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OnePlus Nord CE 5G Battery test: Very efficient

This device has been retested in the latest version of our protocol. Overall, sub-scores and attributes are up to date. For detailed information, check the What’s New article
OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

Released in June 2021, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G lands in our Advanced ($200-$399) smartphone segment. Among other attractive features, it sports a multi-camera setup with a 64 MP main camera. Let’s take a look at how it performed in our comprehensive array of battery tests.

Key specifications:

  • Battery capacity: 4500 mAh
  • 30W charger
  • 6.43-inch, 1080 x 2400, 90 Hz AMOLED display
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G (5 nm) chipset
  • Tested RAM / storage combination: 8 GB + 128 GB

About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.)

Test summary

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.


OnePlus Nord CE 5G
136
battery
141
Autonomy
147

221

132

195

134

198

124
Charging
115

224

133

212

132

205

160

194

Key performances

Charging Time
2 days 16h
Battery life
Charging Time
0h42
80% Charging time
Charging Time
1h01
Full charging time
Quick Boost
4h51 autonomy
after 5-minute charge
Please be aware that beyond this point, we have not modified the initial test results. While data and products remain fully comparable, you might encounter mentions and references to the previous scores.

Pros

  • Best efficiency in its segment and among the best overall
  • Very good charging experience for its price point
  • Decent autonomy in Typical Usage Scenario testing

Cons

  • Weak performance in mobility
  • Poor performance for both gaming and calling in calibrated testing

Thanks to its truly impressive efficiency, a good charging experience, and reasonably good autonomy results, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G moves into the No. 2 position alongside the Vivo Y72 5G in our DXOMARK Battery protocol ranking.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

Oppo A94 5G

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro

Battery capacity (mAh)

4500

4310

5020

Charger

30W

30W

33W

Display type

OLED

OLED

OLED

Display resolution

1080 x 2400

1080 x 2400

1080 x 2400

Chipset

Snapdragon 750G 5G

Dimensity 800U

Snapdragon 732G

Autonomy (76)

How long a battery charge lasts depends not only on battery capacity, but also other aspects of the phone’s hardware and software. The DXOMARK Battery autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: (1) Stationary, (2) On the go, and (3) Calibrated use cases. Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios.

Light Usage
90h
Light Usage
Active: 2h30/day
Moderate Usage
64h
Moderate Usage
Active: 4h/day
Intense Usage
40h
Intense Usage
Active: 7h/day

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G achieves decent autonomy results in our lab tests.

Stationary

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

83

104

Vivo Y72 5G
Best: Vivo Y72 5G (104)

A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power. 

Our engineers measured 68 hours for the OnePlus Nord CE 5G in our TUS, which is an average result, outshining the Oppo A94 5G by 6 hours but falling behind the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro by 2.5 hours.

Typical Usage Scenario discharge curves

On the go

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

68

96

Samsung Galaxy M51
Best: Samsung Galaxy M51 (96)

Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outside and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary for each device.

None of the three devices fared very well in our on the go tests, with all of them putting in particularly poor performances for calling and navigation. One bright spot for the Nord CE 5G is its results when using its camera, where it does better than average.

Autonomy for on the go use cases (full charge)

Calibrated

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

71

100

Samsung Galaxy M51
Best: Samsung Galaxy M51 (100)

For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G had mixed results in our calibrated tests, with better than average results for multimedia use cases (video streaming / playback) and audio, but underperforming in gaming and calling. Nevertheless, it obtained the highest score among the three devices in this review — 5 points more than the Oppo A94 5G (66) and 3 more the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (68).

Autonomy for calibrated use cases (full charge)

Charging (83)

The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, Full charge and Quick boost. Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long it takes to charge a battery from 0% to 80% capacity and from 80% to 100%; and measure how long and how much power the battery takes to go from an indicated 100% to an actual full charge. With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. 

Wired
Wired
58%
in 30 min
0h42
0 - 80%
1h01
Full charge
Power consumption and battery level during full charge

For its price point, the OnePlus Nord CE achieves impressive results for charging, on par with the Oppo A94 5G (83) and 6 points higher than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (77).

Full charge

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

79

121

Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (121)

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G and the Oppo A94 5G share a very similar charging profile (plateauing for 15 minutes at around 30W, with most of the remaining charge occurring at 25W). This similar profile also results in close charging times and scores, with the Oppo ahead of the OnePlus by a few minutes (and thus by two points) because of the former’s smaller battery capacity. The Redmi Note 10 Pro comes in below the other two devices.

Time to full charge

Quick boost

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

83

111

Realme GT Neo 3
Best: Realme GT Neo 3 (111)

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G puts in a very good performance for its price range, thanks to a fast charge and very good efficiency that results in a boost of around 5 hours of autonomy for a five-minute charge with a remaining charge of 50% or lower. This is 30 minutes more than the Oppo A94 5G and between 30 minutes and an hour more than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Oppo A94 5G Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
Autonomy boost (hh:mm) 20%5:01 4:33 4:37
40%5:00 4:29 4:04
60%4:17 3:53 4:04
80%2:30 2:20 2:59
Percentage boost 20%10.6 %11.4 %9.4 %
40%10.6 %11.3 %8.3 %
60%9.1 %9.8 %8.3 %
80%5.3 %5.9 %6.1 %
Energy consumed 20%2361 mWh2501 mWh2504 mWh
40%2357 mWh2464 mWh2201 mWh
60%2021 mWh2135 mWh2201 mWh
80%1177 mWh1284 mWh1618 mWh

Efficiency (89)

Our Efficiency score comprises two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge. Charge up is the efficiency of a full charge (how much energy is drained from the wall outlet vs the energy capacity of the battery, as well as the efficiency of the charger and its residual consumption). Discharge is how much current the smartphone drains from the battery when in use (the ratio of battery capacity to autonomy). Better autonomy with a smaller battery means better efficiency.

Charge up

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

75

105

Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
Best: Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro (105)

Thanks to its great efficiency, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G posts 5 points over the Oppo A94 5G and 10 points over the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro.

Discharge

OnePlus Nord CE 5G

104

121

Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Best: Apple iPhone 13 Pro (121)

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is one of the best devices we have measured for discharge efficiency so far. Though its discharge rate for calling and gaming is only average, it is particularly efficient in our video use case tests and in our daytime TUS tests.

Conclusion

While it does not have the best autonomy or the best charging performance in our database, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G strikes a good balance between autonomy and charging, and outshines nearly all others in terms of efficiency.

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