The OnePlus 10R and Nord CE 2 Lite bring performance and style to budget-conscious buyers

As exciting (and flawed) as the OnePlus 10 Pro is, high-end flagships aren’t always the top selling models in a company’s lineup. That honor normally goes to cheaper mid-range or budget devices (like the success Samsung sees with its A-series phones). OnePlus may have started with “flagship killers,” but has been increasingly targeting these more affordable segments. Today we’re seeing its latest two such models go official after weeks of speculation and teasers: the OnePlus 10R and the Nord CE 2 Lite. And as if that weren’t enough, we’re also getting the OnePlus Nord Buds, a new budget-focused audio accessory that extends the Nord brand beyond smartphones.

OnePlus 10R

Let’s start with the OnePlus 10R, the more exciting of the two phones debuting today. Despite the “10” in its name, this phone has less to do with the OnePlus 10 Pro, and is more an international rebranding of what launched as the OnePlus Ace in China — which, in turn, takes a lot of its DNA from the Realme GT Neo 3.

That means this model’s powered by a Dimensity 8100 MAX chipset, which OnePlus says was specially optimized for this handset with MediaTek engineers. As we did with the Ace, we’re hearing claims of improvements in CPU and GPU performance, power efficiency, and enhanced device AI, but we’ll have to see for ourselves if it really delivers on the hype. OnePlus equips the phone with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

For gamers interested in pushing this hardware to its limits, the 10R features a larger graphite/graphene vapor cooling area for improved heat dissipation — supposedly resulting in 60% better performance than a regular graphite cooling chamber. There’s also new Frame Plus interpolation that intelligently insert frames in supported games to achieve some silky smooth performance.

Maybe the real show-stealer, though, is what OnePlus is doing with power — and charging in particular. The OP10R supports ultra-fast 150W charging — the company promises you can put a whole day’s charge into the phone’s 4,500 mAh battery in just 10 minutes. That’s a notable improvement over even the OnePlus 10 Pro, which only supports up to 80W (a mere 65W in the US). If you’d rather have a bigger 5,000 mAh battery, but slightly slower 80W charging, that’s also available as an option when you purchase your phone.

For imaging, we’re getting a triple rear camera setup, with a primary Sony IMX766 50MP sensor, helped by an 8MP 120-degree ultrawide, and a 2MP macro lens. OnePlus uses a 120Hz 1080p AMOLED panel for the display, supporting HDR10+ and 10-bit color.

The OnePlus 10R will be available in two different colorways — Forest Green and Sierra Black.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite

The newest member of the Nord family is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite. This phone aims to be a lower-end, yet still very capable variant of the CE 2, making a few reasonable cuts to bring its price down even lower.

Running the show here is a Snapdragon 695 SoC — a chip capable enough to keep the phone going smoothly and add 5G support without bringing the price up too high. Configuration options include your choice of 6 or 8GB of RAM, both paired with 128GB of storage.

In a rare “improvement” over the base Nord CE 2, this relative actually goes with a 120Hz 1080p display instead of a 90Hz one — but it’s also now an LCD instead of an AMOLED panel, so you’ll have to pick your poison.

OnePlus gives this Nord a 5,000 mAh battery, which can be charged at up to 33W (not crazy-fast like the 10R’s 150W, but still quite decent). Camera needs are served by a 64MP main sensor, with two additional depth and macro lenses for auxiliary support

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite will be available in two different colorways — Blue Tide and Black Dusk.

OnePlus Nord Buds

Finally, we have some all-new earbuds from OnePlus, as well as the company’s very first non-smartphone Nord product (for now, at least). The OnePlus Nord Buds won’t give you anything fancy like active noise cancellation, but are focused on delivering basics at a very low price tag.

One of the main selling points is battery life — OP says to expect 7 hours on a charge, with the case bumping that up to 30 hours. That’s probably not the very best you can get right now, but considering their price, quite good nonetheless. And just like the rest of today’s announcements by OnePlus, fast charging is on the table — a quick 10-minute top-up is able to give you 5 hours of playback.

The listening experience itself should also be fairly decent, with 12.4mm titanium drivers and Dolby Atmos support. For calls, you have a four-microphone design, and there’s also an IP55 rating to keep you listening even in wet or sweaty scenarios.

The OnePlus Nord Buds will be available in a single Black Slate colorway for just ₹2,999, or slightly less than $40.

The OnePlus 10R will go on sale on May 4th, while the lower-end Nord CE 2 Lite will do so on April 30th. If you want the Buds, you’ll be able to buy those on May 10th.

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