A tale of two siblings- Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2!!
The premium mid-range smartphone segment has seen some very big competitors from manufacturers like Samsung, OnePlus, Realme, POCO, and Xiaomi. One such popular smartphone that holds a good edge over others is the OnePlus Nord 2 that has been in the market for quite some time and provides some really good specifications like a 90Hz AMOLED display, a Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset, a good set of cameras, and much more.
On the other hand, Realme has come up with its GT series which made Realme realize that they are back on the track with the launch of its two GT smartphones earlier this year and now that has come up with a new offering i.e. the Realme GT Neo 2 that offers almost a flagship-level experience and has some of the best specifications like a 120Hz AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 870 chipset, faster 65W charging, etc.
How would the two competitors stack up against each other and we would see if the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) with the slightly cheaper price tag is worth considering or should you pay extra and go for the Realme GT Neo 2 (Review) that provides a good value for money? Let's find out in the full comparison.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs Realme GT Neo 2 Design:
Both the Realme GT Neo 2 and the OnePlus Nord 2 have a lot in common when it comes to the build and design. Both have Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front as well as back. The back of the Realme GT Neo 2 has a matte finish with the Dare To Leap logo strip running across from top to bottom and alongside is a Realme logo in a thicker strip especially if you consider the Neo Green color.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has a plain and simpler look with the OnePlus logo and also has a matte finish that feels slightly slippery when compared to that of the Realme GT Neo 2. Both have a rectangular module that consists of triple cameras with a LED flashlight. The camera hump is slightly felt on the OnePlus Nord 2 as it protrudes a bit compared to the Realme GT Neo 2.
To the sides, both have a plastic frame instead of metallic that houses the power button and volume buttons but the OnePlus Nord 2 has an additional alert slider to control volume. Both do not have any IP rating but have splashproof backs. At the top, both have a secondary noise-canceling microphone and at the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a primary microphone, and a loudspeaker grill.
The Realme GT Neo 2 is slightly heavier at 204grams compared to 189grams on the OnePlus Nord 2. On the front, both have single punch hole displays with minimum bezels around the sides. So build and design is a personal preference whether you like the flashy design of the Realme GT Neo 2 or the simple look and more lighter OnePlus Nord 2.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Display:
The Realme GT Neo 2 has a slightly larger display at 6.62-inches compared to the 6.43-inches display on the OnePlus Nord 2. Both these displays are AMOLED and have Full HD+(1080x2400 pixels) resolution. As these displays are AMOLED, the color reproduction and viewing angles are great on both. The OnePlus Nord 2 gets a 90Hz refresh rate whereas the Realme GT Neo 2 has a slightly better 120Hz refresh rate.
The Realme GT Neo 2 gets an Auto-Select option where the refresh rate adjusts automatically depending on the application in usage whereas there is no Auto-Switch option on the OnePlus Nord 2 as there are only two modes - Smooth 90Hz and Standard 60Hz. But when it comes to games like Call Of Duty Mobile and Youtube, both run on standard 60Hz only.
Other than this, the Realme GT Neo 2 has a whopping 600Hz touch sampling rate that makes it very faster and smoother while scrolling between applications and also while playing games. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a 240Hz touch sampling rate that makes touch responses faster. Both these displays have support for Widevine L1 and HDR10+, but there is no support for HDR on Netflix on both of these yet.
In terms of brightness, the display on the Realme GT Neo 2 can go as bright as 1300nits when compared to 900nits of peak brightness of the OnePlus Nord 2 while watching the content in HDR. Also under direct sunlight, the Realme GT Neo 2 has better visibility compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. When it comes to color reproduction, both have similar Gentle and Vivid modes and you can set the color temperature also.
As both these have AMOLED displays, there is an optical in-display fingerprint scanner that is fast and accurate on both. Overall, both these displays are great but the Realme GT Neo 2 holds the edge as it has a slightly higher refresh rate, better touch sampling rate, a slightly larger display, and also better brightness levels.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Performance:
Both these smartphones run on flagship chipsets where the OnePlus Nord 2 is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset, the Realme GT Neo 2, on the other hand, runs on the Snapdragon 870 chipset which has been the best flagship chipset in 2021 when it comes to stability and performance.
The performance feels equally good on both whether it is multitasking between applications or playing games.
BGMI on OnePlus Nord 2
BGMI on Realme GT Neo 2
All the games like Call Of Duty Mobile, BGMI, etc ran smoothly at the highest graphics settings but in BGMI, the Realme GT Neo 2 could run on Ultra graphics with Extreme frame rates whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 can run on HDR graphics with Extreme rate as it cannot run on Ultra graphics. There were no frame drops noticed on the Realme GT Neo 2 but there were slight frame drops on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Clearly, the Realme GT Neo 2 has a slightly better gaming performance than the OnePlus Nord 2. After long hours of gaming, the OnePlus Nord 2 felt warmer as there is no dedicated liquid cooling system whereas on the Realme GT Neo 2 you get an eight-layer stainless steel vapor cooling system that maintains the peak temperature while gaming, and the back also does not feel warm.
In terms of benchmarks, the Snapdragon 870 on the Realme GT Neo 2 scores slightly higher compared to the Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset on the OnePlus Nord 2 in both Geekbench 5.1 and Antutu v8. Even in CPU throttling tests, the Realme GT Neo 2 maintained a better-sustained performance than the OnePlus Nord 2 that throttles a lot.
