OnePlus Nord N10 vs Reno5 4G Specs Comparison – Beauty and Beast

The newest mid-range device from OPPO comes in the form of Reno5 4G and features a beautiful design with impressive internal specs. However, is that enough to beat the most affordable 5G phone on the market — OnePlus Nord N10 5G? Let’s find out.

OnePlus Nord N10 vs Reno5 4G Similarities and Differences

Which is the better buy between the OnePlus Nord N10 and Reno5 4G?

Design & Display

While OnePlus Nord N10 is only available in glossy Midnight Ice, the Reno5 comes in either Black or Starry Dream. The former color resembles the Nord N10 a lot, making it a smudgy experience when your hands are sweaty. However, it’s a different case with the Starry Dream variant. It shines, it glows, and it shimmers so long there’s a light source. It’s also a lot easy to hold due to the textured back that adds confidence to grip. What’s even more impressive is that OPPO takes pride in its design philosophy; Reno5 is not only gorgeous but also lightweight. It’s only 171g light and 7.7mm thin. In comparison, the Nord N10 clocks in at 190g and 9.9mm thick. And if you’re cautious about getting scratches on the back of either phone, despite both featuring plastic material, the Reno5 is less likely to showcase these flaws.

Both protected by Gorilla Glass 3, the Nord N10 is only ever so slightly bigger than the Reno5. Although you get the same pinhole setup on the top-left corner, the quality of their panels varies significantly.

Nord N10 is using an IPS LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate. The colors may appear a bit muted and less punchy when you compare it side-by-side with the AMOLED of Reno5. And yes, OPPO’s phone also sports the same high refresh rate, though the screen is capable of peaking at 600nits, which means it’s a very bright screen.

Whether it’s the design or display, Reno5 is clearly ahead in these two categories, with the Nord N10 showing signs of aging features.

Performance

Snapdragon 720G vs Snapdragon 690 – the main difference between these two chipsets is 5G capability. The 720G on the Reno5 may look outdated, but it’s still a capable performer in games, especially day-to-day tasks. Though the Snapdragon 690 offers a built-in 5G modem, making it ready for the future, it’s also slightly faster in CPU and GPU. In a nutshell, it’s almost on-par with the Snapdragon 765G on the original OnePlus Nord. However, you only get 6GB RAM on the Nord N10 and 8GB RAM on the Reno5. This may not be a problem for you, but it may concern some if the usage involves leaving a lot of apps open in the background. Additionally, it appears that the OPPO device is the one that offers a dedicated slot for microSD. And with Android 11 out of the box, there’s a good chance it’ll be upgraded to Android 12 in the future, unlike the Nord N10 that’s stuck until Android 11.

While Nord N10 offers more power for your daily needs, we still don’t recommend getting it just for the sake of 5G.

READ: Top Affordable 5G Phones in the Philippines

Cameras

The camera hardware setup of the two devices is identical. Whichever you pick, you’re getting a 64MP camera with 8MP ultrawide and a pair of 2MP lenses for macro and depth purposes. The same goes for video recording capability. To be more specific, Reno5 is sporting a Sony IMX686 Exmor RS with a slightly bigger aperture for better low-light videos and photos. Thanks partly to that sensor, OPPO debuted its improved portrait video and photo on the Reno5 which you can take advantage of in the stock camera. On the flip end, the Nord N10 is using an Omnivision OV64B, which is less popular than its Sony and Samsung alternatives.

As for the selfie cameras, on paper, the Reno5 holds a marginal advantage due to the use of a 44MP sensor. Compare that to the 16MP of the Nord N10, and one may easily overlook the spec sheet.

It’s hard to decide which of the two is the better camera, but on paper, the Reno5 holds the lead over the Nord N10.

Audio

Whether you’re watching a video or listening to music, both devices are blasting sounds from their respective stereo speakers. While the Nord N10 is listed with a standard dual-speaker, the Reno5 comes equipped with Dolby Atmos technology for better audio quality in gaming, music, and videos. And yes, both still offer a headphone jack. That said, we still have OPPO winning this one.

Battery

Both are listed with at least 4300mAh battery capacity, but the Reno5 may be more of a power-efficient device thanks to the use of an AMOLED screen and the lack of a power-hungry 5G modem. But in case you need to top up, the 30W of the Nord N10 is plenty fast already. Supposedly you want to get faster; the whopping 50W on the Reno5 will get you from 0-100% in just an hour or shorter.

Verdict

OnePlus Nord N10 5G retails for Php14,990 for the 6GB/128GB, and sometimes, it goes as low as Php13,990. It’s already an amazing deal if you’re only looking for a 5G-ready phone with a clean and intuitive UI from Oxygen OS. But if you want something better in design, better in charging, and better in display, the Reno5 4G sets you back at Php18,990. All that minus the extra chops from the chipset and 5G. Is it worth it? We think so.

In 2021, especially in the Philippines, 5G is nowhere to be found except for a few areas in the Metro. And if most of your usage involves the usual tasks and some gaming on the side, the Reno5 4G still delivers while offering a better hardware package.

READ: realme 6 Revisit: Should You Buy It in 2021?