OnePlus once broke into the smartphone market and offered inexpensive flagships. But too much time has passed to live only on past merits. In the world of phones, everything has become as monotonous as possible: devices with similar characteristics, similar design in spirit, even the prices differ slightly. There is always a discounter company that offers “the same thing, but at a discount.”
So far, the company is afloat, but the prices of smartphones have increased, one cannot say that OnePlus is cheap smartphones. Then why do you need such a phone if you can choose something from more popular manufacturers? OnePlus has the Nord 2, a balanced middle school student that sells under the slogan “everything you could dream of.”
In addition, OnePlus teamed up with OPPO this summer, so its own skin, OxygenOS, took the form of ColorOS. In addition, plans for longer support for the devices were announced. What will actually happen with the updates – let’s see, for now I’m sharing my impressions of OnePlus Nord 2. Hop over to Amazon to find the best pricing.
“Everything you could dream of”: presented by OnePlus Nord 2
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Just good
The smartphone looks good: the screen with thin bezels, the body is not heavy, while the OnePlus Nord 2 turned out to be okay and ergonomic. It has a sloping rear end, which gently merges into the rounded sidewalls.
It is convenient and pleasant to hold the phone, especially if you do not use the supplied silicone case. He, of course, will protect against minor injuries and will take blows when falling, but in this case, you will be deprived of pleasant emotions.
The front and back surfaces are covered with Gorilla Glass. If you run your palm over the back, then there will be no traces on it, great happiness that there is no gloss in the gray version. In addition, this surface is also slightly rough. It remains only to regret that the phone has a plastic frame – they saved it, otherwise OnePlus Nord 2 would look no worse than the flagship.
By the way, the phone comes in other colors, there are three of them: Blue Haze (blue), Gray Sierra (gray) and Green Weeds (green). Moreover, if you choose in a light blue version, then you get a sleek glossy body. And if it is green, then it will be artificial leather.
From the point of view of originality, Nord 2 cannot offer anything like that, it turned out to be faceless. Just a nice smartphone with a neatly protruding block of two cameras. Protection from water also did not appear, which is a pity.
This could have ended, but I would like to mention a unique feature of OnePlus: a three-position lever on the right side. A kind of iPhone of the Android world: you can quickly switch your smartphone to silent mode, leave only vibration for notifications, or return a full sound alert.
Mighty MediaTek
OnePlus decided the performance issue simply: the smartphone received the top-end MediaTek Dimenity 1200Ai. Chipset with 5G support, in the top version the phone can have 12 GB of RAM. But I ended up with an initial version with 8 GB of memory – it is enough for the eyes, as for me, 12 is already redundant opportunities for an advanced middle school student.
Holivars in the spirit of “media libraries – phew, it would be better if snapdragon stood” are becoming a thing of the past. The top Snapdragon 888 turned out to be unsuccessful and flagships with such a chipset get terribly hot in games. In the case of MediaTek, the situation is much better, I have no complaints about high temperatures under load. However, Qualcomm fans may say that it is more logical to compare with the Snapdragon 870: it still falls short of the powerful 888 Dimenisty 1200.
A throttling test in a cyclic mode leads to a rise in the temperature of the case, graphics performance drops, for very demanding games like Genshin Impact the power is not enough.
But if we talk about CoD Mobile or PUBG, then everything is fine with them. At the same time, the phone also automatically lowers the refresh rate from 90 Hz to 60 Hz. I’ll write it off on raw software, but the sediment remains. Nevertheless, OnePlus Nord 2 is not ashamed to compare with the flagships: do not forget about its price, so everything falls into place.
Soft and not only
I really liked the pleasant vibration feedback, the feel of using the Google Pixel. This feature of smartphones is not always paid attention to, but this is an important point, in this regard, OnePlus stands out from the general background.
You can also praise for the laconic design without unnecessary bells and whistles, but in general, you can see a course towards minimalism on the Android market. So we can only praise OnePlus for its loyalty to the spirit and smooth operation of the system.
There is no microSD slot, it is gradually becoming a rarity. You can use two SIM cards, there is support for 5G frequencies, Wi-Fi of the sixth version, Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX HD and NFC to pay for purchases.
Display
The display specs are the same as last year’s OnePlus Nord. 6.43 inches diagonal, resolution 1800 x 2400 pixels, support for 90 Hz and HDR 10+. By default, a mode with a very contrasting and saturated picture is selected, if you wish, you can switch from “Brightness” to “Tenderness”. In this case, the shades will be muted and not so violent.
There are not very many settings in general: you can change the refresh rate from 60 to 90 Hz, choose the style of the clock for the Always On mode, apply a dark or light theme. There is a “night” mode, when in the evening the colors go to warm tones – so that the eyes are less tired.
