Indeed! OnePlus Nord overhyping marketing strategy aside, they have pretty much nailed what the European market wants: stockish firmware with great support, no frills or hidden gotchas(*), great camera for the segment, and overall great day-to-day phone.
(* - such as pre-installed malware apps that claim to be security apps, intrusive telemetry that is pretty much spying, and even annoying ads if you are not careful when selecting your country as seen in some of Xiaomi's MIUI phones)
Xiaomi fundamentally misunderstands Europeans tastes and priorities. This is not a new issue, but was usually severely alleviated by the great pricing (for the specs) and the "good-will" of the Android One program. With their attempt to move upmarket now they have neither, and are playing catch-up in what should have been their own game.