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Introduction
Floods, hurricanes, fires, the pandemic... Even if it looks like it's Ragnarök out there, it's not yet. But something with northern vibes is coming, and that's the OnePlus Nord 2. The sequel has one crystal-clear goal - to be the next flagship killer as part of the company's 'Never Settle' innovations. Let's meet the OnePlus Nord 2 5G.
OnePlus already has a proper flagship lineup with the number series, and they are all alright. But Series 9 also have flagship prices. This is where the Nords and Nord 2 specifically come - to offer flagship features at a mid-range price and reclaim the lost 'flagship killer' title.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G brings a few improvements over the first Nord - faster hardware thanks to the new Dimensity 1200 chipset, a better main camera with a new Sony IMX766 sensor, dual speakers, and a larger 4,500mAh battery with faster 65W Warp Charge support.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is offered in new cool finishes - you can choose between matte, leather-like or glossy for its rear Gorilla Glass 5 panel.
It's not all new, though. The new Nord seems to be borrowing the original Nord's Fluid AMOLED screen, but thankfully it has just one selfie camera, and the eyesore of a notch is now just a tiny punch-hole. The snapper inside the hole is identical with the OG Nord's primary selfie - a 32MP f/2.5 cam.
OnePlus Nord 2 is the first smartphone to run on the Oxygen OS 11.3. While it doesn't seem like a significant update and it's still Android 11-based, it is the first firmware with unified ColorOS and OxygenOS code after the Oppo and OnePlus merger. This will make it easier distributing new features on both Oppo and OnePlus phones. Let's hope it's for the better in the long run.
Let's scroll through some specs now.
OnePlus Nord 2 5G specs at a glance:
- Body: 158.9x73.2x8.25mm, 189g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame.
- Display: 6.43" Fluid AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 409ppi.
- Chipset: MediaTek MT6893 Dimensity 1200 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (1x3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G77 MC9 GPU.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 11, OxygenOS 11.3.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, 1/2.8", 0.8µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Warp charging 65W.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 5G, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 6, NFC; stereo speakers.
We were a bit disappointed that the only new screen update is the reduced cutout size. But we'd always choose a single front camera and a smaller notch over a barely useful ultrawide selfie and a horrendous pill-shaped hole.
One more thing, while the Nord 2 doesn't feature any sort of ingress protection. Officially that is. But it is splash-proofed unofficially, evident by the rubber gaskets. Long story short - it will survive out in the rain. Probably, no promises.
Unboxing the OnePlus Nord 2 5G
The Nord 2 box looks brilliant, and it's screaming a killer phone inside. And you are in for a treat - inside, you'll find a 65W charger, a proper 6.5A-rated USB-A-to-C cable and a soft transparent case.
If you live in France, you will also get a pair of wired headphones because that's how things work in France (it's the law).
The phone also comes with a pre-applied screen protector, but we are not sure protector is the right word. It's more like a cheap film to keep scratches away but gets extremely smudgy and, worse, it's hard to clean. We peeled that off immediately.
OnePlus is selling a bunch of unique Nord 2 cases, and we loved them all. In fact, we had a hard time picking a favorite, meaning it's a job well done.
Design, build quality, handling
You've already seen the OnePlus Nord 2 5G even if you haven't really seen it. That's because it looks like any dual-glass smartphone out there. And if it weren't for the different camera island, it would have been identical to the first Nord.
Nord 2 vs Nord CE
Indeed, the Nord 2 is of the same size and weight as the first Nord. Its shape is also identical to the Nord, and plenty other smartphones - its front glass is flat, the rear piece has curved long sides, the plastic frame is curved, too.
The Nord 2 is of a pretty solid build - it has a duo of Gorilla Glass 5 panels and a plastic frame. The internal chassis is made of aluminum and you can see and feel it jutting out at the back enveloping the cameras.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is offered in three different versions - Gray Sierra, Blue Haze, Green Wood - and each of these have a different finish on the rear panel. The Gray Sierra offers a matte back notable for its fingerprint and smudge resistance.
OnePlus Nord 2 in Gray Sierra
Ours is the Blue Haze - a lovely hue with porcelain-like glossy finish and a tribute to the original Nord's Blue Marble. Fingerprints and smudges stick, but they are barely visible due to this fresh minty milk color. Cleaning the smudges is easy - a swipe with a cloth or shirt is enough.
