The Nord N20 Is OnePlus' Budget Offering For 2022

For 2022, OnePlus has announced the Nord N20 5G as its budget offering for the US and Canadian markets, free when you add a line or $282. Android Police reports: Compared to the previous models, this year's phone sure seems to be a mid-range device rather than a budget one. The phone features a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with an in-display fingerprint scanner, a Snapdragon 695 chip, 6GB RAM, and 128GB storage. There's a microSD card slot, too, so you can expand the storage by up to 512GB if needed. A 4,500mAh battery powers the device, coming with 33W fast charging support that's enough to top up the cell to 50% in just 30 minutes. The phone's rear houses a triple-camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro, and a monochrome lens -- there's no ultra-wide sensor here.

Judging from the specs, it is clear that the Nord N20 is a sister variant of the Nord CE 2 Lite with some minor downgrades. The latter is due to launch in India later this month. The Nord N20 runs the Android 11-based OxygenOS 11 and not Android 12. There's no word on when an update to Android 12 will arrive, either. Previous Nord phones in the US received only one OS update, so it is possible Android 12 could be the first and last OS update for the N20.

Random phone advert?

[Ecuador]

Is this a random phone advert? There are dozens of midrange phones released every year by various mostly Chinese manufacturers, are we gonna have a story for every one of them? Or is there anything special about this one - nothing that I can see...

Re:

[youngone]

There was a time when the new Oneplus phone was something interesting, usually because of what you got for the price you paid, but now no, they're just another Android phone seller.

Re:

[BeauHD]

It ships with an Android OS that's two years old... That's pretty special if you ask me.

Free

[enriquevagu]

For only $282 you get it completely free.

Re:

[Stormwatch]

Demand bigger pockets from the clothing industry.

OnePlus? Less one.

[Szeraax]

After all the issues with OnePlus and data privacy, I can't bring myself to even consider buying one of their phones. Stay away, imo.

Re:

[Errol backfiring]

The main "plus" of OnePlus devices is that they are easy to unlock. That is the main feature I look for in a phone. And the fact that it is supported by the OS I want to install on it.

A budget offering is a ... 2nd hand phone

[bb_matt]

So, this is somewhat of an advert, but I'll bite.

My Samsung s9 is now considered "ancient", so "last decade" - 2018 - 4 years old! - it's redundant, right?

Well, a quick comparison of the specs, shows the s9 to be far more capable in almost every single area.

You can snag a near perfect condition one 2nd hand, for as little as $100.

"Oh, but it can't run Android 12.x !"

And? So what.

"It's not 5G!"

Again, so what.

We're now firmly in the territory of having reached "peak phone", where the latest offerings, unless they are the premium flagship eyewateringly expensive ones, are no better than they were 5 years back. It's all down to marketing now - and what bigger marketing offer these days, than "5G!" - despite the fact that 5G has some way to go to reach the coverage of 4G - and despite the fact that 4G is actually good enough for 99% of users.

So, yeah, I'll just keep my "ancient" galaxy s9 trucking along for a few more years yet, as there's simply no reason to upgrade.

If you want a budget phone, just buy second hand and get a far better phone for far less.

Re:

[dasunt]

I'm repairing an old budget phone of mine after looking to buy a new budget phone. Why? Because the old phone has IPx7 water resistance and no OIS. It's not technically a "rugged" phone, but I can throw it in a pack or on a motorcycle handlebar mount and it'll survive, even if I'm caught in the rain. It also runs Android One, which is nice. I looked at replacing it when the screen broke, and I couldn't find any budget phones with the same features.