OnePlus Nord is the latest smartphone by the Chinese smartphone maker and a budget friendly one at that. OnePlus has seemingly gone back to its roots of delivering great performance for an affordable price. This trend of delivering relatively budget friendly smartphones with good performance is also followed by Google and Apple. Google recently announced its Pixel 4a while Apple launched the iPhone SE (2020) in April. The Pixel 4a brings a flagship camera to a budget phone and the iPhone SE brings a flagship processor to its budget phone. So, let’s compare these three different approaches to a decent budget phone and see how these stack up against each other.
OnePlus Nord vs Google Pixel 4a vs iPhone SE (2020): Price in India
The OnePlus Nord was launched in India last month with a starting price of Rs. 24,999 for the 6GB + 64GB variant. However, this variant will go on sale in the country from next month. The 8GB + 128GB variant is priced at Rs. 27,999 and the 12GB + 256GB variant is priced at Rs. 29,999. Both these variants are available in the country. The phone comes in Blue Marble and Gray Onyx colour options.
On the other hand, the Google Pixel 4a was announced earlier this month at $349 (roughly Rs. 26,100) in the US for the lone 6GB + 128GB model. It will go on sale in India sometime in October and pricing will be announced near the release date. The Pixel 4a comes in a single Jet Black colour option.
The iPhone SE (2020) was announced back in April and costs Rs. 41,500 for the 64GB storage variant, Rs. 46,800 for 128GB storage variant, and Rs. 57,300 for the 256GB storage variant. It comes in Black, White, and Red colour options.
OnePlus Nord vs Google Pixel 4a vs iPhone SE (2020): Specifications
The OnePlus Nord and the Pixel 4a run on Android 10 and while the OnePlus Nord comes with OxygenOS, the Pixel 4a offers a stock Android experience. On the other hand, the iPhone SE (2020) runs iOS 13 out-of-the-box. The OnePlus offering features a 6.44-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. The Google offering features a 5.81-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,340 pixels) OLED display with 60Hz refresh rate. The Apple offering comes with a 4.7-inch Retina HD (750×1,334 pixels) IPS LCD display. In terms of processing power, the OnePlus Nord is powered by the Snapdragon 765G SoC and has up to 12GB of RAM whereas the Pixel 4a is powered by the Snapdragon 730G SoC with 6GB of RAM. The iPhone SE (2020) is powered by Apple’s flagship A13 Bionic chip.
In terms of cameras, the OnePlus Nord has four on the back while the other two phones have one each. The Nord comes with a 48-megapixel primary shooter with an f/1.75 lens, an 8-megapixel secondary camera with an f/2.25 ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro shooter, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. Selfies are handled by the 32-megapixel primary front camera with an f/2.45 lens and an 8-megapixel secondary camera with an f/2.45 ultra-wide-angle lens .In comparison, the single camera on the back of the Pixel 4a is a 12-megapixel shooter with f/1.7 aperture. The front camera is an 8-megapixel shooter with f/2.0 aperture. The iPhone also has a single 12-megapixel shooter with f/1.8 aperture on the back and a 7-megapixel camera at the front that has f/2.2 aperture.
For storage, the OnePlus Nord goes up to 256GB of storage, the Pixel 4a comes with 128GB of onboard storage, and the iPhone SE (2020) comes with up to 256GB of storage. Connectivity options on the OnePlus phone include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.1, GPS/ A-GPS/ NavIC, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. On the Google Pixel 4a, you get 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the Apple offering, you get 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ax, Wi-Fi calling, NFC, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, and a Lightning port. The OnePlus Nord comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner while the other two phone have physical fingerprint scanners. The Pixel 4a has its scanner on the back while the iPhone SE (2020) has its scanner on the front.
Talking about battery, the OnePlus Nord comes with 4,115mAh capacity with support for 30W fast charging. The Pixel 4a comes with a 3,140mAh battery with 18W fast charging. Apple does not disclose exact battery numbers for its phones, but it does support 18W charging. In terms of dimensions, the OnePlus Nord measures 158.3×73.3×8.2mm and weighs 184 grams, the Pixel 4a measures 144×69.4×8.2mm and weighs 143 grams, and lastly, the iPhone SE (2020) measures 138.4×67.3×7.3mm and weighs 148 grams.