OnePlus Nord 2 in Blue Haze
Finally, there is also a somewhat limited Green Wood version with faux leather on the back. We have no info whether this pattern is achieved by carvings on the glass or by switching to a plastic panel. The European markets won't be getting this version, though.
OnePlus Nord 2 in Green Wood
The OnePlus Nord 2 is not water sealed, at least officially. We can confirm it is waterproofed and should be fine in light rain and water splashes. But giving the Nord 2 enough protection to survive water doesn't mean you should swim with it. What you can take from this is a piece of mind the Nord 2 will be alright outside in good or bad weather.
Now, let's see this Nord 2 in detail. The front is what you will be looking at the most, and are thrilled that OnePlus decided on retiring the ultrawide selfie and leaving only the 32MP primary cam. This way, it has shrunk the pill-shaped cutout to a regular punch-hole, which is not an eyesore, and we can live fine with its size.
Other than that, it seems the panel hasn't changed much - it's the same 6.43" Fluid AMOLED with extended 1080p resolution, 90Hz refresh, and HDR10+ support. The screen bezels are reasonably thin with a more prominent but not unusually thick chin.
There is an under-display fingerprint sensor, and it's incredibly fast and accurate. But it doesn't activate as the rest of the bunch as it's not always on by default. You either need to hit the power key beforehand or enable the Ambient Display feature - no matter if it's Show-on-pick-up, power-saving, scheduled, or always-on. We were a bit surprised by this, but we put the Ambient Display on pick up, and that solved our issue.
OnePlus Nord 2 features two speakers - the first one is front-facing as it also doubles as your earpiece and sits behind the grille above the screen. The other one is bottom-firing and is next to the USB-C port. The two are nicely balanced, even if the bottom one has a bit punchier.
The entire front is covered by a flat Gorilla Glass 5. The rear is also a Gorilla Glass 5, but with these trendy curves on its longer sides. We are big fans of the Blue Haze version we have here, so let's look at it for a bit.
It's sure is mesmerizing. And we like the camera island - its brushed aluminum is of the two-step kind - jutting out metal and then rings. The piece is painted in a similar minty color. Here you can spot the main 50MP camera, followed by the 8MP ultrawide shooter, there are also a 2MP depth sensor and a dual-tone LED flash.
The frame is just as glossy as the back, a bit curved, too. Smudges aren't visible on the frame, thanks to the clever paint, though they are still there.
The volume key is on the left, sitting alone. The three-step silencer (sound, vibrate and mute positions) and the power/lock key are on the right.
The top houses a secondary mic. The primary one and your mouthpiece is at the bottom, along with the dual-SIM tray, the USB-C port and one of the speakers.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is not just a goody to look at; it's also one balanced smartphone to handle. With a 6.43" display, it is pocketable enough and easy to work with by requiring fewer finger gymnastics. And even if our unit is the glossy one, it has a good enough grip to be considered safe in hand in most cases. Sure, there are stickier phones, but there are a lot slipperier, too.
We'd say the OnePlus Nord 2 strikes a great balance between size, looks, build and grip - something we rarely see these days. It could have been flawless if it were IP-rated properly, but it is what it is.
Fluid AMOLED screen
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G features a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a 20:9 panel with the usual rounded corners and 2,400 x 1,080 pixels resolution (409pp). A Gorilla Glass 5 is keeping the screen safe.
The OnePlus Nord 2 display supports HDR10 and HDR10+, at least on paper. It is recognized as HDR10 capable by all hardware reading apps. YouTube streams HDR10 content, but Netflix and Prime Video consider the OnePlus Nord 2 as an unsupported device even though it has Widevine L1 DRM. We guess this issue will be fixed rather quickly post-launch.
OnePlus offers a couple of video enhancements though these are responsible for higher battery drain. The first is AI resolution boost - it enhances the resolution of low-quality videos up to HD. It works on YouTube, SnapChat, and Instagram. There is also AI Color boost - it does exactly what the name suggests - it tries to boost the colors of your videos. This works only in YouTube, MX Player Pro, and VLC. We tried these AI enhancements, but honestly, we didn't notice much of a difference.
The Nord 2 display supports up to 90Hz refresh rate. You can choose between 60Hz and 90Hz. There is no Auto Select, but the 90Hz setting acts like Auto - it runs all compatible apps (games excluded) in 90Hz and reverts back to 60Hz for static images and video playback/streaming.