The display has a factory protective film – you can remove it and feel the good oleophobic coating. But in this case, the glass is quickly covered with small scratches. So I would leave the tape in place.
The sub-screen fingerprint scanner works great, very quickly and accurately – there are no errors in the process of use. You can also set up face unlocking, but since it is triggered by the front camera and does not build a three-dimensional image, the method is not the most reliable.
Sample photos
If we talk about the camera, then at the moment, the OnePlus Nord 2 is not perfect in every way. The main camera is the same as in the more expensive OnePlus ninth series: the same Sony IMX766 module and optical stabilization.
Let’s start with the simplest thing – shooting during the day in good lighting. Here, of course, everything is fine. The colors are good, the picture is clear, you will not find fault.
In the evenings, things are not so rosy. This is due to the work of noise reduction in low light, adding watercolors to the pictures. The phone tries to brighten the frame by killing details.
This is automatic:
And this is automatic, but with a long exposure:
Night mode helps to solve the problem, when one from a series of frames is obtained. You won’t be able to remove something moving, but the software does an excellent job with static. If the example above isn’t enough, here’s the crop:
If you take an intermediate situation, for example, shooting indoors with artificial light, then the details also suffer.
The smartphone has a separate ultra-wide-angle module, it is the most common one at 8 megapixels: it washes a lot around the edges, there is no need to talk about quality. There is also a dedicated monochrome 2 megapixel lens, but there is nothing to say about it, just for show.
Night shot example:
This happens during the day:
While shooting, you can see the modes with the approach of objects, but do not flatter yourself, there is no optical zoom. Therefore, the quality is appropriate: if with the 2x mode it turns out at least bearable, then 5x is completely bad.
Twofold approximation:
And this is already fivefold:
The front camera is good: high resolution, nice colors, clear picture during the day.
The Nord 2 also received excellent video stabilization.
Super fast charging
Warp Charge 65W reactive charging works wonders. It takes less than 40 to fully charge the phone, very quickly. The magic lies in the fact that a smartphone has two batteries, and they are charged in parallel.
True, the dimensions of the adapter are also impressive, especially when you plug the adapter into the plug to connect to the outlet. Plus, keep in mind that magic works in tandem with the original cable, so take care of accessories.
The battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh can withstand a day of active use, when you take it off the clock at eight in the morning and send it back to charge around midnight. In total, about 5-6 hours of active screen is obtained, a normal result.
Solid set
The phone box is huge. I think you will immediately forget about how everything is neatly arranged and packed after unpacking, but this also affects the first impressions of the device. Includes a USB-A to USB-C cable, paper clip, silicone case, and a hefty power adapter.
To the question about the price
Officially, OnePlus products are not presented in Russia, but if you wish, you can buy smartphones. If you look at the Yandex.Market offers, the prices of OnePlus Nord 2 start at 35,000 rubles for a model with 8/128 GB of memory, and the 12/256 GB version will cost 42,000 rubles. If you order from China, you can save about 5000 rubles.
For comparison, here are the official prices for Europe: 399 euros (34,600 rubles) and 499 euros (42,300 rubles), respectively.
Opinion
For a mid-range phone, OnePlus Nord 2 turned out to be an interesting solution. If we take its price in China, then the offer is good in a number of parameters. Glass body, very fast charging included, solid performance, concise and user-friendly interface, cool lever for quickly switching alert modes.
There are suspiciously many advantages, but where are the disadvantages? There is no wireless charging – but it’s like anyone else, I don’t use it at all, preferring a fast wired one. There is no moisture protection, so it would be worth adding at last, it’s still a necessary thing.
Is the photo quality not perfect? Yes, the camera could be improved, but given the price of the smartphone, it can be survived. After all, this is not an expensive flagship, but an advanced middle school student for adequate money.
Options to buy from Amazon can be found here.
Specifications
- Screen: 6.43 inches, 1080 x 2400, 20: 9, 90 Hz, Fluid AMOLED;
- OS: OxygenOS 11.3 (Android 11);
- Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 1200 AI;
- RAM: 8 GB;
- Storage: 128 GB;
- Camera: main 50 MP f / 1.88, Sony IMX766, optical stabilization; ultra wide-angle 8 MP f / 2.25; black and white 2 MP f / 2.4; front 32 MP f / 2.45, Sony IMX615;
- Communication: Wi-Fi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, USB Type-C, two nanoSIM;
- Battery: 4500 mAh, Warp Charge 65 W;
- Dimensions: 159.12 x 73.31 x 8.25mm;
- Weight: 189 g.
OnePlus Nord 2
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