Having had the phone for 9 months, I believe I have formed an opinion. Being a lifelong owner of exclusively Samsung flagships, I wanted to try something different.
So, the OnePlus Nord 3 is the company's midranger for 2023. Every smartphone manufacturer focuses on a specific area of its mobile lineup to differentiate itself. For this particular model, OnePlus advertises Fast & Smooth. Have they achieved it? Absolutely. For around 400 euros, you get a device with 16 GB of fast RAM and a former flagship processor, the Dimensity 9000. Combined with the lightweight and clean Oxygen OS software, the phone flies. It rarely freezes on anything. Switching between apps, speed, multitasking, it does it all without any lag.
The camera is another impressive feature. With the Sony IXM890, photos in good lighting come out with good clarity, colors, and detail. Unfortunately, the selfie camera is not as good.
Finally, the phone comes with a SuperVOOC 80Watt charger that charges the phone incredibly fast, which is important for someone who is always on the go and will find it useful.
That's where the positives end for me. As for the negatives, I would start with the software. It is indeed lightweight and quite clean, but that might also be its disadvantage. It doesn't come close to the feature-rich and well-designed OneUI software of Samsung. And if you have used Samsung before, you will immediately notice the difference. Simply put, it shows that the OnePlus team did not give much importance to making it as beautiful and functional as OneUI. The notifications, quick settings menu, etc., are not well-organized or aesthetically pleasing. Currently, there is also the issue of the camera. It definitely has a top lens from Sony. However, without the appropriate software to process the photos, it won't yield good results. My photos appear over-sharpened. Lastly, there is the battery, as mentioned by other users. With a mix of YouTube, social media, browsing, phone calls, maps, etc., it will last a maximum of 5 hours of screen-on-time, which may seem a bit low for many.
In the end, each of us should carefully consider what we prefer in a mobile phone and weigh the options.