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 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.
