Oneplus nord 2 Review
Before the nord 2 launched I asked whether or not one plus would make a comeback near the flagship killer territory.
*Intense sing* Yes To a large extent, yes.
Firstly let’s talk about it’s in hand feel, as I have my primary sim in it. If you compare it with nord.Then it’s slightly on the heavier side. It does seem bulky & slippery in the hand but it isn’t .If you use a case it’ll get more bulky. And the recent one plus phone cases don’t turn yellow, but turn pink! And this case in the box has already turned pink in 17 days. And I don’t wear pink trousers so it isn’t it’s colour. We saw the same with the one plus 9R, so I thought you all should know!
So it’s in hand feel is ok. If you compare it’s performance with the nord, you’ll se there’s a huge difference. The nord had a sD 765, this has dimensity 1200 soc clubbed with UFS 3.1 and the nord 2 it terms of performance, is fun to use. You can play high end games too, we played bgmi & apex legend and for a long time with VPN, & still it didn’t drop in performance.
If you use it with a case, then you wouldn’t notice it. Having a glass back, it does get a little warm. But nothing much to worry about. but this phone costs rs 29,999. And it’s base variant is never available which I think is a marketing marketing gimmick. Meaning they launched the 6+ 128GB cheaper variant just to attract with it’s starting price.
Which is disappointing as there’s no remaining stock to buy from.and another thing is that at this price rs 30k a 12hz fast refresh rate is expected. If dose have a 90hz refresh rate, but you’re spending much amount today id expect a 120hz panel! If has 90hz but if you shift from 120hz to 90 hz you’ll know the title snappy difference between the 2.
Secondly, before the nord 2 launch, I was curious about it’s UI as it’s code base is integrated with Coloros.
I might Exaggerate a little but I think they’ve applied OxygenUI on Top of coloros base that’s the experience I feel. The camera app is from coloros & rest all other things are from oxygenui but when we set the phone up, & the experience we get from realme oppo phone like privacy policies etc are all present in this.so the clean UI experience we used to talk about, has been compromised a little as one plus phone ‘ Biggest factor is it’s Oxygenui & that is where I think it’s being compromised.
It’s not that coloros is bad it’s improved & I don’t mind it, but Oxygenui is a big deal when buying a one plus device.
I’d also say that you get more coloros personalization features in oxygen ui, & think it’ll grow well. ColorOS is know for customization & I think the oxygen UI is going that way. Slowly you might get more Customization in AOD which I think should’ve been here by now.But like I said something like Oxygen UI On the colorOS is happening & It’s going to increase.
To talk about the OS, there’s still the June update, which should’ve updated to July as one plus is known for updates.So I’m expecting something good in terms of updates! Because pete lau said that the integration is to bring fast & better update to customers & I hope that it’s true & it happens. I’m pleasantly surprised about the 4500mah battery which is nearly 400mah more then the nord and the 65w fast charging has also doubled, so it charges up 100% very quickly.
Oneplus nord 2 Review
And the battery will last you the whole day without a problem as it has 90hz & 120hz would’ve been a problem.But with moderate usage, at the end of the day, there’s still 30-35% battery remaining, meaning it can be carried the next day too.you get all the sensors like face unlock & in display fingerprint sensor. The face unlock is so fast that it sometime triggers accidentally. And the in display fingerprint sensor is also fast.
Camera review
I’ll tell you some interesting things about the camera app later but the nord 2 cameras have exceeded my expectations. I’m actually impressed the 50mp primary sensor comes with OIS. When you click low light photos, you can see the OIS working as the photos are not blurred I’ve used all one plus phones since the first, & the camera most of times felt lacking .but in this camera, I liked its dynamic range, you get the dynamic range like in oppo & Realme phones the high contrast & cloudy pictures get blown out.
But not with this one, you get all the details because of good dynamic range. The 50mp primary sensor is sharp & color shift from primary to the 8 mp secondary sensor is less. The ultra wide photos are a little soft its expected but still the 120 degree field of view photos are good, wide & dynamic. The rear camera is sharp, colourful with no grains so I found the rear camera to be good! Talking about the 32mp selfie sensor it’s good the pictures look a little soft but most of the time the selfies turned out good!
So on the camera front, the one plus nord 2 has exceeded my expectations. You might have got that from looking at the photos.but the camera don’t support 4k@60fps! The oneplus nord had 4k@60fps on both front and back. But it isn’t present on the nord 2 it should’ve been there. Talking about cameras, there are a lot of features on the coloros camera app which are now available on the nord 2.
There’s AI Highlight video mode, which is called the AI Highlight. Enhancement mode by oneplus. You also get the broken flare portrait video mode which was advertised by colours. The haven’t mentioned but it’s available in the camera app. So many good features are available in the camera app.
Multimedia review
Multimedia – you get a 6.43 super amoled screen 90hz refresh rate and the colours look great! .The screen with good viewing angle is quite bright.So the overall video viewing experience is good. You get stereo speakers which are quite loud with good quality but don’t get a 3.5mm jack. There are 2 features like AI color boost & AI Resolution Boost, meaning you can have punchy colour.
While watching a 480mp video as it’ll upscale the video for better quality so video experience & features are good. And the audio with stereo speakers is good too. Overall it’s a thumbs up on the multimedia experience on the nord 2. And another one for it’s connectivity. you get all modes like bluetooth 5.3 wifi 6 dual 4G Volte WiFi calling etc. It all works well & we have our sim card in it so there were no call drops.
The earphones sound good & clear, and there’ll be no problem with calling & connectivity.
There’s still confused with bands at some places it says (7+4bands ) & ( 6+3bands)
But I will more soon, as we can’t really say without any 5G network. But it does support multiple bands ( minimum 7 bands)
It does support LHDC & LDAC codex which won’t support on cheap earphones but you’ll notice the difference on the expensive ones. And there’s no IP rating but get rubber gaskets so ID say it’s water resistant.
So what’s my verdict about the one plus nord 2? There are 2-3 things missing, and I’m really glad that it has alert slider. But there’s no 3.5mm Jack not a 120hz panel. Which are expected & should have been there. You don’t get the base variant which is a big negative! So the price start from rs 29999 & not rs 27999!
And the clean OxygenUI experience is getting compromised somewhere too. These are 2-3 things I didn’t like , but I did like it’s camera the rear camera setup clicks good photos!
The display is good & the in hand feel is ok so overall it’s a mixed bag.
Had it been around rs 27-28k with the base variant available then id highly recommend it!
I still do recommend it but not that highly and that’s my verdict on the one plus nord 2.