OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5 Comparison: Which Phone to Buy?

OnePlus has officially launched the Nord CE 6 in India and on the surface, it looks like an upgrade over the Nord CE 5. The new phone brings a sharper 1.5K 144Hz display, a massive 8,000mAh battery and IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K rating. However, when you look closely and compare the latest OnePlus Nord CE 6 with the older OnePlus Nord CE 5, interesting details surface. So in this article, we have compared both phones with our in-house testing. 

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Design

• The OnePlus Nord CE 6 adds a Crystal Guard Glass on the front while the Nord CE 5 has a Gorilla Glass 7i
• The Nord CE 6 brings flagship-grade IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K rating with MIL-STD-810H certification
• The Nord CE 5 still feels lighter in hand at 199 gm compared to the Nord CE 6's 215 gm

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

OnePlus has clearly made the Nord CE 6 more premium this year. The phone ships with a Crystal Guard Glass front, a brand-new IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K rating and MIL-STD-810H military-grade certification. In our Nord CE 6 review, we have noted that the Pitch Black variant looks very close to the Charcoal Black variant of the OnePlus 15R. Not to mention, the back panel did a good job of keeping fingerprints away.

The OnePlus Nord CE 5, on the other hand, has a midrange-class design and the matte plastic back actually makes the phone a bit slippery. It comes with a Gorilla Glass 7i on the front with a plastic back and frame. And you only get IP65 rating. Note that the Nord CE 5 is noticeably lighter than the Nord CE 6's 215 grams. All in all, if durability is high on your list, the Nord CE 6 looks like a meaningful upgrade.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Display

• The Nord CE 6 packs a sharper 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate
• The Nord CE 5 uses a 6.77-inch FHD+ 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display
• The Nord CE 6 added stereo speakers while the Nord CE 5 is stuck to a single bottom-firing speaker

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

The display is where the OnePlus Nord CE 6 leaves the Nord CE 5 behind on paper. The Nord CE 6 comes with a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and OnePlus claims 1,800 nits HBM and 3,600 nits peak brightness. In our Luxmeter testing, we recorded an HBM of around 1,750 nits and an HDR peak of about 2,900 nits, which is close to the brand's claims.

Meanwhile, the Nord CE 5 sticks to a 6.77-inch FHD+ Fluid AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. OnePlus officially claims 1,430 nits of peak brightness, but our tests saw the screen hit 1,935 nits in HBM and 2,103 nits in HDR brightness, easily surpassing the brand's claim. So in pure outdoor visibility, the older Nord CE 5 is slightly better. However, for viewing HDR content, the Nord CE 6 is a better pick.

Audio is another notable upgrade for the Nord CE 6 with dedicated stereo speakers while the Nord CE 5 has a single bottom-firing speaker.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Performance

• The Nord CE 5's MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex outperforms the Nord CE 6's Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 by around 33% in AnTuTu
• The Nord CE 5 hits 117 FPS in BGMI and 120 FPS in CoD Mobile while the Nord CE 6 caps out at 90 FPS in both
• The OnePlus Nord CE 6 has added a dedicated Touch Reflex chip with 3,200 Hz touch sampling rate for fast gaming response

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

In the performance section, the difference between the OnePlus Nord CE 6 and Nord CE 5 becomes stark. The Nord CE 6 comes with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset and it's a notable downgrade from the Dimensity 8350 Apex found in the Nord CE 5. In the AnTuTu test, the older OnePlus Nord CE 5 scored 1,424,560 points while the newer OnePlus Nord CE 6 got only 1,068,275 points despite running on the latest AnTuTu V11 benchmark. The Nord CE 5 delivers around 33% better performance than the Nord CE 6.

Next, as we noted in our Nord CE 5 review, in real-world gaming tests, the Nord CE 5 ran BGMI at a rock-solid 117 FPS and CoD Mobile at 120 FPS. On the other hand, the Nord CE 6 caps out at 90 FPS in both BGMI and CoD Mobile. Note that Nord CE 6 remains stable at the frame rate and doesn't get uncomfortably warm even after an hour. Demanding games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves run on both phones but with frame drops in heavy combat scenes.

