The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is a budget 5G phone that OnePlus announced on April 19, 2022. It went on sale at T-Mobile and Metro on April 28, 2022, for $282. An unlocked model followed in June 2022 at $299.99. In Canada, the official price was CA$379.99. The phone is now discontinued and no longer appears in the OnePlus US store. Outside North America, reports describe the same hardware under OPPO names. They are the Reno7 Z 5G, Reno7 Lite 5G, Reno8 Lite 5G and F21 Pro 5G.
Design and display
The phone has a flat plastic frame and a plastic back, and it measures 7.5 mm thick. It weighs 173 g. The only color is Blue Smoke. The front is a 6.43-inch AMOLED panel with 1080 x 2400 resolution and 409 ppi. Refresh rate stays at 60 Hz, which is lower than the 90 Hz of the Nord N10 5G. Cover glass is Schott Xensation Up, and an optical fingerprint reader sits under the screen.
Carrier units carry an IP52 rating for light splashes and dust. Tech Advisor reports that the unlocked version has no IP rating, so buyers should check which model they have.
Performance
The Snapdragon 695 powers the phone. This 6 nm chip has two Cortex-A78 cores at 2.2 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores at 1.7 GHz. Its GPU is the Adreno 619. Every unit has 6 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. A microSD card can add up to 512 GB, although the card shares the tray with the single nano-SIM.
Cameras
The rear setup has three cameras. The main one has 64 MP and an f/1.79 aperture, with electronic stabilization but no optical stabilization. A 2 MP macro camera and a 2 MP monochrome camera complete the group. There is no ultrawide or telephoto lens. The front camera has 16 MP and an f/2.4 aperture. Both sides record video at up to 1080p and 30 fps.
Battery and charging
The 4,500 mAh battery supports 33W SUPERVOOC wired charging, and the charger is in the box. Wireless charging is not available. Android Central found that its USB-C port had trouble with accessories such as controllers and earbuds.
Software and updates
The phone launched with OxygenOS 11 on Android 11, which was already an older release in 2022. OnePlus promised one major OS upgrade, to Android 12, and three years of security updates. T-Mobile units also include carrier apps, which the unlocked model avoids.
Other features include a 3.5 mm headphone jack, NFC, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. Audio comes from a single speaker.
Should you buy the OnePlus Nord N20 5G?
The phone is no longer produced, and its direct successor is the OnePlus Nord N30 5G. It may still suit someone who finds a low-priced unit. The draw is an AMOLED screen, a headphone jack and expandable storage. However, its security update promise has run out, and its 60 Hz display and Android version are dated. Buyers who need long software support should look at a newer model.