The HRR gaming has been the forbidden fruit for both Realme and OnePlus smartphones, but it seems that's about to change sooner rather than later. And OnePlus is promising to whitelist a number of titles for high framerate gaming in the future, so here is hoping. At launch, the only game that can currently run at 90Hz/90fps is Brawl Stars.
We completed our traditional brightness measurements. The display maxes out at 438 nits when brightness is adjusted manually. If you enable Smart Ambient Brightness and the Nord 2 is exposed to bright light, its screen can go as high as 633 nits.
The minimum brightness at point white we measured at point white is 2.0 nits.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 438 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 633 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 323 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 756 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 429 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 607 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 450 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 821 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 443 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 650 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 716 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 457 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 725 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 386 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 794 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 498 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 694 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 472 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 818 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 498 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 926 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 433 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 640 | ∞ | |
The screen is tuned to comply with the DCI-P3 (Vivid mode) or sRGB (Natural mode) color spaces. The accuracy is good for both - the profiles are not too saturated, but the white and gray hues are a bit bluish. You can fix that by using the Warmest setting of the Color Temperature bar.
Battery life
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is powered by a 4,500 mAh battery - that's about 10% increase over the first Nord. The battery capacity and the screen are similar to the recently launched Realme GT's, but the Nord 2 has a less powerful Dimensity 1200 5G chipset and less fluid (oh, the irony) 90Hz screen refresh rate.
The OnePlus Nord 2 scored a 102h endurance rating on our battery life test. It can last over a day in 3G calls; you can browse for more than 16 hours or watch videos for 16 hours. The frugal standby performance helped a lot, too.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we've tested.
Charging speed
One of the flagship features OnePlus wanted to give the Nord series is the latest 65W Warp Charge. The retail bundle contains the proper 65W power adapter and a 6.5A-rated USB cable.
There is no wireless charging or reverse charging support on the Nord 2.
OnePlus explained the battery is split into two cells, and there are 12 temperature sensors monitoring everything for your safety. And when everything works as expected, and your ambient temperature isn't tropical, you should go from 0% to 100% in 30 minutes.
And indeed, in our testing, the supplied charger refilled 98% of the flat battery in 30 minutes.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 9
100% - Xiaomi Black Shark 4
100% - OnePlus Nord 2
98% - Realme GT 5G (65W)
87% - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
67% - Poco F3
67% - OnePlus Nord
60% - Realme X7 Max 5G
60% - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
52% - Samsung Galaxy A52
34%
Give it one more minute, and we are at 100%.
Note that just like the OnePlus 9 phones and the Realme GT, it took the Nord 2 4 more minutes for Charged to appear on the screen.
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
0:19h - OnePlus 9
0:29h - OnePlus Nord 2
0:31h - Realme GT 5G (65W)
0:39h - Poco F3
0:56h - Realme X7 Max 5G
1:00h - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
1:03h - OnePlus Nord
1:05h - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
1:30h - Samsung Galaxy A52
2:03h
Speakers
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G has two speakers - one at the bottom, and the other one is the earpiece. The bottom-firing speaker seems to be offering a bit more bass than the top one, and maybe it's also a bit louder. But that's not what matters. The important thing is that the sound is well balanced and tuned for satisfying listening in both portrait and landscape orientations.
It seems the OnePlus Nord 2 5G speakers are similar to the Realme GT 5G's. The Nord 2 setup scored a Very Good mark for loudness even if it (subjectively, of course) sounds quieter.
The measurements differ from our listening perceptions because of the rather average audio quality. See, the speakers aren't tuned that good - they lack a bit in mid-tones, the bass is barely there, but the high notes are well presented.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
OxygenOS 11.3 brings hidden ColorOS code
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G runs on the Android 11-based OxygenOS 11.3, and it is the first phone to boot this specific version. While its number doesn't suggest anything major, there is, in fact, one big update - it has a unified code with the Oppo's ColorOS 11.3. That's part of the recent Oppo and OnePlus merger - and this under-the-hood tweak will enable smartphones from either company to receive the latest software advancements easily and on time.
Don't panic, OnePlus fans, OxygenOS is here to stay, and it will work as before; nothing user-related has changed or is about to change. That's what OnePlus is promising, at least, and we surely hope that's true.
