OnePlus Nord 2: An able performer

Credit: DH Photo/ Pushkar V

Credit: DH Photo/ Pushkar V

Credit: DH Photo/ Pushkar V

The Nord has been a good competitive midrange smartphone for OnePlus. Close on the heels of the OnePlus Nord CE launch, the company has brought out the second version of the Nord.

The Nord 2 does not have too many physical changes but it has undergone one at its heart – the processor.

Starting with the outside, the right side has the power button and the ring/ vibrate/ silent mode slider button. The top has just a microphone. The left side has the volume up/ down rocker button, while the bottom has the USB Type-C port, SIM card slot, speaker and microphone. There is no 3.5 mm audio socket. The rear has the triple camera setup that consists of a 50 MP (f/1.88) main shooter that boasts of a Sony IMX766 sensor, an ultrawide camera that is 8MP (f/2.25) and a 2MP (f2.4) mono lens. An LED flash has also been included. The front camera is a 32MP shooter (f/2.45) with a Sony IMX615 sensor.

The Green Woods set we received for the review had a textured back and was very grippy to hold. There is no chance of any fingerprints getting on the phone either, at least on the Green Woods variant.

The display is a 6.43-inch fluid AMOLED one with a resolution of 2400x1080 that gives a pixel density of 410 ppi. I must say that with a refresh rate of 90 Hz, it is a pleasure to use the phone with the OxygenOS based on Android 11. While playing Asphalt 9, there was hardly any sign of lag and it was a smooth experience all along.

The thickness is 0.82 cm and weight is 189 grams (184 for the Green Woods) and it feels very compact in the hand. Even with a 6.43-inch display and medium hands, the fingers reach most parts of the display and there is no problem in that department.

The Nord 2 moves away from the Qualcomm products and goes with the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI CPU, which includes a 5G modem. The handset we reviewed came with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. Everyday tasks were a breeze and there were no signs of the smartphone choking at any point. On playing Asphalt 9, it was a very smooth experience with no lags whatsoever. There was minimal heating after about half an hour of playing the game. On Geekbench, the Nord 2 scored 815 and 2521 points on the single and multi-core tests respectively.

Coming to the camera, the OnePlus Nord 2 shone on that front too. The colours were natural and the bokeh was good. Good detail was captured and the overall quality of the main camera was quite good.

The Nord 2 comes with a 4500 mAh battery and a 65W Warp Charger. With normal usage, the battery should be able to easily last more than a day.

This is a midrange device seriously worth considering.

The 6GB + 128GB is priced at Rs 27,999, the 8GB + 128GB is priced at 29,999, while the 12GB + 256GB is priced at Rs 34,999.

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