OnePlus has been trying to corner that low-end, budget market over the past year with their Nord series. It wasn’t too long ago they gave us the N10 5G and N100 and now they are adding another one to the lineup. The Nord N200 5G looks to replace the N100 with updated specs and adding 5G that was missing from that device. But is 5G worth the upgrade?
Style
When I was reviewing the 9 and 9 Pro, I went on about how they seem to do away w/ the two-tone reflect style but looks like it has once again appeared on the N200 5G. Here we have a colorway OnePlus calls Blue Quantum. It has that two-tone style I grew to love on their Series 7 and 8 phones. Depending on the angles you will get hues of blue and even I feel white at times as well. The back and frame are comprised of plastic while the front utilizes Gorilla Glass 3.
I’ll say right away this phone can take a hit as I accidently dropped it out my pocket giving it about a four-foot drop onto a sewer grate. No damage to the front or back but just a dent on the right side.
From what we see with the Nord series besides the power buttons and volume controls you do get a headphone jack. But there is no Alert slider from the flagships I have grown used to. Also, there is just one speaker which is at the bottom next to the Type-C USB port. Its loud but nothing crazy I mostly used the phone with Sony earbuds anyway.
OnePlus Nord N200 5G comes with a wall charger and USB-C cable.
Display / Performance
Under the hood of the Nord N200 5G you are getting 4GB RAM, 64GB storage (supports microSD expansion), Adreno GPU 619 and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 480 5G chipset which was designed for low-end devices. I used this phone as my main for a few days and it can handle some tasks but will stutter a bit when multiple apps are open. . Using apps such as YouTube worked fine as usual but apps like UberEATS would crash. I played some games such as Candy Crush Soda Friends and of course Fortnite. They would run okay but once action picked up in Fortnite or I eliminated tons of candy in Soda it would slow up.
This phone does incorporate a 5,000mAh battery but no support for Warp Charging. The included charger will get you juicing at 18W. With that large of a battery I didn’t find myself running to charge up the N200 all the time. I’d get little close to over 5hr OST and sometimes wouldn’t charge it for over a day.
This model of the OnePlus Nord N200 5G was provided by OnePlus and is the Unlocked version. I have used it with US Mobile with their Super LTE Network (giving you Verizon-esque coverage) but mainly used it with my own carrier T-Mobile. Coverage hasn’t been bad on both and I got download speeds of about 120mbps on US Mobile and hit a bit over 240mbps on TMO.
Display wise like the N10 5G, here you are also getting a 6.49” 90Hz IPS LCD Display at 1080p. It doesn’t look bad for a screen at this price point. It’s not eyes catching vibrant but should be sufficient for daily use. Also, the fact it has a 90Hz screen makes scrolling and transitioning smoother than most phones in its tier.
While the N10 5G had a finicky circular fingerprint sensor on the back, OnePlus puts a fingerprint sensor on the side this time reminding me of devices I have used such as the Galaxy S10e and recently Galaxy Z Fold 2. Sensor isn’t as bad on the N200 as it was on the N10 thankfully. It does still sometimes require a couple of taps though to get it right.
OxygenOS
Even though this is an entry-level phone, OnePlus does manage to have Android 11. As per the usual with Oxygen OS it runs good even on this device. Everything from gestures, icon packs, support for parallel apps, you name it. Let’s just hope OnePlus continues to patch this device with security updates and OS updates in general as of now its slated it will only get (1) major OS update.
Cameras
The Nord N200 has a nice-looking triple camera bump on the back and I don’t consider it much an eyesore. These three lenses are 13MP Main, 2MP Macro and 2MP Monochrome. The front is of course a 16MP lenses.
These maybe some of the more disappointing camera lenses I seen on a OnePlus phone. Yes, it is a Nord model, but it pales in comparison even to the Nord N10. Launching the camera and taking the pictures are slow and at times just looks grainy. Get into darker areas and it’s a blur literally. Hopefully there will be some updates down the line to sharpen these things up.
Verdict
With a price tag of $239.99($216 on T-Mobile), it makes the N200 5G one of the cheapest and accessible ways to 5G connectivity. Its performance is a mixed bag with some apps running fine and others lagging and if gaming gets intensive will slow up. It does have a solid build that reminds of their older flagships. Cameras are disappointing and wish they utilized some of the magic in their Nord N10. While $60 maybe a difference for some, IF you can and would like to experience a bit more of OnePlus, I’d suggest the Nord N10 5G which is $299.99.
