Sometimes, phones defy categorization. The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition is exactly that kind of confusing creature. At first glance, its name suggests a sporty, performance-oriented device, and true to that spirit, it houses one of MediaTek’s most powerful new chips, the Dimensity 9400E. But scratch past the surface, and you’ll find a strange blend of cutting-edge internals with some of the most jarring cost-cutting choices we’ve seen in recent memory.
We’re talking about a mono speaker, plastic frame, single-band GPS, no headphone jack, no microSD card slot, and—bizarrely—a near-pointless 2MP depth sensor just to meet triple-camera marketing. This phone is packed with contradictions. It’s as if someone raided the parts bin of every OnePlus phone from the past five years and mashed them together in a blender.
Yet, here it is, on sale to the public, and surprisingly, it’s not priced as aggressively low as you’d expect. The Ace 5 Racing Edition exists in this weird vacuum where it’s too good for entry-level gaming, but too flawed to be considered mid-range. Still, it might serve a small niche—maybe those who need long-lasting battery and strong raw performance, and can forgive (or ignore) everything else.
Let’s dissect this phone piece by piece and figure out if there’s any hidden brilliance behind its messy identity.
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Design and Build Quality:
At first glance, the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition actually delivers a surprising amount of visual flair. Unlike the overly familiar round camera bumps we’re used to seeing, OnePlus shifts the module to a tucked corner design, which not only gives the phone a fresh look but also prevents it from digging awkwardly into your palm. That’s a smart touch. The rest of the back panel is wrapped in a wavy, racing-inspired pattern that reflects light in dynamic ways, giving it a somewhat sporty and energetic appeal—true to the “Racing Edition” moniker.
But once you pick it up, the illusion begins to crack. Both the frame and the back panel are made entirely of plastic, and while the build feels decently solid with no flexing or creaking, the material gives off a cheap, hollow vibe. OnePlus does try to spice things up with an IP64 rating for basic water and dust protection, but it doesn’t help enough to elevate the overall feel.
There’s no premium metal rail, no Gorilla Glass protection, and even OnePlus’s iconic alert slider is gone. That slider has been a cult favorite feature for years, so its removal here feels like a letdown—even budget OnePlus phones used to keep it around.
The raised plastic screen bezel is perhaps the worst design choice. It doesn’t sit flush with the frame, creating an awkward lip around the display. Not only is this unattractive, but it actively interferes with gesture navigation. Swiping from the edge feels rough, almost like using a screen protector that doesn’t fit properly.
Button placement is otherwise fine, and haptics are responsive—but in the wrong way. The vibration motor is one of the weakest points in the whole design. It feels loose, mushy, and rattly. In fact, it’s reminiscent of phones from five or six years ago where haptic feedback felt more like a mosquito buzz than anything precise.
There are also no stereo speakers or headphone jack—another bizarre exclusion for a phone that touts entertainment and gaming as part of its identity. It’s hard to ignore these omissions when even entry-level phones undercut it with more complete I/O.
Overall, the Ace 5 Racing Edition’s design is more about flair than function. It looks fast, but feels cheap. And while it avoids some of the common design pitfalls of budget phones, it introduces a few new ones that make the user experience feel compromised.
Display Specs and Biometrics:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition sports a 6.74-inch AMOLED display with a standard 1080p resolution. On paper, this seems serviceable—especially in this price segment—but the devil, as always, is in the details. The panel itself is flat with noticeable bezels, especially at the bottom, and the raised plastic lip surrounding it creates both aesthetic and ergonomic annoyances. It might seem minor, but it impacts swipe navigation and edge gestures negatively.
Brightness is adequate for indoor use and tolerable under direct sunlight, though peak brightness caps out below the 1100-nit mark, which puts it behind mid-range phones that go north of 1300 nits. HDR support exists but is limited to basic HDR10, with no Dolby Vision. The contrast ratio, however, is solid thanks to the AMOLED tech, delivering deep blacks and punchy colors.
Refresh rate is where things get a bit more interesting. The panel supports up to 120Hz, and scrolling feels smooth across the UI. But it lacks LTPO tech, so refresh rate transitions aren’t dynamic or battery-efficient. Also, touch sampling maxes out at 240Hz, which sounds good on spec sheets but doesn’t translate into precise real-world responsiveness due to the raised bezel interrupting natural finger flow.
