OnePlus Nord 2 is a solid flagship killer that is priced well!
OnePlus started as a flagship killer way back in 2013 and now we have the most popular Nord series where we saw the launch of the first smartphone the OnePlus Nord (Review) 2020 which became a very popular smartphone and packed some very good specifications. This smartphone has made a huge chunk of sales ever since its launch and this year OnePlus also launched the most affordable smartphone, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Review).
However, OnePlus smartphones did not impress much in terms of cameras but this year they partnered with Hasselblad for the improved cameras on the OnePlus 9 series. Talking about cameras, OnePlus Nord was just good but now with the OnePlus Nord 2, OnePlus has improved the camera performance by a large margin by providing a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera.
The OnePlus Nord 2 comes as a solid upgrade over the original OnePlus Nord as it packs the same display as before, but comes in a newer design and looks almost close to the OnePlus 9 series launched this year. Other than this, OnePlus has doubled its performance also by providing the Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset making it the first OnePlus smartphone to have a Mediatek chipset.
There are some other very good upgrades which we will see in the full review. But the question is that can the OnePlus Nord 2 stack itself up in this competitive segment where we have the likes of the iQOO 7, Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review), and the newly launched POCO F3 GT? How good of an upgrade is it over the original Nord and is it worth buying? Let's find out in the full review.
OnePlus Nord 2 Design:
In terms of design, the OnePlus Nord 2 does not excite me much as it continues to provide simplicity and a good design. When compared to the original OnePlus Nord, the dimensions remain the same but the weight has gone up by just 5 grams i.e. 189grams and is 8.2mm thick. The biggest change is the camera module which is now more inspired by the OnePlus 9 series.
The camera module at the back has triple cameras instead of the four that were on the original OnePlus Nord and this camera module looks much better compared to the vertically stacked quad cameras on the original OnePlus Nord. The OnePlus Nord 2 is available in three different colors - Gray Sierra, Blue Haze, and Green Wood where the Green Wood looks the most attractive with the leather finish.
The back is not as glossy as the original OnePlus Nord but it does catch fingerprints especially the Blue Haze variant. In terms of protection, both the front as well as the back is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 which is great considering OnePlus uses the same Gorilla Glass 5 in its flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 9 Pro (Review). There is still no IP rating at the back
But you do get P2i coating and to the sides, there is a plastic frame instead of an aluminum frame which feels slightly cheap. To the right side, we have the alert slider and the power button, and to the left are the volume buttons. At the bottom, there is a dual SIM card slot, USB Type-C port, a primary microphone, and a loudspeaker grille.
Like all other OnePlus smartphones, this too does not have a microSD card slot for storage expansion and also no 3.5mm headphone jack. The top only has the secondary noise-canceling microphone. On the front, there is a single punch-hole display compared to a dual punch-hole display on the original OnePlus Nord. This selfie punch-hole camera has a 32MP camera which will be later discussed in the camera section.
OnePlus Nord 2 Display:
The OnePlus Nord 2 sports a 6.43-inches Full HD+(1080x2400 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display similar to the one found on the original OnePlus Nord and OnePlus Nord CE. This display has a screen-to-body ratio of 19.5:9. Just like the original OnePlus Nord, the bezels are slimmer on the sides whereas it is slightly thicker at the bottom.
The display has a 90Hz refresh rate which ensures smooth scrolling, playing games, and multi-tasking a breeze. But OnePlus could have given a 120Hz refresh rate which could have made it even smoother. Combined with a 90Hz refresh rate, there is a 180Hz touch sampling rate that provides faster touch responses during gaming. It also misses out on the auto-switch between refresh rate options.
In terms of color reproduction and viewing angles, the display is very good and we had not noticed any green tint issues. The display also supports HDR10 content and Widevine L1, so streaming HD content from OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime, etc. is a breeze. But Netflix content is only available in HD content instead of HDR which OnePlus could fix in an upcoming software update.
