New budget Android phone beats Samsung on design, | Tech News

If you’re within the market for a new smartphone, the excellent news is in 2025 you don’t should spend the earth to get a very strong machine. Although there are telephones on the market that value £1,000 or more, you’ll be able to simply spend much less than a third of that and get a smartphone that does completely all the pieces you need.

The world of Android offers essentially the most alternative with regards to price, and Samsung is a main identify. Phones like its just lately launched Galaxy A26 are go-to choices if you wish to spend much less given its £299 RRP, however a new phone simply introduced from firm rival OnePlus may give the A26 a run for its money.

Also listed for £299 – however at the moment £249 as half of a launch price-cut offer – is the new OnePlus Nord CE 5, a budget phone that’s full of specs that you just may not count on for the price.

The phone has a 6.77-inch OLED show with a zippy 120Hz refresh price, paired with a MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset and 8GB RAM. On paper, that’s fairly highly effective, which means the OnePlus may higher serve avid gamers on a budget.

OnePlus’s Gaming HDR and Ultra HDR modes additionally promise “a more realistic, immersive visual experience across entertainment and gameplay.”

The Nord CE 5 is powered by a 5,200mAh battery, a sliver more juice due to this fact than the 5,000mAh cell within the Galaxy phone. OnePlus additionally provides up to 80W wired charging speeds, wiping the ground with Samsung’s sluggish 25W on the A26.

OnePlus additionally provides you software program instruments corresponding to Battery Health Engine and Bypass Charging that help to delay the general life of the battery inside.

If it’s cameras you’re excited by, the OnePlus Nord CE 5 has you lined with a 50MP Sony LYT-600 foremost digital camera sensor that borrows “the flagship-level RAW HDR algorithm from the OnePlus 13”, in line with the firm, which ought to help with image high quality and readability.

Around the entrance, the CE 5’s selfie digital camera is a 16MP shooter, one-upping the 13MP front-facing digital camera on the Galaxy A26. OnePlus’s phone additionally has a more trendy design with its digital camera cut-out a totally spherical circle. Samsung’s A26 as a substitute opts for a waterdrop design, which continues to be completely purposeful, however harks back to an older period of phone design.

Both telephones additionally come stuffed to the gills with the 2 corporations’ respective artificial intelligence (AI) options, however at this price, don’t count on an excessive amount of.

One space OnePlus is overwhelmed by Samsung right here is with software program updates. Though the Nord CE 5 will get a respectable 4 years of Android OS updates and 6 years of security updates, the Galaxy A26 guarantees six years of every. If you need to spend as little as attainable on an Android phone however get the longest help, that’s wonderful longevity.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5 is on sale now from OnePlus on the introductory price of £249. At the time of writing, this additionally comes with two free items of a fast charging brick (there isn’t one within the box) value £39.99 and a pair of Nord Buds 3 Pro value £79.