Why are smartphone prices rising in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
OnePlus Nord vs Google Pixel 4a vs iPhone SE (2020) comparison
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| Ratings | |||
| Overall NDTV Rating | – | ||
| Design Rating | – | ||
| Display Rating | – | ||
| Software Rating | – | ||
| Performance Rating | – | ||
| Battery Life Rating | – | ||
| Camera Rating | – | ||
| Value for Money Rating | – | ||
| GENERAL | |||
| Brand | OnePlus | Apple | |
| Model | Nord | Pixel 4a | iPhone SE (2020) |
| Release date | 21st July 2020 | 3rd August 2020 | 15th April 2020 |
| Launched in India | Yes | No | Yes |
| Dimensions (mm) | 158.30 x 73.30 x 8.20 | 144.00 x 69.40 x 8.20 | 138.40 x 67.30 x 7.30 |
| Weight (g) | 184.00 | 143.00 | 148.00 |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 4115 | 3140 | – |
| Removable battery | No | No | No |
| Fast charging | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Wireless charging | No | – | Yes |
| Colours | Blue Marble, Gray Onyx | Just Black | Black, White, (Product) RED |
| Body type | – | Plastic | Glass |
| IP rating | – | – | IP67 |
| DISPLAY | |||
| Screen size (inches) | 6.44 | 5.81 | 4.70 |
| Resolution | 1080×2400 pixels | 1080×2340 pixels | 750×1334 pixels |
| Protection type | Gorilla Glass | Gorilla Glass | Other |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 | – |
| Pixels per inch (PPI) | – | 443 | 326 |
| HARDWARE | |||
| Processor | 2.4GHz octa-core | 1.8GHz octa-core (6×1.8GHz + 2x2GHz) | – |
| Processor make | Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G | Apple A13 Bionic |
| RAM | 12GB | 6GB | – |
| Internal storage | 256GB | 128GB | 64GB |
| Expandable storage | No | No | No |
| Dedicated microSD slot | – | – | No |
| CAMERA | |||
| Rear camera | 48-megapixel (f/1.75, 0.8-micron) + 8-megapixel (f/2.25) + 5-megapixel (f/2.4) + 2-megapixel (f/2.4) | 12.2-megapixel (f/1.7, 1.4-micron) | 12-megapixel (f/1.8) |
| Rear autofocus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rear flash | Dual LED | LED | LED |
| Front camera | 32-megapixel (f/2.45, 0.8-micron) + 8-megapixel (f/2.45) | 8-megapixel (f/2.0, 1.12-micron) | 7-megapixel (f/2.2) |
| Pop-Up Camera | No | No | No |
| Front autofocus | No | – | – |
| Front flash | No | – | – |
| SOFTWARE | |||
| Operating system | Android 10 | Android 10 | iOS 13 |
| Skin | OxygenOS 10.5 | – | – |
| CONNECTIVITY | |||
| Wi-Fi standards supported | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/Yes |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v 5.10 | Yes, v 5.00 | Yes, v 5.00 |
| NFC | Yes | – | Yes |
| USB Type-C | Yes | Yes | No |
| Number of SIMs | 2 | – | 2 |
| Active 4G on both SIM cards | Yes | – | Yes |
| USB OTG | – | – | No |
| Micro-USB | – | – | No |
| Lightning | – | – | Yes |
| SIM 1 | |||
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM | – | Nano-SIM |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes | – | Yes |
| SIM 2 | |||
| SIM Type | Nano-SIM | – | eSIM |
| 4G/ LTE | Yes | – | Yes |
| SENSORS | |||
| Face unlock | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| In-Display Fingerprint Sensor | Yes | – | No |
| Compass/ Magnetometer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proximity sensor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barometer | – | Yes | Yes |
| Temperature sensor | – | – | No |