Now, coming to cooling solutions. The primary vapour chamber is actually smaller at 5,000mm² compared to the Nord CE 5's larger 7,041mm² CryoVelocity graphene vapor chamber. However, the Nord CE 6 wraps it in a much bigger 33,147mm² total heat dissipation area thanks to additional graphene and copper layers, resulting in better cooling.

All things considered, if raw performance and gaming are your priority, the OnePlus Nord CE 5 is the better pick.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Software

• Both phones run on Android 16-based OxygenOS 16
• OnePlus has promised 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches for both
• The Nord CE 6 brings improved haptics that feel better than the weak rotor motor on the Nord CE 5

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

Software is one area where the OnePlus Nord CE 6 and Nord CE 5 are closely matched. Both phones run on Android 16-based OxygenOS 16 with 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches. The Nord CE 5 launched on OxygenOS 15 but has been updated to OxygenOS 16 so you will get an extra year of updates on the newer phone.

In daily use, both phones felt fluid, but ship with similar bloatware including LinkedIn, Facebook, Netflix and a few others. By the way, you can uninstall them easily. AI features like OnePlus Mind Space, AI VoiceScribe and AI Eraser are common on both phones. The one notable difference is haptics as the Nord CE 5 came with a subpar rotor motor and typing on it feels mushy with weak vibration across the UI. The Nord CE 6 has noticeably better haptic integration.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Camera

• The OnePlus Nord CE 6 comes with a 50MP OmniVision sensor with dual-axis OIS
• The Nord CE 5 brings a 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera
• The Nord CE 6 lacks an ultra-wide camera

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

This is the most controversial change in the OnePlus Nord CE 6. It features a 50MP OmniVision OV50D40 primary sensor with dual-axis OIS. However, OnePlus has replaced the ultra-wide camera with an auxiliary lens. The older Nord CE 5 packs a 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera with OIS and an actually useful 8MP ultrawide lens.

As for daylight testing, both phones produced sharp, vibrant photos with balanced dynamic range. However, the Nord CE 6 produces images with greens and pinks clearly boosted for a social media-friendly look. The Nord CE 5 offers a more natural look. That said, both phones struggle in low light as they tend to smudge fine textures. As for the front camera, you get a 32MP selfie shooter with auto focus on Nord CE 6 and a 16MP selfie camera on the Nord CE 5.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Battery

• The Nord CE 6 packs a bigger 8,000mAh battery vs the Nord CE 5's 7,100mAh battery
• The Nord CE 6 offered 16.5 hours of screen-on-time in our testing, compared to 7.5 hours on the Nord CE 5
• Both phones support 80W wired fast charging and include the charger in the box

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

Battery is the easy win for the OnePlus Nord CE 6 and it's really a huge upgrade. It packs a massive 8,000mAh battery, which is a 900mAh boost over the Nord CE 5's 7,100mAh battery pack. Thanks to the efficient Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor, the Nord CE 6 delivered a remarkable 16.5 hours of screen-on-time in our testing. And that too with constant 5G, music streaming on Spotify, Slack and WhatsApp throughout the day, Netflix streaming and some gaming sessions.

The Nord CE 5, by comparison, gave us around 7.5 hours of screen-on-time with similar usage. As for charging speeds, both phones support 80W fast charging and come with the charger inside the box. In our charging test, Nord CE 6 went from 4–100% in about 90 minutes while the Nord CE 5 went from 14–100% in 66 minutes. Notably, the Nord CE 6 adds 27W reverse wired charging, so you can use it as a power bank too.

OnePlus Nord CE 6 vs Nord CE 5: Which Phone Should You Buy?

Let's now go through the specifications of the OnePlus Nord CE 6 and Nord CE 5 side-by-side before jumping to the conclusion.

All things considered, I would pick the older OnePlus Nord CE 5 as it's a fantastic deal at Rs. 24,499 and one of the best phones under Rs. 25,000. It offers better performance, more FPS in games and the 8MP ultrawide lens lets you actually take wide-angle shots. The OnePlus Nord CE 6, on the other hand, is an all-around phone with incredible battery life, better display and flagship-grade durability.

There are also some quality-of-life improvements with the Nord CE 6. You get improved haptics and stereo speakers. Basically, it comes down to what you value the most. After that, you can go ahead and pick the best phone that suits your need.