In a global live streamed event, OnePlus announced the debut of their latest budget phone dubbed the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and its accompanying wireless earbuds the OnePlus Nord Buds 2. Both devices are slated for a launch in Malaysia in the near future and we managed to get our hands on an early retail sample for both the phone and the earbuds for testing in the last couple of days.

Here’s our first OnePlus Nord Buds 2 and OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look and unboxing where we give their latest devices a gander to see what’s under the hood!

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite First Look – Unboxing and Design

Intended as the affordable offering out of their line-up as opposed to their flagship grade OnePlus 11 that was launched earlier this year, the budget oriented OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is their second phone released in Malaysia and aims to maximise its bang for the buck.

Out of the box, our OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look sample came with a smattering of essential kit that’s become vanishingly rare in this day and age. On top of the phone itself, you get a soft TPU protective casing, a pre-applied screen protector, a 67W SuperVOOC fast charger, a USB-C 2.0 cable as well as the usual SIM eject pin and paperwork.

The addition of a bundled charger with a local UK-style 3 pin plug is a pleasant surprise while the casing enables the phone to be used straight out of the box. As far as value goes, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite comes out of the starting gate with quite a head start.

In Malaysia, the phone is available in your choice of two colour ways which are Pastel Lime and Chromatic Gray. Our OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look sample is the former which comes in a surprisingly vibrant shade of light lime green with a reflective finish across the backplate complemented by green chromed metal sides.

The Chromatic Gray finish is a dark slate gray bordering on black that’s a safe, if plain looking colourway while the Pastel Lime is a pleasant surprise indeed that’s not only eye catching but pleasant to look at too with the phone’s camera array housed within two dark rounded black camera housings. 

You get a primary 108MP F/1.7 camera using a Samsung HM6 sensor with autofocus but no optical image stabilisation, a secondary macro lens and a depth sensor with the collective ability to shoot 1080p@30fps video with both videos and stills having the option to enjoy up to 3x lossless zoom by cropping the main camera feed.

Amusingly enough, the camera housings and LED flash also lend the phone a look of perpetual surprise. Unfortunately the finish is a fingerprint magnet and the phone itself lacks any official rating for water or dust resistance.

Belying its price point, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite has a pleasant heft about it with rounded corners and flat sides with gently rounded edges on the backplate meeting the sides.

The right side of the phone features a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader while the left hosts a volume rocker and a card tray that allows for dual nano SIM cards and a microSD card to augment the onboard storage with support for up to 1TB microSD cards.

The base of our OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look sample features a USB-C 2.0 port for charging and docking duties, a grille for the bottom firing speaker that pairs up with the other speaker at the top of the display to form a stereo pair and – surprise – a 3.5mm audio jack. The USB-C port has slower data transfer speeds but it shouldn’t be that big of an issue unless you’re transferring huge movie files.

Up front, our OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look sample features a 6.72-inch IPS LCD display with FHD+ resolution at 1,080 x 2,412 pixels, a large 91.5% screen to body ratio and a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate while featuring a pre-applied screen protector.

Of note is that the display has a rated 680 nits of peak brightness. The top has a tiny rounded punch hole for the front-facing 16MP selfie camera that can take 1080p@30fps video and snaps. Alongside the selfie camera is a tiny cutout for the earpiece and stereo speaker.

Running under the hood of our OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite first look sample is a Snapdragon 695 5G processor paired with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 expandable storage.

A lower end variant of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite also exists with 128GB of storage, matching its predecessor. Oddly enough, last year’s Nord CE 2 Lite also used the same processor with the new model edging out on account of having double the storage. 5G connectivity and WiFi 5 as well as Bluetooth 5.1 come as standard.

The phone runs the latest Android 13 OS accompanied by OxygenOS 13.1. In keeping with many phones of recent vintage, the phone also allows for additional virtual RAM assigned off the onboard storage in 2GB increments with up to 8GB available for a combined total of 16GB in tandem with the provided 8GB of physical RAM.

Overall build quality is solid and it does feature quite a few extras like a charger and a free casing.

It’s hard to speculate on how much value the phone has to offer as a whole at the time of writing as OnePlus Malaysia have yet to furnish us with the price or which of the two versions – 128GB or 256GB – will launch in Malaysia though the 256GB is a certainty. Stay tuned for our full OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite review!

OnePlus Nords Buds 2 First Look and Unboxing

Intended as the companion earbuds for the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite, the new OnePlus Nords Buds 2 wireless earbuds looks quite different from the higher one OnePlus Buds Pro 2 that we reviewed earlier and has a more affordable, mainstream array of hardware under the hood.

Rather than the flat, makeup-compact design of the Buds Pro 2, our OnePlus Nords Buds 2 first look sample has a taller, chunkier charging case that resembles a treasure chest of sorts that’s done up in polycarbonate with a silvery lid and a matte white base. An all-black finish including black ear buds is also available. The rear features a USB-C port for charging and a reset button.

Flipping the case open reveals both earbuds nestled in separate bays. On paper, our OnePlus Nords Buds 2 first look sample features a single 12.4mm Titanium Driver in each earbud that has a layer of titanium in the diaphragm for more ‘instantaneous’ response.

The earbuds also feature a transparency mode and active noise cancellation at up to 25dB to mute external sounds. Controlling the earbuds is achieved via a series of taps on the large flat control surface on the sides. Of note is that the earbuds each feature IP55 dust and water resistance which makes them resistant to splashes of water though the case itself has no water resistance.

On paper, the OnePlus Nords Buds 2 feature Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, support the AAC codec, have Dolby Atmos Mobile support and have the ability to pair with a OnePlus phone in just 0.3 seconds. The earbuds also have what OnePlus refers to as a BassWave algorithm for richer bass.

When paired with the accompanying HeyMelody app, the earbuds offer a number of audio settings to suit different musical genres including Balanced, Serenade, Bold and Bass mode. Battery life is officially rated at 5 hours with ANC on and a total of 27 hours inclusive of the charging case.

As promised, pairing with the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite took a mere second or so before it recognised the phone and paired up accordingly.

The charging case itself is still pocketable though it is somewhat challenging to open up one-handed as the top lid is narrow and there’s no notch for your fingers to gain purchase. Build quality is sturdy though its does look plasticky but that’s to be expected for something in its price range.

Bundled with our OnePlus Nord Buds 2 first look sample are a pair of charging cables, a whimsical looking sticker and two additional pairs of differently sized silicone ear tips.

At present, there’s official word on how much this costs but we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, stay tuned for our full OnePlus Nord Buds 2 review and the official OnePlus Malaysia website for more details!

[UPDATE]

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and OnePlus Nord Buds 2 Malaysia Price

OnePlus Malaysia has announced the prices for their OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and OnePlus Nord Buds 2 for the Malaysia market. 

The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite with 8GB RAM/256GB storage in your choice of either Chromatic Gray or Pastel Lime will retail at RM1,099 while the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 will retail at RM329 with two colourways which are Lightning White and Thunder Gray.

For Malaysia, preorders commence from 11th to 17th April 2023 and those who preorder the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will enjoy a free pair of 1st Gen OnePlus Nord Buds, a free 1-year extended warranty and 1-year screen protection.

Those who preorder the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 will get an RM30 discount.

The street date of both products and first sale is slated for 18th to 25th April 2023 with special promotions when you buy the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G with , a free 1-year extended warranty and 1-year screen protection which is the same as the preorder but you miss out on the pair of free earbuds. To preorder, check out their official OnePlus page here and their Lazada store here.