OnePlus Nord 3 arrives with 80W fast charging and promise of three major Android updates

Image: OnePlusOnePlus has today announced the OnePlus Nord 3, the latest entry in its midrange Nord lineup and successor to last year’s capable OnePlus Nord 2T. One notable improvement compared to last year’s phone is the length of support...

OnePlus Nord 3 arrives with 80W fast charging and promise of three major Android updates

OnePlus has today announced the OnePlus Nord 3, the latest entry in its midrange Nord lineup and successor to last year’s capable OnePlus Nord 2T. One notable improvement compared to last year’s phone is the length of support that OnePlus is promising: namely, three major Android updates and four years of security updates. That’s a year’s increase for both over the Nord 2T, though it falls short of the up to five years of support the company promises for its top-of-the-line OnePlus 11

The OnePlus Nord 3 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor and can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It has a 120Hz refresh rate screen this time around, rather than the 90Hz panel found on its predecessor, and the 6.74-inch flat display has a resolution of 2772 x 1240.

The OnePlus Nord 3 from the front and back.

Like previous Nords, the Nord 3 has a physical alert slider.

Image: OnePlus

Like the Nord 2T, the Nord 3’s maximum fast-charging speed is 80W, which OnePlus claims will charge the phone’s 5,000mAh battery from 1 to 60 percent in 15 minutes, and there’s a physical alert slider included for good measure (a signature OnePlus inclusion). It’ll be available in a choice of green or gray and runs the Android 13-based OxygenOS 13.1.

In terms of cameras, the OnePlus Nord 3 is equipped with a 50-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilization. It’s the same sensor OnePlus used in its recent flagship OnePlus 11, which had a good if not exactly class-leading camera system. Secondary lenses include an 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro, and 16-megapixel selfie camera.

Preorders for the OnePlus Nord 3 open today, and the phone will go on open sale on July 12th. It’ll retail for €449 (around $490) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and €549 (around $598) for a model with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The phone will be available in 16 European markets, a OnePlus spokesperson previously confirmed, as well as other global markets including India. There’s no sign of a US release for the handset, which isn’t surprising given OnePlus maintains a separate lineup of Nord devices stateside. More surprising is that the Nord 3 isn’t getting a release in the UK, at least for now.

“Nord 3 is not scheduled to go on sale in the UK at all, but it’s possible that changes in the future,” a OnePlus spokesperson recently told Tech Advisor. The spokesperson cited “logistical challenges around customs” as being to blame for the absence of a UK launch and said the company had “temporarily put the sales of our smartphones on hold via OnePlus.com.” As of this writing, all of OnePlus’ phones are listed as being out of stock via the company’s UK store, though it lists the Nord 3 as “coming soon” at a price of £499 for the 16GB RAM variant.

Alongside the OnePlus Nord 3, the company also announced a more affordable OnePlus Nord CE3 for the Indian market that’s coming in August.