A notch below

The Nord CE 2 Lite is affordable and focuses on core features. Should you buy it?

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The Nord CE 2 Lite design is quintessentially OnePlus, and is easily recognisable even when kept in a stack of Android phones (perks of a tech journalist). The polycarbonate body, with its mix of glossy and matte finish looks good, but gives away its budget credentials when you hold it.

OnePlus has opted for an LCD display, and it does a fine job with just the right amount of colour, brightness, and sharpness. Whether you're reading news on Stuff India website, watching OTT content or playing games, you won't have any major complaints. But there are no stereo speakers. While the single bottom-firing speaker can get plenty loud, it tends to sound one dimensional.

Under the hood is a mid-range Snapdragon 695 chip along with 8GB of RAM, and the overall performance is, well, strictly mid-range. It easily handles basic tasks like opening and closing apps, multitasking, and a bit of office work with documents and spreadsheets. You can even do a bit of casual gaming.

The 64MP primary camera shoots decent photos in ideal lighting conditions with good colour accuracy, dynamic range, and sharpness. In low light conditions, photos tend to lose details and noise creeps in. The night mode improves things a bit, but not by a lot. OnePlus has given the ultrawide lens a boot in favour of a macro lens and a depth-sensor, and it feels like a big miss.

Tech specs

Display 6.59in 120Hz LCD