The OnePlus Nord 2 supports fingerprint unlock, and the optical sensor works very well - it's fast and with commendable accuracy. You can also add a face for an even speedier unlock - though this is not as secure.
There's is a Quick Launch feature (in Convenience Tools) that opens an app or executes a task if you keep your finger on the scanner for a second or two. There's plenty of slots to occupy, and you can cycle them by holding your thumb and swiping left or right.
As we already mentioned before, the fingerprint scanner is not always-on unless you enable the Always-on Ambient Display. If not, you need to hit the Power key first, and they use the scanner.
The good news is that the Ambient Display can be always-on, scheduled, power-saving (on for just a bit), or shown only on pickup - the option we used, and we recommend.
Biometrics • Fingerprint • Quick Launch
And while we are talking about AOD settings - you can choose from many unique themes. It's also worth noting the Nord 2 offers Horizon Light, also known as Edge Light on other phones. It's independent of the Ambient Screen and lighter on the battery, and it is a good alternative to a notification LED.
Ambient Display • Themes • Horizon Light
The OxygenOS has lost its stock-ish looks a while ago, but it's still incredibly fluid and easy to use. It has no-nonsense homescreens, a simplistic and clean notification/toggles area, and an easy-to-use task switcher. An App drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for. You can opt out of the app drawer if that's your thing.
The task manager supports tap and hold on an app card, and you can enable Split Screen from the newly opened menu.
OxygenOS 11.3
OxygenOS supports different icon packs, so if you are not happy with the default one, you can opt for material style, pebbles, or you can even fully customize them by your liking. You can also change the system colors, the fingerprint scanner animation, the notification drawer icons, even the system font.
Customization options
A notable feature is the screen-off gestures. You can play/pause the media player or launch an app or the flashlight by drawing on the locked screen. Some letters are easier to register and execute than others, and there's a learning curve to it.
You can also use some gestures with three fingers for easier screenshot taking.
Gestures
There is also a Games app that helps you organize your downloaded games and tinker with some game-related settings and customize the behavior of notifications and incoming calls during gaming.
You may want to check the unique Zen Mode - it blocks the ability to interact with the phone and blocks distractions by the phone for a certain period of your choice, helping you regain your focus. You can still receive or make emergency calls. Practicing Zen Mode daily earns you rewards like medals for your digital-free time frames each day.
Gaming features and Zen Mode
OnePlus offers its own Gallery, File Manger, Notes and Weather apps. For everything else, you either use Google's or a third-party one.
Gallery • Gallery • File Manager • Weather • Notes
The OxygenOS is unbelievably fast and fluid, stutter-free and absolutely no-nonsense. It's one of our favorites, and we loved our experience with the OnePlus Nord 2 and its OxygenOS.
Performance and benchmarks
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is equipped with the best MediaTek chipset to date - Dimensity 1200 5G. OnePlus isn't dropping Qualcomm in favor of MediaTek, in case you were wondering, but it decided that this platform fits better the Nord 2 narrative. While being the flagship MT chip, the Dimensity 1200 is comparable to Snapdragon 870 in terms of performance - meaning even if it is not the fastest, it is definitely part of the top-tier bunch.
So, the Dimensity 1200 5G chip offers an octa-core processor with a rather familiar 1+3+4 core configuration - 1x3.0GHz Cortex-A78 + 3x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 + 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55.
For graphics, the chipset has a total of nine Mali-G77 computing cores.
The Dimensity 1200 chip package also includes a potent 5G NR Sub-6 GHz and LTE, built-in combo modem. It is noteworthy that the Nord 2 5G and its Dimensity 1200 are capable of Dual SIM 5G standby (SA/NSA supported), which is not always a given.
Speaking of connectivity features, the chipset also has Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6, NFC and Bluetooth 5.2, with support for AAC, APTX, APTX HD, LDAC codecs. All of this and more is crammed into the chip package using a current and efficient, though not industry-leading 6nm manufacturing process.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is available with 6GB, 8GB and 12GB LPDDR4X RAM and you can choose between 128GB and 256GB UFS3.1 storage options.
