OnePlus Nord CE 6 Review: Reliable performer with Qualcomm silicon, decent camera

Last week, OnePlus unveiled the new line of Android-powered Nord CE 6 series in India.

It comes in two configurations-- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 29,999 and Rs 32,999, respectively.

Design, build quality and display

The Nord CE6 borrows the design elements of the premium OnePlus 15 series.

It features a flat frame around the display and comes with a curved square-shaped dual-camera module with an LED flash in the top left corner.The rest of the back panel is plain with just the OnePlus logo in the middle.

Besides pitch-black colour, the OnePlus Nord CE6 is available in two colours —fresh blue and lunar pearl.

OnePlus Nord CE6.

One of the big improvements over the predecessor is the build quality. It comes with an IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K rating, meaning it can survive a dip in the swimming pool for close to 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for up to 30 minutes. Also, it can withstand high-temperature, high-pressure water jets for a few seconds.

It has passed MIL-STD-810H military-grade certification and is capable of working in extreme temperatures.

Furthermore, the display is protected by Crystal Guard Glass, which safeguards it from scratches when the phone is kept in the close confines of a pocket with coins and keys. It is said to be on par with Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus+ shield we see in other phones.

OnePlus Nord CE6.

And, the company offers a free cover case with the retail box of the device.

On the front, it sports a 6.78-inch 1.5K full HD+ (2772x1272p) AMOLED-based display with 144Hz refresh rate, which ensures smooth scrolling on social media apps and offers an enhanced gaming experience.

OnePlus Nord CE6.

It comes with a pixel density of 450 ppi (pixels per inch) and has a screen-to-body ratio of 89.3 per cent. The bezels around the display are uniform and thin, really good for multimedia consumption for extended sessions.

OnePlus Nord CE 6.

It also features dual-SIM slots (type: nano), an infrared sensor, a Type-C USB port, stereo speakers and an in-display optical fingerprint sensor. The latter works smoothly with a lower false rejection rate.

Performance

Under the hood, it houses a 4nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 octa-core processor, Adreno 810 GPU, Android 16-based OxygenOS 16, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 storage.

The company has incorporated a dedicated Touch Reflex Chip, a 6-Axis Gyro and an X-Axis Motor. All three work together to offer a 3200Hz instant touch sampling rate, controlled precision while aiming targets and realistic haptic feedback to deliver an immersive gaming experience while playing battle royale genre titles such as BGMI.

OnePlus Nord CE6's CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0 app.

For efficient heat dissipation, the phone comes with 5000mm2 vapor chamber. In total, it has 33,147mm2 cooling area with a graphite layer. This ensures the device doesn't overheat while playing graphics-rich games for an extended time indoors.

However, when outdoors during summer, the device, while recording high-resolution videos, does get warmed up, but not overwhelmingly enough to complain about it.

OnePlus Nord CE6.

With a massive 8,000mAh battery capacity, it can easily last one and a half days under normal usage. With a full charge, it can support video streaming on YouTube for more than 25 hours on a stretch.

It comes with 80W SuperVOOC fast wired charging capability. It can go from zero to 100 per cent in under an hour. It also supports 27W reverse charging capability.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

Photography

The Nord CE6 also boasts a dual-camera module-- a main 50MP rear camera (with 1/2.88-inch OmniVision OV50D40 CMOS sensor, f/1.8 aperture, 0.61 um pixel size, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) and a 2MP (f/2.4, 1.75 um pixel size) monochrome camera with LED flash on the back.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

The device takes pretty good pictures in daylight conditions. At night, the picture quality is decent with less noise.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

It supports digital zoom up to 10X. However, the images lose sharpness beyond the 5X zoom.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample with 1X zoom.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample with 2X zoom.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample with 5X zoom.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample with 10X zoom.

At close range too, it does a fine job of capturing the minute details and near-accurate colours.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

It supports several native gen AI photography tools, including AI Perfect Shot, AI Eraser, AI Reflection Eraser, AI Unblur, Text Scanner and more.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 32MP camera (with a 1/3.1-inch Galaxycore GC32E2 sensor, f/2.0). It captures pretty nice selfies in a natural sunlight environment.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

Both the primary and selfie camera take pretty nice portrait pictures. They do a fine job with edge detection. Be it the furry pet or human face, they capture sharp images and blur the background to give a nice bokeh effect.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

Also, the device supports filters and tools to beautify the skin tone of the face and make it a bit more photogenic.

OnePlus Nord CE6's camera sample.

Both the front and the back cameras can record stable 4K videos at 30 fps (frames per second).

OnePlus Nord CE6.

Final thoughts

OnePlus Nord CE6 is a well-packaged phone. It comes with premium build quality, a very big battery, a reliable Qualcomm chipset for smooth performance, and its dual-camera manages to capture decent quality photos.

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