OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G is the company's first to feature a 108 MP camera, Nord Buds gets ANC support

We've been hearing about the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite for quite some time now, and the OEM has finally made the device official yesterday together with the Nord Buds 2. The Nord lineup is only available in Europe and India for now.

Similar to the Nord CE 2 Lite, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is also powered by the Snapdragon 695 SoC. OnePlus has also increased the RAM from 6 GB to 8 GB this year. Storage options include 128 GB or 256 GB of UFS 2.2 memory with the ability to expand up to 1 TB using a microSD card slot. The microSD card slot is a hybrid one, so you either get to use it for storage expansion or a second SIM.

The primary upgrade from the Nord CE 2 Lite is the camera system. The Nord CE 3 Lite is the first OnePlus smartphone to sport a 108 MP primary camera. This is a 1/1.67-inch ISOCELL HM6 sensor with a 0.64-micron pixel size. The effective pixel size increases to 1.92 microns due to the 9-to-1 pixel binning to produce a 12 MP image with up to 3x lossless zoom. Video recording, however, is restricted to 1080p 30 fps, which is on the lower side for such a huge sensor.

Other cameras include a 2 MP macro lens and a 2 MP depth sensor. A 16 MP front camera helps with the selfies. A slightly larger 6.72-inch 120 Hz FHD+ HDR display graces the Nord CE 3 Lite this year. The display, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, is rated for a 550 nits typical brightness that goes up to 680 nits in HDR mode.

OnePlus has shaved the Nord CE 3 Lite's thickness by 0.2 mm to 8.3 mm but still managed to retain a 5,000 mAh battery that supports SuperVOOC 67 W Endurance Edition fast charging. OnePlus claims that the 67 W SuperVOOC charger can get the phone charged up to 80% capacity in about 30 minutes.

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will be available in India on Amazon.in, Oneplus.in, and authorized retail stores from April 11 for ₹19,999 for the 8 GB + 128 GB model and for ₹21,999 for the 8 GB + 256 GB SKU. 

In Europe, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will retail for €330 for the 8 GB + 128 GB variant starting from April 25. Availability of the 256 GB SKU is not yet known.

OnePlus Nord Buds 2 with ANC

Alongside the Nord CE 3 Lite, OnePlus also announced the Nord Buds 2. This year's iteration comes with active noise cancellation (ANC), which the company says can be reduced by 25 dB. The Nord Buds 2 feature 12.4 mm drivers with support for Dolby Atmos, a Dirac Audio Tuner, and Bluetooth 5.3.

The Nord Buds 2 also similar sound tuning options as the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 including Balanced, Serenade, Bass, and Bold together with the BassWave bass enhancement algorithm. An IP55 rating guarantees dust and water resistance. AAC is used as the streaming audio codec of choice.

According to OnePlus, the Nord Buds 2 can last up to seven hours with ANC off with the case enabling a total of 36 hours. Enabling ANC will drop the run time to five hours and 27 hours, respectively. Up to five hours of listening can be had with a short 10-minute charge.

The OnePlus Nord Buds 2 are available immediately in Europe for €70 and for ₹2,999 in India starting April 11.