Realme 16 Pro+ vs OnePlus Nord 5 boot speed test: A clear performance edge

Boot speed tests may not be the most glamorous way to judge a smartphone, but they can be surprisingly telling. They strip things back to fundamentals and show how well a phone’s hardware and system tuning work together in real-world use.

We pitted the Realme 16 Pro+ against the OnePlus Nord 5 in a side-by-side boot test. The result? The Nord 5 consistently pulled ahead of the Realme 16 Pro+, booting to the home screen roughly five seconds faster. The test was repeated under similar conditions, and the result stayed largely the same.

What makes this more interesting is that storage speeds are not the deciding factor here. Both the OnePlus Nord 5 and the Realme 16 Pro+ use UFS 3.1 storage, with comparable read and write speeds. But the processor makes all the difference here. Let’s dive deeper.

Realme 16 Pro+ vs OnePlus Nord 5: Where the difference really comes from

The advantage comes down to raw processing power. The OnePlus Nord 5 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, featuring a Cortex-X4 prime core clocked at 3.0GHz, backed by the stronger Adreno 735 GPU.

The Realme 16 Pro+, on the other hand, runs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. It does not have an X-series prime core and relies on the less powerful Adreno 722 GPU.

ALSO READ: We used the Realme 16 Pro+ for a couple of days; here’s how it tries to justify its price hike

With storage speeds effectively matched, the processor becomes the deciding factor. The Nord 5 moves through system checks and startup routines more quickly, translating into faster boot times and a snappier first impression.

A five-second difference at startup is unlikely to sway most buying decisions on its own. Still, it reinforces an important takeaway for mid-range buyers. When storage is evenly matched, processor class matters, and that difference can show up even in something as simple as switching the phone on.

Which smartphone would you pick? The OnePlus Nord 5 or the Realme 16 Pro+? Drop a comment with your thoughts! Also, we compared these two phones’ camera zoom capabilities as well, check that out here.