A great successor to the original OnePlus Nord in every way as well as possibly the most excellent smartphone for the money. OnePlus is currently offering.

SPECS

• Design and Build4
• Display4
• Performance 4.25
• Camera4
• Battery 4.5
• Software4.5

Good build quality, polished design

Mediatek Dimensity 1200 is one of the extremely efficient SoC

OxygenOS code, unified with ColorOS remains as OxygenOS

A good primary camera that has a brand new Sony sensor

Vibrant 90 Hz fluid AMOLED display. Good battery life and superfast charging It supports LHDC audio codecs

THE BAD

• Feels a bit heavy
• It would have been better to go with a 120 Hz refresh rate display.
• There is no recording of 4K video on the front camera
• There is no IP rating, nor 3.5 headphone jack of 3.5mm.

THE BOTTOM LIST

The OnePlus Nord 2 is a remarkable phone that is does not only offers better quality for the money than the OnePlus 9 series phones, however, it also boasts a few of other options.

The first OnePlus Nord was about the company returning to its roots and providing an excellent smartphone for less than Rs 30000 and the Nord 2 is hoping to go one step further and earn the ‘flagship-killer’ title. 

OnePlus took a cautious approach to managing expectations this time, but the new model could provide everything you could need’ on this price range. After using it for a while with the OnePlus Nord 2 for over one month and a half and taking in a couple of software updates, let us know our thoughts on it. Check out oneplus 8 touch screen digitizer price online.

OnePlus Nord 2 Design: Looks luxurious with The OnePlus 9 series style language

OnePlus Nord 2 long-term review The return of the flagship-killer

The OnePlus Nord 2 has an elegant exterior, which follows the same style of design as the OnePlus 9 series. We received Blue Haze, the Blue Haze variant for review. It has a gorgeous and light blue like a glass-like ceramic backing (a Shade or Two less that it’s Lake Blue variant of the OnePlus 9R(Review) which is curved and seamlessly blends into the edges of the plastic. 

The edges don’t feel as if they are made of plastic, but they do attract a few streaks of smudges because of their glossy surface. Additionally, you won’t see any marks of smudges on the glass’s back.

The phone is fairly small because of the smaller screen, but the chin is slightly prominent than the 9R. Quality of the build seems solid, however, the phone is a little heavy in the hands despite the fact that it weighs less than 190g.

The display and its back are shielded from scratches with Corning Gorilla Glass. A major improvement in this phone is that the centimetre-long capsule cut-outs for the two front cameras. It is replaced with a small punch holes to the selfie camera that is a single one. Excellent decision!

OnePlus Nord 2

The OnePlus Nord 2 has a stylish exterior that follows the same style of design as the OnePlus 9 series. Image: Tech2/Ameya Dalvi

On the back, the camera layout is similar to that of the OnePlus 9’s (Review) which has a rectangular, slightly protruding module with three cameras, as well as the flashes to the upper left. The blue shade at the back is extended into cameras. 

The phone comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner which is extremely responsive and functions flawlessly. Its SIM tray is situated at the bottom of the phone. It is able to be used to accommodate upto two Nano-SIMs. 

Alongside the SIM tray are two USB-C ports and the phone’s speaker. The volume rocker is located on the left side, while the power button can be situated at the right-hand edge, as is the OnePlus alert slider. All buttons are in reach.

OnePlus Nord 2 Key specifications

1. Mediatek Dimensity 1200 SoC
2. Mali-G77 GPU
3. 8 GB or 12GB RAM
4. 128 GB, 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage
5. 6.43-inch Full HD+ (2400 1080 x 2400) Display with fluid AMOLED that features 90Hz of refresh, and Corning Gorilla Glass

Cameras: 50MP equipped with PDAF along with OIS (main) plus 8MP (ultra-wide) plus 2MP (Monochrome) 32 megapixel (wide) cameras for selfies

4,500 mAh battery bundled with 65W Warp Charger

Android 11, with OxygenOS 11.3

5G compatible; Bluetooth 5.2; Dual band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac/6

OnePlus Nord 2 Price in India

For 12 GB, the price is Rs 34,999. RAM and 256 GB internal storage

OnePlus Nord 2 Display: Good, but might have had more potential

Screen

It comes with the 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED display with resolution that is 2400×1080 pixels. There is also an incredibly fast 90 Hz refresh of Nord 2. Nord 2. Image: Tech2/Ameya Dalvi

OnePlus has chosen to use a similar display as the original Nord. It has an 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED display with 2400×1080 pixels. There is also the 90-Hz refresh rate of the Nord 2. While 90 Hz is sufficient, competitors as well as the other OnePlus phones have moved up to 120 refresh rates of 120 Hz.

The HDR10+-compliant display is bright and well calibrated right out of the box. There is the option of switching your refresh speed from 90-60 Hz to conserve battery power; however, don’t bother as it will switch to 60 Hz on its own in applications that do not support it.

The black level and the contrast is great and the colour reproduction is also excellent. In contrast to earlier OnePlus phones, colours don’t seem to be excessively enhanced in Vibrant mode; this is a positive thing. 

