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Consider these two examples:

神｛かみ｝を信｛しん｝じるの？

and

神を信じますか？

To me, both mean 'Do you believe in God/gods?', with the first example
possibly slightly more casual than the second. Other than that, are there any
other nuances? I can't really give a context, but in general they seem to be
used slightly differently and I can't seem to pinpoint the exact differences.
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meaning nuances
Differences between verb + の verb + か and -ます/-です?
TBH, I am a little perplexed by what appears to be the sudden popularity of
the question-ending 「の」 among Japanese-learners in the last several years. I
am perplexed because it is used incorrectly or in an unnatural way at least
60-70% of the time by them.

While one could claim that 「神を信じるの？」 and 「神を信じますか？」 have the same surface
meaning, the intended nuances would be quite different if said by native
speakers. Those two sentences would not be interchangeable in real life by our
standards.

「神を信じますか？」 is plain and simple. It means "Do you believe in God?" with no
nuance intended. The speaker does not expect a particular answer.

「神を信じるの？」 is not plain in that the speaker already sort of expects a nagative
answer. Someone who strongly believes in God himself would NOT say this.

OP is correct regarding the informality of the 「の」.
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If I had to make タメ語-丁寧語 correspondences, I would say that roughly

> 神を信じる？ corresponds to 神を信じますか？

and

> 神を信じるの？ corresponds to 神を信じるんですか？

The versions without の are plain yes/no questions, something you ask when
there is nothing in the discourse/environment hinting either way.

The versions without の are used when something in the discourse/environment
has provided a hint to the speaker that the addressee believes in God
(possibly contrary to previous expectation).
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