The synthetic performance of the Dimensity 1200 processor is on par with the Mi 11 Lite 5G's Snapdragon 780 and close to OnePlus 9R's Snapdragon 870.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
3448 - OnePlus 9R
3117 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
2909 - OnePlus Nord 2
2792 - Realme X7 Max 5G
2614 - Poco X3 Pro
2574 - OnePlus Nord
1953 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
1812 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1780
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
1029 - OnePlus 9R
969 - Realme X7 Max 5G
967 - OnePlus Nord 2
814 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
803 - Poco X3 Pro
735 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
641 - OnePlus Nord
610 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
569
The synthetic performance of the 9-core Mali-G77 is quite good and not far from the flagship-grade Snapdragon 870 chip inside the OnePlus 9R.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
139 - OnePlus 9R
132 - Realme X7 Max 5G
129 - OnePlus Nord 2
123 - Poco X3 Pro
102 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
89 - OnePlus Nord
55 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
46
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
97 - OnePlus 9R
93 - Realme X7 Max 5G
86 - OnePlus Nord 2
75 - Poco X3 Pro
75 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
65 - OnePlus Nord
38 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
34
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- OnePlus Nord 2
4224 - Realme X7 Max 5G
4216 - Xiaomi Black Shark 4
4212 - OnePlus 9R
4154 - Poco X3 Pro
3401 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
3136
Unfortunately, the OnePlus Nord 2 allows only one app to run at 90fps - the game Brawl Stars. OnePlus is promising to whitelist more games in the future, but for now - all benchmarks and games (excluding Brawl Stars) are capped at 60fps. The potential is there, though, and we hope OnePlus keeps its promise.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
85 - Realme X7 Max 5G
79 - Poco X3 Pro
67 - OnePlus 9R
60 - OnePlus Nord 2
57 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
57 - OnePlus Nord
34 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
30
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4
50 - OnePlus 9R
49 - Realme X7 Max 5G
44 - OnePlus Nord 2
38 - Poco X3 Pro
38 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
35 - OnePlus Nord
19 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
17 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
16
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 9R
34 - Xiaomi Black Shark 4
34 - Realme X7 Max 5G
31 - Poco X3 Pro
27 - OnePlus Nord 2
26 - OnePlus Nord
13 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
13
The AnTuTu 9 score chart is all over the place, but what we can take from it is that the Nord 2 is doing very well in terms of performance and is pretty close to the SD870-powered Black Shark 4.
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- OnePlus 9R
676913 - Xiaomi Black Shark 4
605569 - OnePlus Nord 2
598022 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
522490 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
391770
Well, the performance of the Dimensity 1200 isn't an exact match to the Snapdragon 870's, but we'd say it's in the top-tier ballpark, and that's plenty enough for a €399 smartphone. The OnePlus Nord 2 5G has the raw power to handle every task and game in the next few years hiccup-free, and if allowed by its maker, it can do HRR very well, too.
Stability and sustained performance are important, and that's why we ran our usual stress tests. The phone has aluminum chassis but a plastic frame, and it seems most of the heat is dissipated from a spot on the rear glass near the camera. While at 100% the phone gets quite warm, the hot part is actually tolerable on touch, and it is far from your palms fingers, so you'll rarely touch it.
So, The Nord 2 scored a 60% stability score on the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test - an uninspiring number. Oddly, it did much better on the CPU Throttling test we ran for a whole hour. The Nord 2 cooling solution allowed the CPU to keep 76% of its maximum performance - an impressive number for a non-gaming smartphone.
3D Mark Stress Test • 3D Mark Stress Test • CPU Throttle test
All things considered, we'd say the OnePlus Nord 2 is not only well equipped for top-notch performance, but it is also cooled well enough to support peak performance for prolonged periods of time. And note that no game or app uses 100% of the available resources. We did not notice throttling or unusual heating no matter the game we played.
Finally, OxygenOS and its default apps simply fly on this Nord 2, and we had one of the most enjoyable Android experiences we've had since, oh well, the OnePlus 9 trio.
Flagship primary camera, mid-range companions
One of the most notable flagship treats the OnePlus Nord 2 5G offers is the flagship-grade 50MP primary camera on the back with a new Sony sensor and optical image stabilization. It is part of a tri-eyed setup with an 8MP ultrawide shooter and a 2MP depth sensor. A dual-LED dual-tone flash is also around.
