After OnePlus 8 Pro, now the Nord faces screen tinting issues.
Users report of green, purple or yellow tint in low brightness level in the bottom half of the display.
OnePlus says it's a hardware issue.
Some early buyers of the OnePlus Nord are complaining of green, purple or yellow screen tints. As per 9to5Google, users on the official OnePlus forum and Reddit are reporting of these colour tints at low brightness levels.
As per the report, the early adopters of the Nord have been complaining about multiple display issues. One of the most common ones is the tinting. Nord users report when the display brightness dips below 25%, the darker portions of the display exhibit colour casts or coloured tinting towards the lower half.
In its statement to 9to5Google, OnePlus states, "under specific circumstances of low brightness, slight discolouration may occur due to the properties of the AMOLED display – this is characteristic of all OLED displays, and the degree of discolouration will vary depending on other properties of the display. This is not a quality issue and will not affect daily usage or the durability of the screen. OnePlus will continue to look into cutting-edge display technologies and strive to deliver the best user experience possible."
While it's true that it's a trait of OLED panels and can't be avoided, but it can also be possible that these users are facing a higher degree of tinting that is more prominent. But as of now, Nord users will have to live with it.
OnePlus Nord display issues: It's not the first time
The OnePlus Nord isn't the only handset from the company that is facing display issues. Quite recently, some OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro users also reported similar tinting issues that were later addressed through OTA update. The company confirmed that it's a hardware issue and a common one for AMOLED panels. But then there was another report of a black-crush problem, which is characterized by blocks of different shades of black when a pure black image is displayed on the screen.
OnePlus later issued an official statement on the OnePlus Reddit forums, confirming that the black crush issue is a hardware problem and cannot be fixed via a software update. The company is giving consumers three options if they face this issue on their devices; repair, refund or replacement.
OnePlus users are not alone; many other OEMs get to see complaints from their early users, but it's OnePlus has a consistency. Looking at the past, we can see flickering screen issue, battery issues, black bar issue, and others. OnePlus is usually quick at addressing these issues through its community forum but having such serious faults in newly released models is not something that can be ignored, especially when the company explicitly calls it a key feature.
We were at the OnePlus image lab in Taiwan last year, where the company's co-founder Carl Pei was gathering feedback on the OnePlus 7-series camera from a bunch of Indian journalists and reviewers including me. A fellow journalist asked Carl "what's the point of releasing a smartphone with tons of issues and fix it later?". He had a fair point. Why can't the company release the phone after a proper QA testing rather than handing over faulty devices to the early adopters? Don't forget these guys are the ones who had high expectations and pre-booked the handset without even knowing its price.
Having teething issues at launch is very common across OEMs, but faulty displays are not that common. I am not sure where the gap is in OnePlus' case, but it creates an image as if the company is either rushing the production and not spending resources on Quality Testing or both.
With OnePlus' re-entry into the sub 30K or $500 price segment with the OnePlus Nord, people now have an affordable option to own an OnePlus smartphone that promises to retain the user experience it is known for. In a price-sensitive yet huge market like India, phones like the OnePlus Nord manage to defy the norms. All of that is great, but a product should function as it is intended when it reaches the customer.
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