Talking about brightness, the OnePlus Nord 2 achieved a peak brightness of around 650nits and with normal brightness, we could get around 455nits which is not the brightest but still good. You can set the color temperature from warmer to cooler on the display like Vivid or Natural. The display also houses an in-display optical fingerprint scanner which is fast and accurate. The face unlocks also work faster.
OnePlus Nord 2 Performance:
The OnePlus Nord 2 comes with the biggest upgrade in terms of performance over the original OnePlus Nord. With the OnePlus Nord 2, you are getting the latest and greatest from Mediatek which is the Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset making it the first OnePlus smartphone to have a Mediatek chipset. This chipset is also found on the Realme X7 Max (Review) and the newly launched POCO F3 GT.
The Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset is an octa-core chipset that has a tri-cluster setup that includes: 1x3.0GHz Cortex-A78 core with 3x2.6GHz Cortex-A78 core and another 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 cores were the first four cores are meant to achieve high performance and heavy demanding tasks like gaming and lower-powered cores are meant for handling lighter applications.
This chipset is coupled with the Mali G77 MC9 GPU and is built on an efficient 6nm process. This chipset handles every task smoothly without breaking a sweat. The chipset provides a flagship-level experience and is almost close to Snapdragon 870 chipset found on the Xiaomi Mi 11X and iQOO 7. So what makes the word AI different compared to other Mediatek Dimesnity 1200 chipsets?
Mediatek partnered with OnePlus and have together worked on the DORA (Open Resource Architecture) platform and this shows up in the overall camera performance and also in terms of the display as you are getting some new features like AI Color Boos and the AI resolution Boost which are compatible with many of the applications like Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
So these AI features are only exclusive to the OnePlus Nord 2. In terms of gaming, the OnePlus Nord 2 handles almost all the heavy games with ease like Asphalt 9 Legend, Call of Duty Mobile, and also BGMI well. With Call of Duty Mobile, we could achieve a very high frame rate and high graphics and the gameplay was smooth without any stutters or lags. The gameplay was best at 60fps.
After a long time of gaming, the back of the OnePlus Nord 2 felt slightly warmer to the touch but OnePlus has claimed that they have implemented some cooling system to dissipate the heat from the back. However, the gameplay is not as good as the Snapdragon 888 chipset but remains excellent. Only if Mediatek works to provide an Extreme frame rate which could be a better option.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is available in three variants that include 6/8/12GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage. The base variant is most of the time unavailable so the 8GB RAM option makes it a better buy. In terms of benchmarks, the OnePlus Nord 2 scored 672237 on Antutu v8 which is very much closer to Snapdragon 870 chipset but after running multiple benchmarks, the scores were very lower.
Overall the performance is a huge leap over the original OnePlus Nord as the benchmark scores are almost doubled on Anututu v8 and plus there is support for 6 5G bands which is a big upgrade over the single band of 5G present on the original OnePlus Nord and Nord CE. This also makes it the first OnePlus smartphone to have a maximum of 5G bands when compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro that has 2 bands of 5G.
OnePlus Nord 2 Software:
The biggest announcement that OnePlus made this year was their merger with the parent company Oppo and this we have noticed with the OnePlus Nord 2. The forte of every OnePlus smartphone is the OxygenOS experience that it provides with no ads and bloatware. But now the integration with ColorOS seems to be a good move as well as a bad move to some masses.
The base code of ColorOS and OxygenOS has been integrated behind the scenes and you will not notice much at the first glance. If you look at the OxygenOS 11.3 on the OnePlus Nord 2, from the first look there is no bloatware present but once you go to settings, the icons now look more like ColorOS. The icons, fonts, animations, etc remain the same but the camera application is straight away from Oppo.
Since there is the Oppo camera application, you now get some additional features like Bokeh mode for videos and also better AI processing in images and videos. The biggest change comes in the personalization, privacy, display, and battery settings which have been straight away taken from ColorOS, and in terms of Ambient Display provides newer designs and customizations.
