OnePlus Nord Fails Durability Test, Breaks Under Pressure

OnePlus Nord is seen scratching at level 6 on the Moh scale with deeper groves at level 7.

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 28 July 2020 11:02 IST

OnePlus Nord Fails Durability Test, Breaks Under Pressure

Photo Credit: YouTube/ JerryRigEverything

OnePlus Nord does not fully recover from the fire test either

Highlights

OnePlus Nord has a plastic frame with anodised silver coating
The phone has a glass back panel, optical fingerprint sensor
JerryRigEvertyhing advises not to put OnePlus Nord in the back pocket

OnePlus Nord has been put through JerryRigEverything's durability test and it seems to have passed the scratch test, but yielded during the fire and bend tests. The OnePlus Nord succumbs to pressure with its internals cracking through and the phone being rendered useless after a considerable amount of pressure is put onto it. The OnePlus Nord is the company's new mid-range device, and the durability test reveals some compromises had to be made to meet the aggressive price point. The phone was launched in India last week.

Zack Nelson of JerryRgEverything starts the OnePlus Nord durability video test by scratching the surface at different levels. The phone is seen scratching at level 6 on the Moh scale with deeper groves at level 7. The OnePlus Nord has Gorilla Glass 5 protection up front. He noticed a plastic buffer layer between the front glass and the frame of the phone adding extra protection for occasional falls.

Interestingly, during the durability testing, it is discovered that the OnePlus Nord does not have a metal frame. It has a silver anodised coating to create the illusion of a metal frame, but the frame is actually plastic. The power button and the switch are made from metal though, and the back of the phone is made of glass. The SIM tray is seen to have ingress protection for added safety.

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During the fire test, the OnePlus Nord pixels start to go white after about 20 seconds of continuous flame. These pixels never fully recover from the heat, Nelson says. Scratches don't seem to affect the efficiency of the optical fingerprint scanner, which is great.

However, during the bend test, OnePlus Nord structural issues are highlighted, with a noticeable kink right after the first pressure was applied. After Nelson puts more bending pressure on the phone from the front, a snap is soon heard, and the frame near the volume button seems to have cracked. Soon, the display goes kaput, rendering the phone useless. The exterior glass at the front and back does not get any cracks, but the interior display underneath the glass succumbs under pressure.

Nelson notes that the pressure he put on OnePlus Nord ‘isn't normal' and a phone isn't put through that kind of pressure during everyday use. However, he advises OnePlus Nord users to keep their phones in a safe place when entering an extreme situation, and probably avoid the back pocket.

Is OnePlus 8 Pro the perfect premium phone for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

OnePlus Nord

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Built well, comfortable design
90Hz AMOLED display
5G-ready processor
Good daylight camera performance
Solid battery life

Bad
Average low-light image quality

Read detailed OnePlus Nord review

Display 6.44-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G

Front Camera 32-megapixel + 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 5-megapixel + 2-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 256GB

Battery Capacity 4115mAh

OS Android 10

Resolution 1080x2400 pixels

More OnePlus mobiles OnePlus mobiles price in India

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Further reading: OnePlus Nord, OnePlus Nord Scratch Test, OnePlus Nord Fire Test, OnePlus Nord Bend Test, OnePlus Nord Durability Test, OnePlus, JerryRigEverything