What you need to know
- Buyers of OnePlus's Nord have reported screen tinting issues.
- The company at first said it was a characteristic of OLED displays and not a flaw.
- OnePlus now promises a software update to address the display issue.
OnePlus Nord users on the product forums (opens in new tab) and reddit posted reports this week noting that the Nord's screen was suffering a screen tinting issue on the bottom half of the screen. Specifically, the display would take on a greenish hue at low brightness. Not all users found it distressing, but some were concerned that it was a manufacturing flaw or something similar.
OnePlus initially noted that the screen-casting was a result of the OLED display, giving the following statement to 9to5Google:
OnePlus Nord comes with a high quality 90 Hz AMOLED screen. Under specific circumstances of low brightness, a slight display discoloration may occur due to the properties of the AMOLED display – this is characteristic of all OLED displays and the degree of discoloration 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.
Despite saying it was not a "quality issue", an updated statement to 9to5Google noted that they were "working on an OTA to address this [display issue]," so we'll have to see how that turns out.
The OnePlus Nord is the company's latest smartphone, billed as a return to its roots in terms of market positioning. Reviewing the Nord for Android Central, Harish Jonnalagadda said:
As the Nord borrows a lot of the core features from the OnePlus 8, you ultimately get a device that delivers 90% of the same features at 60% of the cost.
A screen-issue like this (if widespread) may give buyers the impression of cut-corners, but we'll have to see how the fix tackles the issue when it lands.