However, you still have the Zen Mode to relax yourselves from the usual lifestyle, Work-Life Balance Mode, and also other features like Game Assistant which shows the FPS meter and also provides better gameplay by showing CPU temperature. The biggest reason for this merger means faster and more stable software updates.
OnePlus Nord 2 will receive two years of Android updates and three years of security updates as claimed by OnePlus which makes it a very sweet deal and also head to head with Samsung that has every good track record of providing software updates. To sum it up, the merger provides a major advantage while still retaining the OxygenOS core principles i.e. no ads or bloatware like ColorOS.
OnePlus Nord 2 Cameras:
The OnePlus Nord 2 sports a triple camera setup instead of the quad-camera setup on the original OnePlus Nord. The main camera is now the newer 50MP f/1.88 Sony IMX766 sensor which is a similar ultrawide camera found on the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. This main camera comes with OIS and the other two cameras include the 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera with a 2MP monochrome camera.
The front has a similar 32MP f/2.4 Sony IMX615 sensor as found on the OnePlus Nord. But it does miss out on the 8MP selfie camera present on the original OnePlus Nord. The camera interface as said earlier is the biggest change as the interface is directly been used from ColorOS so you get AI Scene Enhancement, and OnePlus has worked with color saturation also.
The images from the main camera come out with excellent details and the dynamic range is also very good. However, there is some amount of noise present but the details do look sharper and the colors look well saturated but still, there is some overprocessing in the images. With the HDR mode, you can take even brighter images with great contrast and true natural colors.
Though there is no telephoto camera, the main camera on the OnePlus Nord 2 can do 2x and 5x digital zoom. At 2x zoom, there is some noise present and also the colors look saturated but switching to 5x zoom, the images result in more amount of noise and the details look blurred in the images. The same goes for the night, where details are adequately good at 2x zoom, but at 5x zoom, they are very bad.
At night, this camera shows a significant improvement compared to the original OnePlus Nord. The details look sharper with less amount of noise in the background, the dynamic range and contrast are good. The highlights in shadows have good details and all low-exposure images are handled much better. There is also a dedicated Night Mode which does even a better job.
The images shot with the Night Mode turned on, came out to be excellent as the details looked sharper and improvement in dynamic range is seen. The colors come out more natural and since there is OIS, the images do not have blur. It even restores some of the blown highlights in shadows. With the 50MP resolution mode, you can take detailed images but they do come with slightly cropped details.
The 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera does a good job in terms of details and the dynamic range is above average. There is some amount of noise in the images and the color saturation is not much on the natural side as there is slight oversharpening in the background. The 123-degree field of view ensures a wider field of view in the images.
At night, the images come out to be average with muted colors and there is a lot of noise present. The dynamic range is just average and if you look around the edges, there is lot of distortion present. However, there is also a Night Mode which improves the exposure in the background and also improves the color saturation and dynamic range thus reducing noise also.
The main camera takes some very good portraits also. The level of background blur is good and edge detection has been implemented well. The dynamic range and contrast both are good. You get even different filters for portraits that have come straight away from the ColorOS camera application. There is no macro camera, but here the ultrawide camera doubles up as a macro camera.
The macro images have good dynamic range and the color saturation is also on the natural side. There is some noise present but still better compared to the dedicated 2MP macro camera on the original OnePlus Nord. There is a 2MP monochrome camera which feels like an extra as it is used for black and white images.
The front 32MP camera takes images with good dynamic range and the selfies result to 8MP by default and thankfully OnePlus did not provide the 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor which they have been using since the OnePlus 7 series till today's date. The selfies have good color saturation and contrast. There is very little noise present and the similar goes for the portraits.
