Home > Smartphone comparison > Nord 5 vs Nord 3 – which one to choose?

OnePlus Nord 5 vs Nord 3

73 out of 100
OnePlus Nord 5
VS
64 out of 100
OnePlus Nord 3
OnePlus Nord 5
OnePlus Nord 3

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.83-inch OnePlus Nord 5 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3) that was released on July 8, 2025, against the OnePlus Nord 3, which is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and came out 2 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the OnePlus Nord 5
  • Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
  • Shows 15% longer battery life (25:12 vs 21:57 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • Water-resistant body (IP65 classification)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
  • 20% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1848K versus 1542K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (1323 against 1110 nits)
  • The phone is 2 years and 1 month newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the OnePlus Nord 3
  • Weighs 17.5 grams less

Review

Evaluation of OnePlus Nord 5 and Nord 3 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Nord 5
90
Nord 3
82
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Nord 5
73*
Nord 3
64
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Nord 5
68
Nord 3
60
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Nord 5
48
Nord 3
36
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Nord 5
72
Nord 3
64
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Nord 5
73
Nord 3
69
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Nord 5
73*
Nord 3
64
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
πŸ“± Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 59% Yes
Maybe, but mainly if you specifically want better gaming performance.
This is a situational upgrade. It makes the most sense if better gaming performance matters to you.
Main improvements: gaming, camera, and battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Nord 5
vs
Nord 3

Display

Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.83 inches 6.74 inches
Resolution 1272 x 2800 pixels 1240 x 2772 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.8:9 20.1:9
PPI 450 ppi 451 ppi
Refresh rate 144 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes
Max rated brightness 1400 nits 600 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits 1450 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate - 360 Hz
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 7i Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 90.1% 89.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 98.7%
PWM 119 Hz 366 Hz
Response time 9 ms 7 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Nord 5 +19%
1323 nits
Nord 3
1110 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.41 mm (6.43 inches) 162.6 mm (6.4 inches)
Width 77.04 mm (3.03 inches) 75.1 mm (2.96 inches)
Thickness 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) 8.1 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 211 g (7.44 oz) 193.5 g (6.83 oz)
Waterproof IP65 IP54
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Gray, Blue Gray, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.6/5) -
Drop resistance Good (C) Β· 90 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
Nord 5 +1%
90.1%
Nord 3
89.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of OnePlus Nord 5 and OnePlus Nord 3
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 MediaTek Dimensity 9000
Max clock 3000 MHz 3050 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 4 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-X4		 - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 3.05 GHz: Cortex-X2
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon MediaTek APU 590
GPU
Graphics Adreno 735 Mali-G710 MC10
GPU shading units 768 640
GPU clock 1100 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS ~1689.6 GFLOPS ~1085.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of OnePlus Nord 5 and OnePlus Nord 3
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nord 5 +15%
1963
Nord 3
1710
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nord 5 +11%
4981
Nord 3
4477
Compute Score (GPU)
Nord 5 +65%
10567
Nord 3
6409
Compute Score (GPU) 10567 6409
Single-core score 1963 1710
Multi-core score 4981 4477
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Nord 5 +20%
1848224
Nord 3
1542660
CPU 610318 576859
GPU 487079 296679
Memory 289054 223305
UX 461773 445817
Total score 1848224 1542660
Samples [30 tests] [7 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Nord 5 +36%
1055
Nord 3
775
Stability 92% 63%
Graphics test 8 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 1055 775
3DMark Solar Bay
Nord 5
5168
Nord 3
n/a
Graphics test 20 FPS -
Section 1 22 FPS -
Section 2 20 FPS -
Section 3 17 FPS -
Graphics score 5168 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Nord 5
18813
Nord 3
n/a
Web score 22960 -
Video editing 7758 -
Photo editing 37813 -
Data manipulation 14719 -
Writing score 24843 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
OnePlus Nord 5
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-19 -> Rox9ne9CPU Throttle92%
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-19 -> Rox9ne9Geekbench 6 CPU1952 / 5317
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-19 -> Rox9ne9AnTuTu 111950942
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-18 (Rox9ne9)Geekbench 6 CPU1960 / 5182
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-17 -> elyad1AnTuTu 111971461
Add View all (35)
OnePlus Nord 3
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-05 -> alominzikkAnTuTu 111500307
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-05 (Alominzikk)AnTuTu 111500307
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-20 (LukisekCZ)AnTuTu 111584537
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-11 (DG)AnTuTu 111542660
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-30 (Gigimutu1)AnTuTu 111561642
Add View all (23)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 13
ROM OxygenOS 16 OxygenOS 13.1
OS size 53 GB -
OS updates 4 years 3 years
Security updates 6 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5200 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 80 W 80 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (79% in 30 min) Yes (60% in 15 min)
Full charging time 0:42 hr 0:32 hr
Battery cycles 1200 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:44 hr 08:39 hr
Watching video 16:17 hr 15:44 hr
Gaming 05:44 hr 05:40 hr
Standby 112 hr 94 hr
General battery life
Nord 5 +15%
25:12 hr
Nord 3
21:57 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8192 x 6144
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 116Β° 112Β°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony LYT-700 Sony IMX890
Sensor size 1/1.56" (β‰ˆ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (β‰ˆ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size - 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 15 mm -
Sensor Omnivision OV08D10 Sony IMX355
Sensor size 1/4.0" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch) 1/4" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution - 2 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC02M1
Sensor size - 1/5" (β‰ˆ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size - 1.75 micron
Stabilization - Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 50 megapixels 16 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4608 x 3456
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.4
Focal length 21 mm 24 mm
Sensor Samsung JN5 1/5
Sensor size 1/2.76" (β‰ˆ 0.36 inch) 1/3.09" (β‰ˆ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes Yes
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 19
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Nord 5 +10%
87 dB
Nord 3
78.9 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced July 2025 July 2023
Release date July 2025 July 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $549 $499
Successor - - OnePlus Nord 5
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 80 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the OnePlus Nord 5 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
7 (25%)
21 (75%)
Total votes: 28

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