back to article OnePlus Nord is surprisingly fixable compared to earlier stablemates, but common repairs require disassembly

The OnePlus Nord is one of the most heavily hyped phones of 2020. In addition to being OnePlus's first real stab at the mid-range in several years, it also has the distinction of being reasonably easy to repair, according to iFixit. Awarding a repairability score of 6/10, iFixit applauded the modular nature of the phone, with …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How do you hack out the facebook spyware that's pre-installed and unremovable ever since Oneplus drank the koolaid from Zuckerbergs chalice?

    1. Microchip

      There's guides on XDA, and no doubt custom ROMs will follow shortly.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Facepalm

        Zucked

        The physical repair might get a 6/10 but I'd give the bloatware repair a 1/10 - a skilled techie can maybe do it but I'd rather just avoid the phone.

    2. DrXym

      One of the (previously) nice things about OnePlus was the lack of bloatware. Out of the box you got a lightly skinned Android phone. This is starting to change and as an owner I find this ominous and off-putting.

      What's most annoying is how unnecessary baking shit into the firmware even is. Instead they could just show a welcome page that *asks* if you want apps installed as part of setup. If you choose no then that's cool but OnePlus can charge companies to be on this list and be additionally compensated for any that the user elects to install. But no, that's too easy so they're going to ram that garbage and piss people off.

      1. JDX Gold badge

        The tiny minority of users who feel this strongly about things... maybe phone manufacturers do this just to keep them away as customers they'd rather not have. The CAMRA obsessive of the phone world.

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          CAMRA in their early days did very important work, but it's been 'Mission Successful' for several decades now - tied pubs were allowed guest ales, and real beer is widely available. (Though law of unintended consequences is that many pubs sold off by the big breweries were bought by pub companies, whose chief business model is squeezing their publicans by always increasing the rent).

          Many CAMRA members are now 'tickers' - those who prize variety over quality (if a pub only offers a constantly revolving selection of beers, there is no dynamic that rewards a really good beer since a drinker won't know which pub to go to to find it. Most of these 'craft' breweries use cheap drum-malted barley as opposed to the traditional and labour-intensive floor malted barley). For them it is a hobby like stamp collecting, not a campaign.

          Real ales are alive and well, it is our real pubs that are under threat - and CAMRA would do well to focus on that. Pub companies are one issue, as is the beer price escalator that successive governments have adhered to. If they sincerely thought alcohol consumption was a public health issue, they would put more tax on supermarket booze instead of pricing people out of pubs and community engagement.

          Of course in the current situation, in many sectors, many people's jobs and passions are under threat. I would note though that regular pub users are able to talk civilly with others of varying lifestyles and political views - unlike many a Twitter user.

        2. DrXym

          I think this is more the case that Facebook gave them a large sum of cash to stink up the phone experience with an app that people could install for themselves if they actually wanted it.

          Secondly, I've already suggested one way that OnePlus could take cash from Facebook (or whoever) without not pissing off people who don't want it baked into their phone.

  2. Trubbs

    Facts Vs opinion

    I bought a OnePlus 7 pro 5g from EE in GB with no zuckershite in sight. The build is pretty much vanilla stock with a few useful tweaks, sure there is some stuff I will never use but I don't recognize above comments. My previous phone was an S4 running optimised LineageOS Android 10 so I know what near to stock looks like and it looks like the phone I have. Even chocolate factory is tamed (as much as that is possible via Android). Private VPN through home network behind pi-hole etc for internet works lovely. Didn't bother with 5G because we don't have it in the sticks...

  3. Rustbucket

    Battery replacement not that hard

    From the iFixit article removing the battery isn't that hard, but once you do you'd best put a new one in.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Becoming what you hate

    I remember when Oneplus were all about being the flagship killer - a budget route to sturdy, high-spec phones that could hang with the big boys without melting your debit card.

    Now they are all about just being the flagship..

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Becoming what you hate

      The Nord is an OLED screen phone for around £400, when 'flagships' are around £1,000. Yeah, some recent OnePlus phones have been around the £600 - £700 mark, but now they're playing the mid-range game again, why your criticism?

      Other notable phones in the £400 area are the upcoming Pixel 4a (October for the UK, likely good camera) and the iPhone SE (known good SoC, long update period, competent camera)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Becoming what you hate

        The Nord does not have flagship specs. It has (pretty good) £400 specs.

        Meanwhile, their actual flagships cost... As much as other flagships.

        You ask why the criticism? I ask how you can't see it.

  5. Jim84

    Back to the old Nokia days

    I really wish some mid range brand like Nokia would produce a smartphone with a replaceable glass or metal back, separate replaceable metal sides, and an easily replaceable screen. Like a modern version of those plastic cases their candybar phones used to have.

    It can't be that difficult to do can it?

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