In terms of videos, the OnePlus Nord 2 can record 4K videos at 30fps, though the chipset supports 4K at 60fps. The video footage on the OnePlus Nord 2 comes out with good and sharper-looking details. The dynamic range and contrast, both are good in videos. The presence of OIS does help in more stabilized videos with very little noise and also there is not much overexposure in the background.
The 1080p videos at 60/30fps come out to be good with great color saturation but at times the camera algorithm tries to boost colors in videos. The videos result in less noise as there is OIS present and the dynamic range is good. The ultrawide camera is also restricted to 1080p at 60fps and the video footage comes out with average details and dynamic range with a lot of noise present.
The selfie camera on the OnePlus Nord 2 can record 1080p videos at 60fps and the resulting output comes out to be good with sharper details and good color saturation. There is EIS present to help in stabilized videos with less noise present. The portrait videos come out great with Oppo's Flare Portrait Video that handles background blur much better and you can use filters also.
Talking about videos, since there is Oppo's camera app, you get features like the AI Night video, AI Flare Portrait Video, some new filters, and also Dual Video Mode using which you can shoot videos both the front camera and the back camera at the same time. Overall, OnePlus Nord 2 provides a much better camera experience and this merger with Oppo has come as an extra bonus.
OnePlus Nord 2 Battery Life:
The OnePlus Nord 2 sports a larger 4500mAh battery which is more than the 4115mAh battery on the original OnePlus Nord. This battery can make the smartphone easily last for two days with normal usage and the display being set to the 90Hz refresh rate. Switching to standard 60Hz results in an even better battery life.
With heavy usage and display set to 90Hz, the smartphone easily lasted for a single day with some charge left and all heavy tasks included gaming Call Of Duty Mobile continuously for three-four hours, watching videos on OTT platforms for 4-5 hours, and also scrolling through webpages. The standard screen-on time was around 7-8 hours which is exceptionally good as the chipset is built on a 6nm process.
The OnePlus Nord 2 now sports a faster 65W charging compared to 30W fast charging on the original OnePlus Nord. The 65W fast charger bundled with the OnePlus Nord 2 could easily charge it from 0 to 100 percent within 40-45 minutes. However, 0 to 50 percent comes up within 15 minutes. Overall, the battery life and charging speeds are great on the OnePlus Nord 2.
OnePlus Nord 2 Audio Quality:
Another big upgrade that the OnePlus Nord 2 has is a set of stereo speakers which is a big upgrade over the OnePlus Nord which had single bottom-firing speakers. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack which is only present on the OnePlus Nord CE. The audio output is great with clear bass and the sound feels great at the highest volume level.
Verdict:
Overall, the OnePlus Nord 2 seems to be a big upgrade over the original OnePlus Nord in terms of all the scenarios. The build and design have not changed much as you do get a glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the 90Hz display is a great one to watch content and also for playing games, then the biggest upgrade comes in terms of performance with the newer Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset.
The 6nm process of the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset ensures great performance in daily activities and also while gaming. The battery life is also a good improvement over the original OnePlus Nord with faster charging from 30W to 65W. However, the biggest improvement is in terms of cameras as the primary 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor does a far better job than the 48MP Sony IMX586 on the OnePlus Nord.
Even you could say that the OnePlus Nord 2 has better cameras compared to the OnePlus 9R (Review) which is priced above the OnePlus Nord 2. Another big thing we see is the codebase of OxygenOS has been integrated with ColorOS so as a result, OnePlus will provide more stable and faster software updates, and the UI though having some ColorOS elements, still is ad-free and there is no bloatware.
The dual stereo speakers also come to provide an excellent multimedia experience combined with the 90Hz display which is also a good upgrade over the original OnePlus Nord. And talking about 5G, you are getting 6-7 bands of 5G compared to just a single band of 5G on the original OnePlus Nord. So as an overall package, the OnePlus Nord 2 is worth buying and definitely could give serious competition to the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, etc.
0 Comments
Please do not enter any spam link in the comment box