price could be a dealbreaker for many, but in any case, you won't find the Nord in the US. The N10 5G is coming to the US and Europe, the latter of which might already have a similar Oppo or Realme counterpart available.
The truth is, if your budget doesn't allow for the Nord and you're really set on 5G, you should really consider a 4G phone, because cheap phones with 5G need to cut costs somewhere else to pay the higher premium for a 5G chipset.
The Google Pixel 4a has proven to be an excellent value and all-around smartphone package. The phone itself is much smaller, but the performance and software are well-polished. Although there's no ultra-wide camera, the single-sensor setup on the Pixel 4a is simpler and takes more consistent photos with better details and more vibrant colors.
Samsung's budget 5G phone is the Galaxy A51 5G and if you ask us, this might be the device that influenced inspired the look of the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. With the exception of fast-charging, the Galaxy A51 seems to do better with display (Super AMOLED with in-display fingerprint), performance (Exynos 980 is comparable to the Snapdragon 765G), and matches the 128GB of storage of expandable storage and 6GB of RAM.
OnePlus Nord • Google Pixel 4a • Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
The verdict
The closest device from a OnePlus sister brand is perhaps the Realme X7 Pro. Although it's powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, it features the same camera main camera setup on paper. Although, the Realme X7 Pro does have a larger battery, AMOLED screen with higher 120Hz refresh rate, and slightly larger 4500 mAh battery.
The thing is, there's plenty of competition for the N10 5G in the European market from its own sister brands Oppo and Realme, so it doesn't make too much sense as to why it's launching there. The US, however, is a prime market for OnePlus to flourish. It's the only Chinese smartphone brand that's actually got a presence inside US Carrier stores and adding the new Nord variants might boost its market share if OnePlus can strike deals with prepaid carriers like Metro by T-Mobile or Yahoo! Mobile (owned by Verizon).
If it weren't for Oxygen OS, the Nord N10 5G wouldn't be recognizable as a OnePlus phone. It feels more like an Oppo or Realme device that's (traditionally) intended to receive a few tweaks before it would be branded as a OnePlus phone. So in other words, the Nord N10 5G feels like a OnePlus phone that hasn't been fully realized. There's something missing from the soul and vision of this phone to be a OnePlus device. On another note, literally every OnePlus smartphone before the Nord N10 5G has had the physical alert switch, and we're heartbroken that it's not here.
The soul of this phone is missing something that's present in a OnePlus device. Perhaps if the device had an OLED display, or perhaps if the alert slider was there, or maybe if there was some stand-out feature (like the alert slider), it would be more in line with the OnePlus philosophy: to "Never Settle". If it wasn't for the logo and OnePlus branding, the N10 5G would be just another slab in a crowd of slabs.
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