Both the Realme GT Neo 2 and the OnePlus Nord 2 have two variants - 8/12GB RAM with 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage but the RAM used on the Realme GT Neo 2 is slightly faster as it is using the LPDDR5 RAM compared to the LPDDR4X RAM on the OnePlus Nord 2. (like the 6GB RAM/128GB storage OnePlus Nord 2 remains unavailable most of the time). So the overall performance is better on the Realme GT Neo 2.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Software:
Well in terms of software experience, the OnePlus Nord 2 and the Realme GT Neo 2 offer the same OS but with some changes in both user interfaces. The OnePlus Nord 2 runs on OxygenOS 11.3 which is based on ColorOS as on the top, there is OxygenOS, and below there is ColorOS whereas the RealmeUI 2.0 is present on the Realme GT Neo 2.
Both the RealmeUI 2.0 and OxygenOS 11.3 have almost all the similar personalization features as you can change icon shape and size, Always-On display, different color profiles, enhanced dark mode with three different profiles, etc. However, there is a big difference between both user interfaces in the presence of bloatware on the Realme GT Neo 2 whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 does not have anything.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has only the Netflix application pre-installed whereas the Realme GT Neo 2 has a lot of third-party applications and also some Realme specific applications which make the software experience a bit down. In terms of software updates, both of them are slated to get two years of Android OS updates and three years of security updates.
So clearly, in terms of software experience, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the edge as it provides a cleaner software experience.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Cameras:
Both the Realme GT Neo 2 and the OnePlus Nord 2 have a triple camera setup where the primary camera on the Realme GT Neo 2 is a 64MP f/1.8 Samsung GW1 sensor for the main camera whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 has a 50MP f/1.7 Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera. The other two lenses are the 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera and a 2MP camera.
On the front, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a 32MP f/2.5 camera whereas the Realme GT Neo 2 has a 16MP f/2.5 camera. The images come out good on both with sharper-looking details but the dynamic range was slightly better on the OnePlus Nord 2 compared to the Realme GT Neo 2. The noise was also very less on the OnePlus Nord 2 compared to the Realme GT Neo 2 which did suffer from oversharpening.
When it comes to night, the images come out with good details on both but the OnePlus Nord 2 has the better color saturation which is closer to natural and also the dynamic range is fast better compared to the Realme GT Neo 2. The presence of OIS on the OnePlus Nord 2's camera helps in reducing noise in the background which is missing on the Realme GT Neo 2.
Turning the dedicated Night Mode on both, things change quite a bit for the Realme GT Neo 2 as you get slightly better details, dynamic range improves to a larger extent and noise gets reduced also. The Realme GT Neo 2 does suffer from oversharpening though which is not the case with the OnePlus Nord 2 as with the dedicated Night Mode, there is not much of a difference when compared without the Night Mode.
The 8MP ultrawide camera are similar on both smartphones where the dynamic range is just average and there is lot of oversharpening taking place in the background. There is distortion around the edges on both images and also do suffer from lot of noise. Similarly, during night, there is lot of noise in both the images and also the dynamic range is average on both but both do get a Night Mode that improves things quite a bit.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has a 2MP monochrome camera that takes some very good macro shots and also for black and white images. The 2MP macro camera on the Realme GT Neo 2 takes macro images with average details, lot of noise is present and the colors look washed out. In terms of portraits, the edge detection is good on both but the dynamic range and color saturation is slightly better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
The selfies come out good on both but the OnePlus Nord 2 has a wider dynamic range and field of view as it has a larger 32MP camera compared to the 16MP camera on the Realme GT Neo 2. The Realme GT Neo 2 does some skin smoothening to the selfies and also there is lot of noise compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. The portrait selfies also come out better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Both smartphones can record 4K videos at 60fps. In terms of videos, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the edge as it has OIS in its main camera that provides stabilization in the videos and the dynamic range is also better when compared to the Realme GT Neo 2. The level of details look better on the OnePlus Nord 2 and also the noise is lightly less when compared to the Realme GT Neo 2.
However, the ultrawide on both is restricted to 1080p at 30fps which has an average dynamic range and do suffer from lot of noise. On the front, the videos come out better on the OnePlus Nord 2 as it has EIS present so videos are more stabilized and also it has a larger field of view with less oversharpening. The portrait videos on both were good. So in terms of cameras, the OnePlus Nord 2 holds the edge.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Battery Life:
The Realme GT Neo 2 sports a slightly larger battery capacity at 5000mAh compared to 4500mAh battery on the OnePlus Nord 2. With the display set to 90Hz on the OnePlus Nord 2, the battery easily lasted for one single day with all heavy usage and with normal usage, it can easily last for two days. The Realme GT Neo 2, when set at 120Hz can last a single day and a half with heavy usage.
With normal usage, it lasts typical two days. The Realme GT Neo 2 also has slightly better 6-7 hours screen on time compared to the 5.5-6 hours screen on time on the OnePlus Nord 2. This due to the effcicent Snapdragon 870 chipset that is well optimized for good battery life. In terms of charging both are good as you get 65W fat charger on both and they charge from 0 to 100 percent within 45minutes.
Realme GT Neo 2 vs OnePlus Nord 2 Audio Quality:
Both the smartphones have support for stereo speakers but the one on the OnePlus Nord 2 is slightly better in terms of loudness and bass level. Both have support for Dolby Atmos and do not have 3.5mm headphone jack either.
Verdict:
Overall, both are very good premium mid-range smartphones in the market and had a close fight. The Realme GT Neo 2 has a nice and a slightly larger display and also it gets a higher refresh rate and touch sampling rate compared to the OnePlus Nord 2, the gaming performance and also benchmarks are better and the battery life is also better.
The OnePlus Nord 2, on the other hand has the better cameras, better sound experience of the two and provides a cleaner software experience with no bloatware and presence of ads. It is also priced slightly lower compared to the Realme GT Neo 2. So if you are considering a smartphone for better performance and gaming, then the Realme GT Neo 2 is better and if cameras, then the OnePlus Nord 2 is perfect.
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