OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G and Buds 2r: Pricing announced for new India-exclusive devices

The Nord CE 3. (Source: OnePlus)

OnePlus has unleashed a more affordable alternative to the new Nord 3 mid-range smartphone - albeit in India only, making the CE 3 the only device in its class to launch with a "flagship-grade" Sony IMX890 main camera. It also boasts NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and Dolby Atmos - however, a selling point of its affordable forebears has gone missing in this generation.

Deirdre O'Donnell, Published 07/06/2023 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 ...

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OnePlus has now formally introduced the CE 3 as the budget version of its flagship Nord 3 counterpart, which effectively means it is a 6.7-inch FHD+ display version of the latter, even down to the new 50+8+2MP camera array.

The Nord CE 2 successor also benefits from more of the 3's main selling points, even down to the increasingly rare in-built IR blaster. It even retains a microSD card slot, which the Nord 3 does not - however, it is only now apparent that both new smartphones have dropped the series' once-prized headphone jack.

The CE 3 has also been revealed to come in a Gray Shimmer hue as well as the Aqua Surge color option hyped earlier. Either SKU starts at INR 26,999 (~US$328) with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of fixed storage, rising to INR 28,999 (~US$352) for the only other 12/256GB configuration.

However, OnePlus has yet to start selling its latest Nord CE variant. Nevertheless, the new Nord Buds 2R - 12.4mm driver versions of their Buds 2 flagship counterparts without ANC but with new colorways and an estimated battery life of up to 38 hours - have been released at a price of just INR 2,199 (~US$27) via oneplus.in or amazon.in.