The front camera for selfies is a 32MP Sony imager.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G has a 50MP primary camera with Sony IMX 766 1/1.56" Quad-Bayer sensor with 23mm f/1.88 optically stabilized lens, 1.0µm pixels, and PDAF. This camera shoots by default in 12.5MP. Night Mode is available on this camera.
There is no lossless zoom available on the OnePlus Nord 2 5G.
Second is the ultrawide snapper with an 8MP Sony IMX 355 sensor behind f/2.25 lens. There is no autofocus. Night Mode works on this camera, too.
The monochrome depth camera uses a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 sensor with f/2.5 aperture.
Finally, the OnePlus Nord 2 features just one selfie camera, while the Nord had a dual-setup with an ultrawide front shooter. So, the selfie on the Nord 2 is the same as the primary on the Nord 1 - a 32MP Sony IMX 615 (probably Quad-Bayer), 0.8µm pixels and 26mm f/2.45 lens. The focus is fixed.
The Oxygen camera app is the familiar Oppo/Realme one. Shocking, isn't it? It offers AI Scene Enhancement - it's like an advanced HDR mode, which may stack several images to offers even further improvements in the dynamic range, but the most prominent "improvement" is the higher color saturation.
The Expert mode works only on the main camera and you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-6400 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-32s range), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments).
Night Mode is available and it has an automatic Ultra Night Mode, which triggers in extreme low-light conditions, say 1 lux illuminance. There is also a switch for Tripod Night Mode, which uses up to 45s (simulated) shutter speed to make a sharper, more detailed and noise-free photo.
Camera app
Photo quality
The primary camera on the Nord 2 shots in 12.5MP resolution by default. We left the HDR on Auto and it triggered for the first four scenes (first row of photos). The images look over-processed. They show incredibly high contrast, pretty wide dynamic range and accurate colors. The resolved detail is a lot although a bit hurt by the HDR.
The rest of the photos were taken without the "help" of HDR. They are nicely detailed with good sharpness and well-developed foliage. The colors are true to life, and we can only praise the contrast and the dynamic range.
In case you decide in favor of the Nord 2 and get it, we'd suggest that you disable the HDR option entirely. The photos look better without it.
Main camera, 12.5MP
OnePlus offers this AI Photo Enhancement toggle, also found on plenty of Realme phones. It can recognize up to 22 difference scenes. It usually makes an HDR photo with eye-popping colors, depending on the scene.
When the algorithm detects Blue Sky, Buildings or Grass you can clearly see the saturated colors. If saturated colors and processed looks are what you are looking for, then by all means, you leave that thing on.
Main camera with AI, 12.5MP
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G doesn't offer lossless zoom even if there are 2x and 5x toggles on the viewfinder. They do pure digital zoom by crop and upscale, which is okay to look on the Nord's display, but not good on a computer monitor.
Main camera 2x, 12.5MP
The Nord 2 can shoot in 50MP resolution, too. The high-res images look okay but are a bit noisy and not very detailed. Downscaling a 50MP photo to 12.5MP may yield slightly better results in more complex scenes - like better-defined foliage and more developed grass, bricks, building textures, but nothing that will be worth this manual and lengthy process.
And here are the original 50MP shots we took.
Main camera, 50MP
Most of the ultrawide shots we took look a bit overprocessed because of the Auto HDR. They are detailed enough, with good colors, and the dynamic range is lovely. We think that the contrast is unnaturally high and the foliage looks sort of artificial.
On the other hand, the non-HDR photos aren't better per se - they do appeal with a more natural look, but they are less sharp, with better foliage yet much noisier. Such non-HDR photos are numbers 4, 8, and 11.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
The 12.5MP portraits shot on the main camera with the help of the 2MP depth sensor are good - the subjects are nicely detailed and sharp, while the images come with true to life colors and great contrast. The simulated blur looks alright, too. Finally, the subject separation from the background isn't perfect - we've surely seen it done better - but it's fine for this price bracket.
Portraits, 12.5MP
Moving on to low-light. The regular nighttime photos from the main camera are great - they are detailed, with good exposure, incredibly low noise, and excellent color presentation. They look very natural despite some multi-stacking process was in play.
Thanks to the OIS, there were no blurred photos among the bunch we shot. We are not sure if we believe the EXIF though, as we can't really imagine such good photos to be taken at ISO 10,000 or similar.
