This will take place next Friday, January 15, with a pre-order start scheduled for this Friday, January 8. In addition to the official regional OnePlus e-store, the 5G-enabled Nord N10 and 4G LTE-only Nord N100 will also be available at Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H Photo Video from day one, which almost makes this unusually long wait worth it.
Even better, both T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile will pick up the two budget-friendly handsets as well, marking a first as far as US prepaid availability is concerned for OnePlus smartphones.
How low can a 5G smartphone (with a 90Hz screen) go?
Just as expected right off the bat, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is one of the most affordable 5G-capable phones stateside, fetching $299.99 unlocked and as little as... $0 on T-Mobile with a new line of service and a device payment plan. That undercuts everything from the $500 Samsung Galaxy A51 5G and Google Pixel 4a 5G to the $400 T-Mobile Revvl 5G and Verizon-exclusive TCL 10 5G UW.
Of course, this thing is unlikely to (ever) support Big Red's blazing fast 5G Ultra Wideband network, "settling" for tapping into AT&T and T-Mobile's slower but much easier to access low and mid-band 5G spectrum. With a Snapdragon 690 processor under the hood, the Nord N10 is also not quite as powerful as the four aforementioned 5G mid-rangers, all of which come packing a Snapdragon 765 SoC.
Otherwise, it's hard to argue with the (theoretical) quality/price ratio of a $300 device pairing a generous 128 gigs of internal storage space with 6 gigs of memory while sporting a smooth 90Hz IPS LCD panel measuring 6.49 inches in diagonal and packing a hefty 4,300mAh battery equipped with 30W fast charging technology.
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Obviously, the quad rear-facing camera system is no pushover either, combining a 64MP main shooter with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, 2MP depth sensor, and 2MP macro snapper, and on top on everything, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G also comes with both a headphone jack and microSD card slot.
No 5G? No problem!
At only $179.99 (both unlocked and on T-Mobile), it goes without saying that the OnePlus Nord N100 needs to cut a whole lot of corners, essentially downgrading almost everything that makes the Nord N10 so great. In addition to 5G speeds, you'll have to give up 2 gigs of memory and 64 gigs of local digital hoarding room, as well as one rear-facing shooter, to save $120.
Perhaps more importantly, the primary camera on the back of the Nord N100 comes equipped with a modest 13MP count, while the 6.52-inch display is demoted from the FHD+ resolution of the N10 to 1600 x 720 pixels.
Incredibly enough, you still seem to get a 90Hz refresh rate option (even though OnePlus is bizarrely not advertising this as a key selling point), while the battery capacity is actually upgraded to a whopping 5,000mAh.
The OnePlus Nord N100 also looks pretty swanky on the outside (for a sub-$200 handset), mimicking its brother's trendy hole punch and razor-thin screen bezels. All in all, this feels like an amazing alternative to the likes of Motorola's Moto G Fast or Samsung's Galaxy A21, even though its Snapdragon 460 processor doesn't exactly strike us as a screamer.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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