Gift guide: OnePlus Nord is a brilliant budget mobile and perfect Christmas gift

The handset has a covetable camera and is 5G ready

Gift guide: OnePlus Nord is a brilliant budget mobile that is a perfect Christmas gift
(Image credit: OnePlus)

Mobile phones make a popular Christmas gift – particularly among teenagers - but the latest handsets can be incredibly expensive. 

The OnePlus Nord looks a little like Samsung or Apple’s hero handsets but costs a fraction of the price. It also has some nice features, including a great main camera with plenty of tricks, including a nightscape mode and dual selfie cameras.

Just like the big companies’ offerings, the OnePlus Nord also comes in different colours and would be a pleasing package for teens and adults to relieve under the tree this year.

Who's it for?

Teenagers and university students: The price point of the OnePlus Nord makes it considerably cheaper than Apple or Samsung’s equivalent handsets. If you know someone who puts their phone through a lot, this one may be a good option.

Those who like to be different: Most people pick between iOS and Android, but the One Plus Nord has its own operating system that incorporates elements of Google’s. This might be some users’ nightmare, but could be a real draw to those who like to be different, or simply don’t mind which operating system they use.

Selfie addicts: The big selling point of the handset is its array of cameras and there are dual cameras for taking selfies. The ultra-wide angle on its front camera that lets users take big group shots, which should come in handy once the pandemic has passed!

OnePlus Nord 100

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Age range:

There's no official age range for the OnePlus Nord. While the price point makes it a good option for children and teenagers, the operating system may prove unfamiliar and therefore more difficult, so this is probably a handset for older teens and adults.

What makes it the ideal Christmas gift?

Sharp display: The OnePlus Nord has a large, clear screen capable of showing high definition content. The 90 Hx display also makes scrolling smoother, which makes a big difference when it comes to user experience.

Unique operating system: The handset comes with OnePlus Nord’s OxygenOS 10.5, complete with Google's communications apps – messages for example – as well as its own USPs – dark theme, gesture navigations and Zen Mode.

Great camera options: The OnePlus Nord handset has four rear cameras and two front cameras for dual selfie mode. The handset also comes with an ultra-wide angle on its front camera so big groups can be more easily squeezed into shots. There’s a 48MP primary sensor and optical image stabilization (OIS) for the main camera to eliminate blur and shakiness, while ‘Nightscape’ is designed to help people take better pictures after dark. The mode takes up to nine pictures at varying exposures and stitches them to produce clearer, brighter, and more dramatic photos in low light.

Buy the OnePlus Nord here:

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Sarah Griffiths

A journalist with 10 years experience, Sarah specialises in Science and Technology, writing for the BBC, national papers and consumer magazines, including T3, of course. Sarah has reviewed a range of products for T3, from children’s electric toothbrushes to water bottles and photo printing services. There's nothing she can't become an expert in!