OnePlus Nord CE6 hands-on review

Introduction

The OnePlus Nord CE6 is the lesser sibling of the recently launched Nord 6. It targets a lower price bracket than the Nord 6 with some cutbacks that are perhaps one too many.

The Nord CE6 has the same basic design, build quality, and display as the Nord 6. It does, however, get a Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset, one fewer cameras on the back, a smaller (but still quite large) 8,000mAh battery, as well as trimmed down memory and storage configurations. Also, that display only goes up to 144Hz now instead of 165Hz, but you are not going to notice that.

OnePlus Nord CE6 specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.5x77.5x8.5mm, 215g; plastic frame and back; IP68/IP69K dust tight and water resistant, MIL-STD-810H compliant.
• Display: 6.78" AMOLED, 144Hz, 3840Hz PWM, HDR, 800 nits (typ), 1800 nits (HBM), 3600 nits (peak), 1272x2772px resolution, 19.61:9 aspect ratio, 450ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM7635-AC Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 (4 nm).
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1; non-expandable storage.
• OS/Software: Android 16.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2.88", 0.61µm, PDAF, OIS; Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2.88", 0.61µm, PDAF, OIS.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.0, 21mm (wide), 1/3.1", 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 8000mAh; 80W wired, 55W PPS, 13.5W PD, 27W reverse wired, Bypass charging.
• Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.2, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, LHDC 5; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

The result is a device that is a curious and rather controversial conglomeration, with on-paper specs that often seem worse than even its own predecessors. Can a big battery and sturdy build really make up for that? Let's find out.

Unboxing

The Nord CE6 maintains the standard set by other OnePlus packaging. You get the phone, along with an 80W fast charger, a cable, and a color-matched case.

Once again, one can't help but wish the cables were also color-matched, at least to the blue Nord branding, but apart from that, there isn't anything to complain about here.