OnePlus just announced a budget phone with 2 rare features

May 01, 2023

OnePlus has introduced a new budget-priced phone for the U.S. market that includes some compelling hardware — and a couple of rare conveniences. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G will set you back by $300 and is already up for preorders in the U.S., with a free pair of earbuds in tow.

Starting with the standout tricks, this phone comes with a microSD slot for storage expansion. It supports cards with up to 1TB storage capacity, which should be plenty if you are into capturing a lot of videos and high-resolution videos. Just keep in mind that microSD cards of 1TB capacity from reputed brands could cost as much as the phone itself.

Another notable perk is the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack on the OnePlus Nord N30 5G. You don't have to fork out extra cash on a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter or splurge on a Bluetooth audio wearable. However, there is more to this OnePlus phone than meets the eye, as some of its hardware perks defy its asking price by a huge margin.

You are greeted by a 6.7-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) display with a 120Hz refresh rate. For comparison, Apple will charge you $800 for the iPhone 14 Plus, but it still keeps you limited to a slow 60Hz LCD screen. And there is no ugly notch to be seen here, as the selfie camera is neatly housed inside a dot-shaped cutout at the top.

Qualcomm's octa-core Snapdragon 695 chipset powers this phone, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The battery capacity is also fairly generous at 5,000 mAh. Plus, you get support for 50-watt fast charging. OnePlus ships the fast charger in the retail package, just in case you’re irked by the bad precedent set by the thousand-dollar phones from Apple and Samsung.

The surprises continue all the way into the imaging department. You get a massive 108-megapixel camera at the back, assisted by a 2-megapixel depth camera and another 2-megapixel sensor for macro photography. Selfies and video call duties are shouldered by a 16-megapixel front camera that supports night mode photography, too.

There are a couple of stereo speakers to handle audio output, while authentication is performed by a fingerprint scanner embedded inside the power button on the side. It's just a shame that the U.S. market is only getting the gray color option and not the peppy lime green trim.

Overall, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G looks like an unbeatable value phone, especially given the feature-rich Android 13-based Oxygen OS software experience.