OnePlus Nord CE6 Review: 4 Price Rises in 102 Days, Still a Good Phone

A naming note: OnePlus and retailers write it "Nord CE6", without a space. It is a different phone from the Nord 6 and from the cheaper Nord CE6 Lite. The India model carries 8,000mAh; versions sold elsewhere carry a smaller battery, so a spec sheet written for one of those will print the wrong number for the phone sold here.

4 price rises in 102 days.

Most reviews treat a launch price as a fact about the phone. For the CE6 it was a fact about one week in May. Here is the 8GB + 128GB list price as OnePlus has moved it, each step reported by India launch and pricing coverage:

That is a 27% rise in list price in a little over 3 months, on a phone whose specification did not move by a single milliamp-hour. Retailers sell slightly under the new list, and sale pricing has dipped it lower at times this month, but the floor has moved by about Rs. 6,000. OnePlus did the same to the Nord 6, which went from Rs. 38,999 to Rs. 46,999 in 4 steps, so this is a policy, not an accident. Our OnePlus Nord 6 review tells that half of the story.

None of that makes the CE6 a bad phone. It makes it a phone that has to be judged at Rs. 36,000, against Rs. 36,000 rivals, rather than at the price on its launch slide.

The hardware still earns its applause.

The battery. 8,000mAh in a body 8.5mm thick and 215g heavy is a real piece of packaging, and the 80W charger is in the box. Big capacity with fast charging is the pairing that matters; a large cell on slow charging is a compromise, and this is not one. The phone can also push 27W back out by cable to a friend's phone or a pair of earbuds.

The screen. A 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED at 450ppi, rated at 1,800 nits in high-brightness mode across the panel. The 3,600-nit figure on the box is a peak measured on a small part of the screen; the 1,800 is the one that tells you about a sunny afternoon. The 144Hz mode applies in supported apps; elsewhere it runs at up to 120Hz, which is still smooth.

The toughness. IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K covers dust, submersion, and high-pressure hot water jets, and OnePlus adds MIL-STD-810H. For a monsoon commute that is as much protection as any phone at this price offers.

The extras. OIS on the 50MP main camera, 4K video from both cameras, a 32MP autofocus selfie camera, stereo speakers, an IR blaster for the TV and the AC, and Wi-Fi 6. On paper the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 is a capable mid-range chip, with a lead core at up to 2.7GHz on Cortex-A720 cores, a newer design than the Cortex-A78 found in several rivals.

A filler lens and a blank where the promise should be.

The second camera. The rear module has 2 lenses, and the second is a 2MP sensor. A 2MP lens adds a ring to the back of the phone and very little to the photographs; 2 useful cameras beat 1 good camera and a filler. At Rs. 36,000, an 8MP ultra-wide is the norm, and the CE6 does not have one.

Updates. OnePlus has not published an update policy for the Nord CE6. Its spec sheet does promise smooth performance for 72 months, but that is a fluency rating, not a commitment to Android versions or security patches, and OnePlus declined to put a figure on those when asked. An unstated policy is not a point in a phone's favour, and every close rival here publishes one.

The rest. No NFC for tap-to-pay, no microSD slot, no headphone jack, and no wireless charging. None of these is unusual at the price, but at Rs. 36,000 the list of things you are not getting starts to matter.

The realme P4s is the CE6, cheaper, with different trade-offs.

Put the CE6 beside the realme P4s 5G and the resemblance is hard to miss. Both have 8,000mAh at 80W, a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED at 144Hz and 450ppi, OIS on a 50MP main camera, 4K video, stereo speakers and UFS 3.1 storage. Even the footprint matches: 162.5 x 77.5mm against 162.6 x 77.6mm. They run different chips, so this is the same recipe rather than the same phone, and the differences are where the decision lives:

The CE6 wins on the selfie camera, the brighter panel, Wi-Fi 6 and one extra water rating. The P4s wins on the camera that matters more for most people, the update promise, and the price. If your phone lives on video calls and you want every water rating on the sheet, the CE6 earns its premium. If you want the most phone for the money and a written promise of support until 2030, the P4s does. Our realme P4s 5G review makes its case in full.

3 more ways to spend about Rs. 35,000.

POCO X8 Power 5G, about Rs. 31,000 for 8GB + 128GB today: the endurance answer. 10,000mAh at 100W, IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K, and 4 Android upgrades with 6 years of patches, at the cost of 229g and Wi-Fi 5. It costs less than the CE6 and promises more support. Read our POCO X8 Power 5G review.

iQOO Z11, about Rs. 35,000 for 6GB + 128GB: the lighter alternative. A smaller 7,050mAh battery at 44W, but 199g, a Dimensity 7500 Turbo, an 8MP ultra-wide, 4K from both cameras, and 3 Android upgrades with 5 years of patches. See our iQOO Z11 review.

Redmi Note 17 Pro 5G, Rs. 36,500 to Rs. 39,000 for 8GB + 128GB: a bigger 9,000mAh battery and an ultra-wide, with a slower Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 and video capped at 1080p. Our Redmi Note 17 Pro 5G review has the detail.

For the full band, our guide to the best phones between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 50,000 ranks what is worth buying today.