Realme 16 Pro vs OnePlus Nord 5: which phone should you buy for Rs 31,999?

The Realme 16 Pro is the latest addition to the mid-range segment, offering a well-rounded package that includes a 200MP camera, a large 7,000mAh battery, and class-leading dust and water resistance. We’ve compared it with the OnePlus Nord 5, which starts at the same price and remains one of the strongest options in this category. Realme’s number series is one of its most popular lineups with a focus on a balanced offering plus a premium design. The OnePlus Nord series is known for its performance-first approach in the mid-range segment.

Below is a detailed, specifications-based comparison to help you decide which phone makes more sense for your needs.

Price

The Realme 16 Pro (review) is priced at Rs 31,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The OnePlus Nord 5 (review) also starts at Rs 31,999, but offers 256GB storage at the same price. To get an 8GB + 256GB configuration on the Realme 16 Pro, you’ll need to spend Rs 33,999. The table below breaks this down for easier comparison.

Design and display

The Realme 16 Pro features a unique camera design, which does make it stand out among its peers. The smartphone flaunts a new ‘Master Design’ made in collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukusawa. The smartphone has a flat design with very thin bezels, giving it a clean and premium look. The smartphone is available in Master Gold, Pebble Grey, and Orchid Purple colours.

The Realme 16 Pro is also highly durable against dust and water with four IP ratings: IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K.

The OnePlus Nord 5 has a tall and sleek design, but it’s also slightly heavier at 211g than the Realme 16 Pro (192g). It has a vertical camera module at the back, giving it a simple but premium look. The smartphone comes in Phantom Grey, Marble Sands, and Black Infinity colours. It, however, has only one IP65 rating for dust and water resistance. Design is subjective, so the difference here would be durability.

Display specs are quite similar for both phones. The Realme 16 Pro has a 6.78-inch AMOLED display (1272 × 2772 pixels) with a 144Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 6,500 nits. The Nord 5 gets a slightly bigger 6.8-inch display (1280 x 2800 pixels) and a 144Hz refresh rate. The difference between the two phones in terms of display features would be almost negligible.

Performance

The Realme 16 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Max 5G chipset, which has some disappointing scores on benchmarks. In fact, it had one of the lowest scores in the segment. Real-world performance doesn’t translate the same, as the handset doesn’t show any noticeable lags or stutters. It does tend to get warmer than rivals after playing some heavy titles like COD Mobile and BGMI.

AnTuTu score

OnePlus Nord 5

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3

1,481,616

realme 16 Pro

MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Max

983,589

AnTuTu assesses a smartphone's CPU, GPU, memory, and overall user experience (higher is better)

OnePlus Nord 5, on the other hand, is among the top performers in the segment. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 paired with UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5X RAM. The smartphone has already proven to be great for regular and intensive usage, especially gaming.

The Realme 16 Pro qualifies as a daily driver, but if you want more power, then the Nord 5 would be a more reliable choice.

Cameras

The Realme 16 Pro features a 200MP primary camera and an 8MP ultra-wide camera at the back. For selfies, there’s a 50MP front camera on the 16 Pro. The smartphone’s primary camera does a fine job at capturing details, but the colours were personally not appealing as the photos looked slightly washed out. Its low-light performance is impressive, especially for festive occasions. The smartphone also provides multiple focal lengths, but shooting distant subjects won’t give you the clearest images.

You can check out the Realme 16 Pro’s camera samples below:

The OnePlus Nord 5 also has a dual-camera setup with a 50MP primary camera and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. For selfies, the Nord 5 also has a 50MP selfie camera like the 16 Pro. With the Nord 5, you get bright and colourful images in daylight that are very social media-ready. You also get good portraits with accurate skin tones and details. The ultra-wide camera also manages to maintain the same colour science as the primary camera.

Here are the OnePlus Nord 5’s camera samples for a better idea.

Since both phones lack a telephoto camera, they aren’t the most versatile option available. You should be fine with either of the phones for the cameras, by choosing Realme for its various AI features, and the Nord 5 for social media content.

Battery, charging

The Realme 16 Pro has a 7,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging support, which is one of the best setups you can get in this segment. The smartphone ran for 14 hours and 18 minutes in our PCMark battery test, making it one of the leading scores. In real-world usage, the phone easily lasts over a full day with what looks like everyone’s average day, which is a mix of Instagram scrolling, video streaming, light gaming, 5G and always-on display enabled.

PCMark Battery score (in hours)

realme 16 Pro

7000 mAh

14.3

OnePlus Nord 5

6800 mAh

11.8

PCMark battery test measures phone battery life from 100% to 20% (higher is better)

The OnePlus Nord 5 also has a large 6,800mAh battery with 80W fast charging support. With light usage, the phone can stretch to two days, suggesting the phone is very well-optimised. Its PCMark score doesn’t reflect the same, but that shouldn’t be a problem since it offers a reliable backup.

Software

Both phones offer a custom UI with realme UI 7.0 (Android 16) on the Realme 16 Pro and OxygenOS 15 (Android 15). It’s a similar experience with several customizations and AI features. One difference that might be noticeable is that the Realme 16 Pro has more pre-installed apps (63) than the Nord 5 (50). Even with software support, the Nord 5 offers longer updates, which are 4 OS upgrades and 6 security patches. In comparison, the Realme 16 Pro offers 3+4 software support. The Android version is evened out since the Nord 5 is older, but you’ll get longer security updates on the latter.

Summing up

The Realme 16 Pro and the OnePlus Nord 5 are two popular picks in the mid-range segment. The choice is clear here. You can pick the Realme 16 Pro for its premium and durable design, feature-rich cameras, and a reliable battery life. The OnePlus Nord 5 is the better choice for better performance, social-media-ready cameras, and longer software support.