Main camera, 12.5MP
We do recommend the Night Mode on the OnePlus Nord 2 as it takes magnificent photos. They are more detailed than the regular snaps, with proficiently cleared noise, even more saturated colors, and amazingly balanced exposure. These photos restore the blown highlights and reveal more detail in the shadows that matter - like bushes and skies.
Main camera Night Mode, 12.5MP
The 2x zoomed photos are cropped and upscaled from the regular photos, so don't expect spectacular sharpness.
2x • 2x Night Mode • 2x • 2x Night Mode
The 8MP photos from the ultrawide camera taken without Night Mode are usable, alright. They are pretty dark, but the noise reduction is balanced, and it stops with the noise cleaning just before it starts smearing fine detail. So, yes, these are usable photos, but showable - that's for you to decide.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
But hey, there is Night Mode for the ultrawide camera, too, so why bother at all with the regular photos, right? Night Mode does a magnificent job by boosting the exposure and brightening to the otherwise dark scenes. The noise is cleared well, the sharpness is improved, and we can see more detail, and the colors are better as the sepia-like look is gone.
Ultrawide Night Mode, 8MP
If you have a tripod with you, then we suggest trying the Tripod Night Mode (there is a tripod trigger on the viewfinder). It uses longer exposure times but seems to be doing little to none multi-frame smart stacking than the usual Night Mode.
The results are pretty good - the Tripod Night Mode photos from either camera offer much more natural look instead of the over-processed vibes you immediately get from the regular Night Mode. The images are noticeably more detailed and remarkably noise-free. The color are superb, too.
Tripod NM • Regular NM • Tripod ultrawide NM • Regular ultrawide NM
In extreme low-light conditions an automatic Ultra Night Mode is triggered when using the Night Mode option. It literally makes the night as bright as a day and if we didn't tell you the UNM photos were taken in pitch dark, there was a good chance you'd decide they are in fact daylight shots.
First, let's see the scenes through the lens of the ultrawide camera. Note that these two photos were taken with Night Mode and you can still barely see anything.
UW Night Mode
And now let's see what the main camera can do. Yes, those are photos were taken at 1 lux or so conditions in a cloudy night. And the incredible thing is that the UNM photos are quite detailed with well visible colors. Wow!
Night Mode • Ultra Night Mode • Night Mode • Ultra Night Mode
And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the OnePlus Nord 2 5G. Here's how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
OnePlus Nord 2 5G against the Realme GT 5G and the OnePlus Nord in our Photo compare tool
The OnePlus Nord 2 now has only one selfies camera - it's a 32MP shooter with fixed focus. The first two photos were taken in ideal light conditions and they are brilliant - sharp and detailed, with commendable quality across the board - contrast, colors, dynamic, rendition.
Then for the last two we moved a bit deeper in the office, while still maintaining satisfactory daylight. Well, the ISO spiked dramatically and the sharpness dropped a lot. These are still very much usable photos, but better take a couple, as the chance for a blurry photo increases exponentially.
Selfie camera, 32MP
You can take selfie portraits, too - the images are contrasty and with good colors, while the subject separation will be okay unless you have a complex haircut. The subjects aren't that detailed though but let's not forget these are 32MP images, just downscale them to 8MP and they'll look perfect.
Portrait selfies, 32MP
Video recording
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G captures videos with its main camera and ultrawide snappers. The main camera records video up to 4K at 30fps, and there's 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. The ultrawide and selfie shooters are limited to 1080p@30fps video capturing.
You get the option to choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs.
Electronic stabilization is available - it is always-on and applied across all cameras, on all resolutions and frame rates. The main camera also benefits from OIS.
The Nord 2 is quite generous with the bitrates - the 4K footage gets 50Mbps, while 1080p/30fps is allocated a similarly above-average 20Mbps when using the h.264 codec. The audio bitrate is about 160kbps for the 4K clips and 256kbps in 1080p. The sound is stereo.
The 4K videos from the main camera are excellent - they have plenty of resolved detail but with the right amount of sharpness and make for a very natural look. The noise is nicely low, the colors are true to life, and the dynamic range deserves a praise.
Okay, we have used a couple of phones capable of more detailed and sharper 4K footage, but these devices are indeed extremely rare and often - more expensive.
The 1080p videos shot with the ultrawide camera are nice. The detail is okay, the noise is rather low, and the dynamic range is impressive. The colors are a bit washed out, though.