If you find that they are too bright for you then you can change back to Gentle mode. The phone also has various manual calibration options to tweak it further. Ambient display is available and you can choose to keep it on for all time or use an action such as picking up the phone or tapping it to open it. I’d recommend this option as it will save some battery.

OnePlus Nord 2 Performance Amazingly powerful, flagship-grade performance

The OnePlus Nord 2 is powered by Mediatek’s Dimensity 1200 SoC; it has proven to be just the same as the Snapdragon 865. This is an impressive feat for a phone that costs less than 30000 rupees. 

It’s very capable for everything one could want to do on phones, including gaming. The unit we tested included 12GB of RAM and an additional 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. There was no lag when doing day-to-day tasks using any of the standard applications, or even when switching between several applications.

Benchmark scores

The gaming experience overall was enjoyable and smooth at high levels. The phone started to get hot after 30 hours of playing, however it wasn’t alarming. The two stereo speakers (earpiece and the speaker on the bottom) can produce high quality sound with a good stereo effect. 

The phone is compatible with AptX, AptX HD and LDAC to provide better performance over Bluetooth 5.2 on earphones which are compatible with these codecs. It also has LHDC codecs, which even phones like the OnePlus 9 series phones lack at the moment (at the moment test). The call performance is excellent on this phone Nord 2 is perfectly fine as well.

In the performance tests, it scored quite impressive results. Similar to its predecessor, the OnePlus 9R, it maxed out in the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme – Vulkan benchmark and we needed to choose an updated set of tests to challenge the phone to the limit. 

We substituted the benchmarks by Wild Life and WildLife Extreme tests and the results were at par with those of the Adreno 650 GPU on the 9R. The Mali G77 MC9 GPU scored 4218 and 1285 in the two tests. 

It scored 25.3 as well as 7.7 Average FPS. In the identical test the 9R scored scores of 4245 and 1223 respectively with 25.4 as well as 7.3 average FPS, respectively. That’s quite impressive.

With Geekbench 5, the Nord 2 had a Single-core score of 815, and a Multi-core performance of 2762, as opposed to the scores of 974 or 3101 recorded with the Snapdragon 870 of the 9R. It’s a difference of around 15 percent for a handset priced at 33 percent less and not terrible at all. 

There is also an incredible increase in performance over the initial Nord which scored scores of 613 and 1942 on the same test. Therefore, we can say that with the result that Dimensity 1200 is more similar to the Snapdragon 865. Snapdragon 865 than Snapdragon 765.

It was unable to catch up with the top performers with PC Mark Works 3.0, however the score was 8075, compared with 11266 for the 9R. It’s important to remember that these are artificial benchmarks that provide an overall, comparative view between various processing hardware. The difference is not visible in actual usage. It’s a smooth performer during everyday activities.

OnePlus Nord 2’s battery efficiency: Excellent battery life and superfast charging

The battery’s capacity has been increased by 3,85 mAh compared to the previous model. The battery’s 4,500 mAh capacity is able to last over 30 hours of use , including a hefty use of social and messaging media apps browsing, making several calls, clicking a couple of pictures, an hour watching videos, and half an hour of playing. This is not a problem not at all.

USB port, sim tray

The battery’s capacity has been increased by 3,85 mAh when compared to the previous model. Image: Tech2/Ameya Dalvi

It’s even better that the company has now included the 65W Warp charger in Nord 2. Nord 2 that can do 10V/6.5A. It can charge the phone from 100 percent to 0 in only 33 minutes. It’s insanely fast even more so over the costlier OnePlus 9 and 9R. It’s not like the charger or the phone froze after the full charge.

 A quick note – it takes about three times the time to charge with older 20 and 30 W fast chargers from OnePlus. It’s a good idea to keep the included charger in your bag in case you’re not averse to waiting around.

Rear camera module

There’s no Hasselblad colour tuning like in the OnePlus 9, but the output is the same which is a major positive. Image: Tech2/Ameya Dalvi

OnePlus has shifted to a triple camera setup for the Nord 2, a camera lower than its predecessor. It’s fine since the support cast of the Nord was only there to fill in the gaps. It’s the main camera that is doing the bulk of the work. 

The company has upgraded the camera to a 50 megapixel camera with the more advanced Sony IMX766 sensor that comes with PDAF along with optical image stability (OIS).

The same sensor that’s used within the camera with ultrawide resolution on the OnePlus 9, and incidentally there isn’t an OIS for the 9. Buy oneplus nord touch screen digitizer online.

The camera it is a part of is 8 MP ultra-wide cameras that has 119.7 degrees FOV as well as an 2 MP monochrome camera. There’s an unspecified macro lens on this model however the 2MP camera found on the Nord wasn’t much use anyway and will not be left out.

The primary camera takes sharp images in moderate to good lighting with excellent dynamic range. In contrast to older OnePlus phones, colours feel better and natural with the Nord 2. It doesn’t have Hasselblad colour tuning similar to the OnePlus 9, but the output is similar and that’s a huge positive. 

