OnePlus has given important steps last year to consolidate its name as a mainstream smartphone maker. The brand debuted the OnePlus Nord as its first mid-range smartphone in years. The device reached some markets across Europe and also made its big arrival in India. However, OnePlus decided to keep it away from the United States. The reason wasn’t clear during the launch, but the company said that it would reach the United States in another moment. That moment was in October 2020, when it announced two devices dubbed OnePlus Nord N10 and Nord N100 phones. The former is a 5G phone that is cheaper than the original Nord, while the latter is a low-end device with Snapdragon 460. Apparently, the decision of bringing these two phones to the US is paying off. According to a new report, OnePlus is on track to sell more than 2 million phones at T-Mobile’s Metro alone.
Interestingly, the brand reached a 15% market share which is impressive and it probably is the highest OnePlus has even seen at a single US carrier. According to the tracking firm Wave7 Research, Metro usually sells around 15 to 16 million devices per year. So looking at the trends, the 2 million figure is a pretty stable forecast. However, OnePlus seems to be increasing the number of sales by offering the Nord N10 and Nord N100 for free if users decide to switch the carrier. This certainly is a better deal than paying the full price asked for the smartphones. In Uncle Sam’s country, the OnePlus Nord N100 starts at $180, while the OnePlus Nord N10 has a price of $300. The latter offers a decent value for money, especially with its 5G capabilities.
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OnePlus Nord N10 and N100 pros and cons
The Original Nord came with the Snapdragon 765G an AMOLED display with a 90Hz screen. The OnePlus Nord N10 ditches the AMOLED screen and replaces it with a 90Hz LCD just like the OnePlus Nord N100 which surprisingly also has a 90Hz panel, despite the HD+ resolution. The OnePlus Nord N10 packs a Snapdragon 690 5G, whereas the OnePlus N100 brings a 4G-only Snapdragon 460. The N10 has a 4,300mAh battery with 30W charging. The N100 has a bigger 5,000mAh battery, but charging goes down to 18W.
Based in the success of the OnePlus Nord series we expect the company to bring more devices this year with better specifications. Hopefully, it will address some shortcomings in these devices. One of the biggest cons is the slow pace in updates. The Nord phones received a bunch of incremental updates but are yet to receive Android 11-based OxygenOS 11.