OnePlus can do AI Night video - just hit the AI button when shooting video in low-light conditions. It is shot in 1080p at night and does look good. It highlights the light sources giving them a slightly better look and color saturation.
The 1080p AI video does look brighter than the regular 4K clip. The other benefits - gains in sharpness and lower noise are because of the lower video resolution.
Finally, here is the OnePlus Nord 2 5G in our video comparison database.
2160p: OnePlus Nord 2 5G against the Realme GT 5G and the OnePlus Nord in our Video compare tool
Alternatives
The 8/128 version of the OnePlus Nord 2 5G is priced at €399 in Europe and that immediately puts it on the fast track to the flagship killer segment. It has the looks, the screen, the performance, the camera, and the battery of a high-end phone, so pricing it right was the only thing left for OnePlus to get right. And it certainly did.
Of course, this lucrative bracket is already jam-packed with smartphones, so we've picked a few sensible alternatives for you to explore.
We start with the €449 Realme GT 5G. For the extra €50 on top of the Nord 2 you'd get a faster 120Hz AMOLED screen and the current best chip - the Snapdragon 888. We were very impressed with the GT's main camera, too, though it omits OIS. But HRR gaming is a definitive No on the Realme GT and it can throttle a lot under pressure.
The Poco F3 now costs €299, €100 cheaper than the Nord 2. It has a faster 120Hz AMOLED screen, runs on the Snapdragon 870 chip and is officially IP53 rated for splash resistance. Its camera department is inferior, though, the charging is slower, and the Poco launcher is, well, not nearly as great as Oxygen. Still, €100 less is enough to make up for these, we think.
The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is not that different from the Nord 2 5G. It swaps the Dimensity 1200 for the Snapdragon 750 5G chip, has one speaker and recharges slower. The camera department, while with similar logic, relies on different primary sensors, too. This Nord is €100 cheaper than the new Nord 2 5G and if the OIS main camera and the stereo speakers aren't as important, but you do want the Fluid AMOLED + OxygenOS, then do explore this option.
Samsung is selling the Galaxy A52 at about €350 right now. It cannot match the top-notch performance and super-fast charging of the Nord 2, but can offer a 90Hz Super AMOLED screen packed within an IP67-rated body, and outdo the camera department with a better ultrawide camera and an additional 5MP macro snapper.
Realme GT 5G • Xiaomi Poco F3 • OnePlus Nord CE 5G • Samsung Galaxy A52
Finally, if you are after a great mobile gaming experience, you may want to consider the €499 Black Shark 4 or the €499 nubia Red Magic 6R. Both offer 144Hz AMOLED screens, hardware gaming triggers and high-end Snapdragon chips - 870 for Black Shark and 888 for the Red Magic. They offer good camera experience, the charging options are as fast, but they really excel in HRR gaming.
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 • ZTE nubia Red Magic 6R
Our verdict
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a glimmer of hope that the flagship killers may be finally coming home. It's been a while since OnePlus offered us a phone worthy of its pioneered title but here is the Nord 2 successfully reclaiming just that.
The OnePlus Nord 2 offers a thoughtful pick of flagship features then sold on your average mid-range price. There is a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED, the best MediaTek chipset right now - Dimensity 1200, a flagship-grade 50MP Sony camera with OIS, and impressively fast 65W Warp Charge coming lifted from the OnePlus 9 series.
The Nord 2 not only handles very well under pressure, it also offers loud stereo speakers, good photo and video quality, long-lasting battery life, one impressive connectivity suite and everything is wrapped within a mesmerizing body designed to impress. Of course, nothing will work this well if it weren't for the fan-favorite OxygenOS - one of the fastest launchers on the market to date.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a worthy smartphone offering an excellent pick of flagship features and sold at a very lucrative price. A flagship killer if you will. One that easily earns our recommendation.
Pros
- Outstanding design, solid build.
- Bright and colorful 90Hz Fluid AMOLED, HDR10, AOD available.
- Great battery life, blazing-fast charging.
- Loud stereo speakers.
- OxygenOS is the snappiest launchers to date.
- High-end performance; no throttling in real-life cases.
- Good photos and videos all day long.
- Rich connectivity suite.
Cons
- No official IP rating.
- Only one game can go north of 60fps (for now).
- The HDR processing isn't peachy.
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