Biometrics include an optical in-display fingerprint scanner and standard front camera-based face unlock. The fingerprint scanner works reliably and is placed at a comfortable height, but it’s not the fastest sensor we’ve tested. It occasionally hesitates with damp fingers or in bright light conditions.
Face unlock is swift in good lighting but falls apart in the dark—even when the screen brightness is cranked up. There’s no IR sensor to help it function in low-light situations, which is expected at this price but still a letdown given OnePlus’s past record of solid facial recognition tech.
The color calibration out of the box leans toward cooler tones, but users can adjust the display temperature in settings. There’s also an eye comfort mode and grayscale reading mode for nighttime use, though the lack of DC dimming is noticeable if you’re sensitive to PWM flickering.
Lastly, Gorilla Glass protection is not mentioned anywhere, and that raised frame means the screen may be prone to damage from accidental drops. You’ll definitely want a screen protector out of the box.
Software Updates and Apps:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition ships with ColorOS 14.1, the China-specific variant of OxygenOS, running on top of Android 14. If you’re importing this device, be prepared for a very different software experience compared to global OnePlus phones. There’s no Google Play Store out of the box, although sideloading it is possible with some effort.
The UI is polished, fast, and largely consistent with Oppo’s ecosystem design. It’s visually vibrant with customizable themes, fonts, and animations. App drawer behavior, split-screen gestures, and one-handed mode are all present, though some system animations feel slower than they should, especially considering the device’s powerful chipset.
Pre-installed apps are plentiful—and that’s not a good thing. Expect to find multiple regional Chinese services, duplicate apps for messaging, browser, and music, and even some promotional apps. While most of them can be uninstalled, it takes effort to clean up the bloat.
AI features such as smart gallery search, auto call recording, and clipboard sync are included. There’s also a “Smart Sidebar” for quick access to frequently used tools and a floating window multitasking feature that works well for social and video apps.
On the upside, OnePlus promises two major Android updates and three years of security patches, which is more generous than many budget competitors. However, these updates may be delayed due to the device’s regional firmware base and lack of global prioritization.
Overall, the software experience is fluid and feature-rich, but it comes with caveats—especially for users outside China who prefer Google’s services and a cleaner UI out of the box.
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Performance and Chipsets:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition’s most surprising asset is its chipset: the MediaTek Dimensity 9400E. This chip is built on the same 4nm process as the flagship Dimensity 9300+ and shares nearly identical architecture, making it a performance powerhouse in disguise. In daily tasks, the phone flies—app launches are quick, UI animations are smooth, and multitasking between heavy apps shows no stutter.
Benchmark scores are impressive for the price tier, rivaling Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in several synthetic tests. Thermal throttling only starts to kick in after extended high-load usage, and even then, performance dips are mild compared to similarly priced rivals. The phone handles background tasks with ease thanks to LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage—again, rare in this price range.
Thermals are well-managed despite the plastic build, thanks to a surprisingly large vapor chamber cooling system. There’s no lag when pushing through social media, heavy multitasking, or large file compression. Honestly, this phone could’ve passed for a mid-range flagship had it not been for the obvious design compromises elsewhere.
Gaming Performance and Tests:
Gaming is where the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition unexpectedly shines. The Dimensity 9400E, coupled with a vapor chamber cooling system, delivers flagship-level gaming muscle—at least in terms of raw power. In Genshin Impact, the phone manages a near-constant 60fps on medium to high settings for the first 9 minutes before throttling begins, yet it remains above 50fps well into long sessions.
Titles like Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Asphalt 9 all run smoothly, with no frame drops or overheating issues. However, the experience is marred by external limitations. The mono speaker makes in-game audio sound flat and easy to muffle. Worse still, the lack of a headphone jack prevents wired audio while charging, which is a problem for marathon sessions.
Touch response is rated at 240Hz, but the raised screen bezel interferes with swipe accuracy, especially in MOBAs or shooters. Haptics are another weak point—vibration feedback feels soft, imprecise, and quite outdated. Still, the core GPU and CPU performance here is far better than what the rest of the phone suggests, making this a bit of a sleeper hit for budget-conscious gamers.
Battery Life and Charging Speed:
Battery life is one of the strongest aspects of the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition. Thanks to a large 7,100mAh silicon-carbon battery, the phone easily delivers two full days of moderate use and well over 8 hours of screen-on time. Even during intensive gaming or video playback, it holds up better than many competitors with smaller batteries.
