After what felt like an eternity of leaks and tease feed drips, the OnePlus Nord has finally made its full appearance And while there are so many questions surrounding the device, we are particularly interested in how the company's new entry-level phone compares to the reasonably priced, yet slightly more premium OnePlus 8 launched earlier this year

The OnePlus Nord starts at £379, roughly equivalent to $482 (OnePlus does not offer this device in North America, at least for now) However, you get a large amount of features for the money you spend on the Nord, including 5G connectivity

This OnePlus Nord vs OnePlus 8 comparison provides a detailed analysis of how the two devices compare and which is the better buy if you can afford the Nord

The OnePlus Nord starts at £379 (€399 in the rest of Europe) and comes with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM; spend £469 and you get double the storage and 12GB of RAM

The OnePlus Nord will miss North America, at least for now However, it will be available in most of Europe, including the UK If the device is successful in other markets, it could be released in the US

The OnePlus 8 will start at £599 in the UK and $699 in the US, with a version with more storage and memory going for $799

Right off the bat, it is easy to discern one of the major differences between the OnePlus Nord and the OnePlus 8: size The new model's display is slightly smaller at 644 inches versus the OnePlus 8's 655-inch panel; the slab of Gorilla Glass 5 covering the Nord's screen is also flatter, while the OnePlus 8's cover glass has a prominent curve

That may sound like a downgrade, but curved glass can be quite frustrating to live with in practice, as it makes the device harder to grip and also makes it easier to accidentally tap the screen

The OnePlus Nord comes in two colors, Blue Marble and Gray Onyx, but neither has the matte finish found on the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro

The OnePlus Nord is surprisingly a bit heavier than the OnePlus 8, at 65 ounces, heavier than the more expensive phone's 63 ounces However, the Nord is shorter in length and width, and thicker in thickness

Given that the OnePlus Nord's display is a tenth of an inch smaller than the OnePlus 8's, the cheaper phone's panel is an improvement over its sibling in at least one respect

Both devices feature a 90Hz refresh rate and Full HD resolution, but the Nord's touch response rate is faster at 180Hz compared to the OnePlus 8's 130Hz This should make taps and swipes even more responsive, whether you are operating the Oxygen OS or playing a game

Elsewhere, when we tested the OnePlus 8 a few months ago, its Delta-E color accuracy scores outperformed Apple's iPhone 11 Pro and Samsung's Galaxy S20, indicating that the OnePlus 8 is a superior panel The OnePlus 8's screen is brighter, There are a variety of display modes available if you want to choose a more natural or saturated color profile, and if OnePlus can match the performance of the panels on the entry-level Nord, it will have another winner on its hands

Interestingly, the less expensive OnePlus Nord has more lenses on the back than the OnePlus 8 The Nord has four rear cameras, whereas the more expensive model has only a triple-lens setup consisting of a 48-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilization, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide and a 20-megapixel macro sensor

The Nord's stack is a mishmash of cameras Two of them (the main 48MP and the 2MP macro) were carried over from the OnePlus 8 The other two, however, appear to be unique to this model: the Nord's ultra-wide-angle lens is 8MP, while another sensor to aid depth processing is 5MP

Even on the front, the Nord has more lenses than expected: instead of a single 16MP shooter like the OnePlus 8, the Nord has a 32MP main camera and an 8MP ultrawide camera

With a total of six cameras for a sub-$500 phone, you'll be able to use this mid-ranger in a wider range of shooting situations than expected That said, it's important to note that the number of lenses does not automatically translate into image quality; OnePlus has made progress in recent years, especially if it wants to close the gap with companies like Apple and Google, whose iPhone SE and Pixel 3a dominate this class of cheap camera phones need to make further headway with respect to post-processing

This is likely to be the biggest gap between the two models: the OnePlus 8 benefits from the power of the Snapdragon 865, which puts it in the elite class of fastest Android phones this year, along with Samsung's Galaxy S20 series The OnePlus Nord, on the other hand, uses Qualcomm's lower-end Snapdragon 765G

Nevertheless, the 765G is reasonably fast and, like the more expensive OnePlus 8, supports 5G connectivity Moreover, both devices come with 8GB and 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage, even for those who opt for the less expensive one However, those who want maximum power and performance, especially those who multitask and play intense games, will choose the more powerful OnePlus 8

There is one area where the OnePlus Nord is expected to outperform its more expensive sibling: the OnePlus Nord has a 4,115mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than the OnePlus 8's 4,300mAh power pack However, it is charged using the same Warp Charge 30T technology, so charging speeds should be just as fast

Nevertheless, with a similarly sized battery and a more efficient chipset, it would not be surprising if the Nord outperforms the OnePlus 8 in terms of longevity; the Snapdragon 765G outperformed the OnePlus 8 in Tom's Guide's custom battery test achieved in Tom's Guide's custom battery test of 11 hours and 4 minutes, which could help the new OnePlus device surpass that impressive result

Like the OnePlus 8, the OnePlus Nord does not have wireless charging capability The OnePlus 8 Pro is required to take advantage of this feature

Despite its relatively low price compared to OnePlus' other devices, the OnePlus Nord is becoming a truly great value with surprisingly few compromises As long as you don't need luxuries like the world's best processor or wireless charging, the Nord is going to be a well-rounded mid-range smartphone that isn't too far off from OnePlus' premium offerings it has the same camera as the OnePlus 8 and the same display refresh rate of same 90Hz

We're currently testing the OnePlus Nord, so look for an update on our verdict on this matchup soon