The images appear clean and not getting too much sharpening or saturation and the noise level is well controlled. Dynamic range looks impressive as well. There is the occasional focus issue when shooting from close distance, so it’s not a bad idea to take two additional times to make sure.

Camera

The Portrait mode performs well this time, with a good background and foreground separation. The results are generally excellent whether it’s human subjects or any other object. The camera app allows you to adjust the amount of blur. While there’s a toggle for zoom however, there’s no dedicated telephoto camera available. 

Therefore, the zoomed photos are essentially digitally zoomed pictures. 2X zoom photos are totally accessible, and the 5X zoom shots can be used on the phone’s screen at most. Do not bother with pixel-peeping. Ultrawide cameras are average to say the least. 

Its output is acceptable when it is well lit, however the photos are noticeably soft as compared to the images that are captured with the main camera, however their dynamic range can be good.

Photography in low light on this camera can be quite impressive. It is able to improve even without this Nightscape mode. The noise is controlled and there’s a decent amount of clarity in the photos. 

Nightscape mode can improve things however it takes longer time in processing the image. If the light is low it also has the Ultra Nightscape mode here, that is great for enhancing the highlight areas in the dark parts of your photo. 

In some instances, when you are in this setting, your camera is able to see things your eyes cannot. 2X zoom and ultra-wide cameras are a good choice in dim light, but not much else to say. I’d recommend sticking with the main camera whenever the light is dim.

The dual front cameras were replaced by one 32-megapixel selfie camera that has an IMX615 Sony sensor that is a fantastic camera and will surely delight selfie lovers. Another thing to consider is that some of the most expensive OnePlus phones feature an 16-megapixel selfie camera that has the older camera. 

The photos that are taken are clear and the skin tone is natural. Portrait shots can be taken also using your front-facing camera and usually come out beautifully. The front camera here can’t create 4K videos and is able to only go up to 1080p at 30 frames per second.

The cameras in the rear of Nord 2’s rear cameras Nord 2 can record videos that are up to 4K resolution with 30 frames per second, and you can get 60 frames per second on 1080p video. Slow-motion 1080p or 720p videos can be recorded in 120 and 240 frames per second respectively.

 Additionally, you can make time-lapse video at 30 frames per second with Full HD resolution. The footage recorded in 4K from the primary camera appears vibrant and stable, thanks to the use of EIS (electronic image stabilisation) and OIS. 

1080p video clips shot with the main camera appear sharp, with excellent colours. The camera app offers various fun features such as AI enhancements as well as Dual View video where the front and rear cameras can work simultaneously.

User interface and OS: OxygenOS maintains its spirit despite ColorOS code unification

Many OxygenOS fans are in a state of sleep following the announcement of one code that is unified that works with OxygenOS as well as Oppo’s ColorOS. Nord 2 is the first device that runs OxygenOS 11.3 which is based on that uniform code. 

I am delighted to announce that nothing has changed, with the exception of minor tweaks in the corners, as well as a few minor tweaks to the camera app, for example. The fundamental concept of OxygenOS remains unchanged and it appears and feels the same way it was prior to the merger.

It’s still the most beautiful Android UI around. It’s clean, without stutter, and free of advertisements, and comes with a minimal amount of clutter. As with all versions, there are some useful improvements that don’t deviate too much from the standard Android UI.

 Also, OnePlus has opted for Google dialler, contacts, and messaging (SMS) applications instead of their own. The trend was first noticed with the initial Nord model, and is the same since. 

The phone is currently running Android 11 straight out of box. OnePlus will release two big Android upgrades (up the number to Android 13.3) as well as three years worth of updates to security for the Nord 2, which is an impressive feat.

The final words about this flagship killer could be threatening some of its more costly siblings

It’s a great phone. The OnePlus Nord 2 can be bought in India at a cost of Rs 29,999, for the 8GB memory as well as 128 GB of storage version and at Rs 34,999 for its 12GB RAM version with 256 GB of storage.

 For that price, you’ll get an iPhone with the same design as the OnePlus 9 that’s Rs 20,000 more expensive, and with similar performance to the 9R which sells at around Rs 40000. The Nord 2 is also improved over its predecessor in every aspect. 

This is a great value in terms of price, and one could certainly consider Nord 2 Nord 2 a flagship-killer; to the point that one might want to consider purchasing it instead of some of the higher-priced OnePlus 9 series phones.

However the competition hasn’t been inactive. There are two phones that can offer Nord 2 a serious chance in the race. The Realme X7 Max (Review) and Poco F3 GT are also powered by the Mediatek Dimensity1200 chip, and are priced only a few thousand bucks less. 

It’s not even the best part; they both have 120 Hz refresh rates as well as 64-megapixel primary cameras (without OIS). In addition, the Poco F3 GT has a couple of extra features for gamers, including pop-up gaming triggers. However, it’s software experience is still the best experience on Nord 2, courtesy of OxygenOS and makes it an appealing option for this category.