Charging is handled by an 80W fast charger, which surprisingly maintains high wattage throughout the cycle, allowing a full charge in under 55 minutes. There’s no wireless charging here—which is expected—but the efficiency of the wired solution is impressive. Thermal management during charging is solid as well, and bypass charging for gaming sessions is a welcome addition.
Connectivity:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition includes a mix of modern and outdated connectivity features, leading to a confusing experience. On the positive side, it supports 5G dual-SIM standby, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC. Daily connectivity like streaming, browsing, and Bluetooth pairing is fast and stable. File transfers over Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth are snappy, and screen casting works with Miracast-compatible TVs.
There’s also an IR blaster, a rare inclusion that’s useful for remote control functions. However, the phone lacks eSIM support, which is becoming common even in mid-range devices.
One major disappointment is the inclusion of only single-band GPS. Navigation is usable but not as fast or accurate as dual-band solutions. If you’re someone who relies on location tracking or frequently uses map apps, you’ll notice this immediately—especially in dense urban environments.
USB-C is present but capped at USB 2.0 speeds, limiting data transfer performance. And as noted earlier, the phone has no headphone jack or microSD card slot—two basic features often expected at this price point.
Overall, while it covers the connectivity basics, some strange omissions and cost-cutting choices pull it down from being truly competitive.
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Camera Specs and Performance:
Rear Camera Setup
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition technically offers a triple-camera array on paper, but in reality, it functions more like a single-camera phone. The main sensor is a 50MP shooter—likely using a mid-tier Sony or Omnivision sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and phase-detection autofocus. It’s flanked by two largely filler modules: an 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP depth sensor.
In daylight, the main camera performs reasonably well. Photos exhibit solid detail retention, natural colors, and balanced dynamic range. Shadows and highlights are generally well-handled, and shutter lag is minimal. The processing leans toward the cooler side, but that can be adjusted with manual tuning in the Pro Mode. Edge detection in portrait mode, however, heavily relies on the 2MP depth sensor—and it’s hit-or-miss.
Low-light performance is surprisingly usable. Night mode automatically kicks in and applies multi-frame stacking, helping to preserve brightness and reduce noise. That said, sharpness takes a noticeable hit, and motion blur becomes an issue even with slight hand movement. There’s no OIS here, so stability entirely depends on your grip.
Ultrawide and Macro Performance
The 8MP ultrawide sensor is just barely passable. Dynamic range is narrow, and colors often look washed out compared to the main camera. It also struggles in anything less than ideal lighting conditions. Edge distortion is controlled, but detail falls apart quickly at the corners. You won’t be using this for anything more than casual wide-angle shots in bright outdoor settings.
The 2MP depth sensor feels like an unnecessary addition. It exists solely to enable background blur in portrait shots and does not contribute to image quality. There’s no dedicated macro lens, and the main sensor lacks a close-focusing mode, so macro capabilities are effectively nonexistent.
Front Camera
The front camera is a basic 16MP sensor with fixed focus. Selfies are usable in good lighting, delivering decent skin tone accuracy and acceptable sharpness. However, dynamic range is poor—any bright background easily gets blown out. Beauty mode is enabled by default and aggressively smooths skin unless manually toned down. Low-light selfies are grainy, and screen flash helps only slightly.
Video Recording
Video is limited to 4K at 30fps on the main camera. There’s no stabilization worth speaking of—EIS is present, but wobbly footage and jittery pans are unavoidable. The ultrawide can only record at 1080p, and quality is noticeably worse than the main sensor. There’s no 4K60, no OIS, no HDR video, and no advanced modes like log capture or manual focus tracking.
The front camera maxes out at 1080p, and footage is soft even in daylight. Audio capture is tinny, and background noise suppression is inconsistent. If video is important to you, the Ace 5 Racing Edition is far from ideal.
Camera App Experience
The default camera app includes standard modes like Pro, Night, Panorama, and Slow Motion. The Pro mode offers granular control over ISO, shutter speed, focus, and white balance—useful for experienced users, but limited by the camera hardware’s potential. Focus peaking is absent, and histogram support is minimal.
Switching between lenses is not seamless—there’s a noticeable delay and occasional UI stutter. HDR mode is automatic, with no toggle to disable it, which can result in over-processed images under harsh lighting.
