India, July 8 -- It was in the midst of the year of the pandemic, 2020 if you've forgotten, when OnePlus decided it was the right time to find their true north. The OnePlus Nord series was born, a more affordable take on Android phones, reminiscent to their earlier days of the OnePlus One. Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, had revealed these plans in an exclusive conversation with me, a few months prior. Five years later, the Nord 5 arrives with the sort of poise that simply adds a sense of seriousness to OnePlus' already on-point smartphone portfolio. They don't launch many phones in a year, something their rivals also are beginning to replicate, which makes success all the more pivotal.

The OnePlus Nord 5, at least as far as the collective of ...