Overall Camera Verdict
At the end of the day, the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition’s camera system is purely functional. It takes decent daytime shots with the main camera and produces acceptable portraits with digital blur assistance, but beyond that, there’s not much to praise. With no true telephoto or macro capabilities and weak video performance, the Ace 5 Racing’s photographic versatility is easily outclassed by even similarly priced competition.
If camera performance is a top priority for you, this phone will likely disappoint.
Price and Availability:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition is currently available in China through retailers like JD.com and GeekWheels, with a starting price of approximately ¥1,699 (~$239 USD). At this price point, it competes directly with other value-focused devices like the Redmi Note 13 Pro and Realme Narzo 70 series, both of which offer more balanced spec sheets.
There’s no official global release, and importing will require flashing Google services manually. Availability outside of Asia is very limited, so Western users will have to deal with Chinese firmware and region-specific limitations.
Considering the powerful chipset, large battery, and fast charging, the base pricing is aggressive—but its savings come at a steep cost in key features. For just $25–$30 more, competing phones offer stereo speakers, better cameras, and superior build quality, making this pricing only reasonable for niche use cases.
Conclusion:
The OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition is one of the most contradictory smartphones we’ve seen in a while. On one hand, it houses a genuinely powerful flagship-grade chipset, a massive 7100mAh battery, fast 80W charging, and even adds small perks like an IR blaster and IP64 rating. These would suggest a phone aimed at power users or mobile gamers on a budget.
But then the rest of the package falls apart—mono speakers, a cheap plastic build, outdated screen design, weak haptics, and one of the least useful triple-camera arrays in recent memory. Even core basics like dual-band GPS, a headphone jack, or stereo audio are missing. It’s a collection of premium internals duct-taped to a budget frame.
If you’re buying it solely for gaming performance or long battery life and are willing to tolerate glaring compromises, it might be worth a look—especially for secondary use, like a backup phone or for non-demanding users like elderly family members.
For everyone else, however, the Ace 5 Racing Edition feels like an unfinished prototype that accidentally went to production. Even die-hard OnePlus fans may find it hard to justify over more balanced alternatives just a few dollars more.
Pros
- Flagship-grade Dimensity 9400E chipset
- Massive 7100mAh silicon-carbon battery
- Decent AMOLED 120Hz display
- Efficient thermal management
- Solid connectivity extras
- Competitive pricing in China
Cons
- Poor build quality and design quirks
- Disappointing camera system
- Missing core features
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Is the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition good for gaming?
- Yes, despite its budget pricing, the Ace 5 Racing Edition features the flagship-level Dimensity 9400E chip, delivering smooth gameplay in titles like Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile. However, the mono speaker, weak haptics, and lack of a headphone jack can detract from the experience.
Does the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition have Google Play Store support?
- No, the phone runs ColorOS based on Chinese firmware and does not include Google services out of the box. You can sideload the Play Store, but it requires manual setup and isn’t officially supported.
What is the camera quality like on the Ace 5 Racing Edition?
- The main 50MP camera delivers decent daylight and acceptable night photos, but the secondary lenses are weak. There’s no OIS, and video recording is limited to 4K30 without stabilization, making it one of the least versatile camera systems in its price range.
How long does the battery last on the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition?
- With its large 7100mAh battery, the phone easily lasts up to two full days of mixed use. It also supports 80W fast charging, reaching full charge in under an hour.
Is the OnePlus Ace 5 Racing Edition available globally?
- No, it’s currently a China-exclusive device. You’ll have to import it and deal with Chinese software. There’s no global ROM or official international support.
Does the Ace 5 Racing Edition support microSD cards or a headphone jack?
- Unfortunately, no. The phone lacks both a microSD card slot and a headphone jack, which limits expandability and wired audio use.
🔁 Alternative #1: Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G
Why: While slightly less powerful in raw GPU terms, this phone brings a 200MP camera, stereo speakers, IP68 rating, and global ROM support. It’s a smarter buy for photography enthusiasts who want better hardware and fewer regional software headaches. Buy Redmi Note 13 Pro+ on Amazon now!!
🔁 Alternative #2: Poco F6 5G
Why: Featuring the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, the Poco F6 delivers excellent performance, stereo speakers, Gorilla Glass Victus, and strong software support via MIUI/HyperOS. It provides better long-term usability and a more balanced feature set for nearly the same price. Buy Poco F6 on Amazon now!!
