OnePlus Nord 2 – Test: is this the price?!

OnePlus Nord 2 - Test: is this the price?!

OnePlus is still a relatively new player in the Norwegian mobile market, and it wasn’t until 2018 that the company’s first smartphone became officially available in that country.

By the way, there was also a queue outside the Telia store in Byporten, but these waiting conditions for the most part are over.

OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo, which was the world’s fourth-largest mobile phone provider in the second quarter of this year – overtaking Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple – and the Chinese company has become popular by selling well-equipped mobile phones cheaper than the competition.

Things have changed somewhat with the launch of the latest Pro, but the Nord series came as a cheaper alternative, and the newcomer OnePlus Nord 2, for example, costs NOK 5600 less than the flagship OnePlus 9 Pro.

OnePlus has switched from aluminum to plastic in the North 2. Photo: Martin Kynningsrud Størbu
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OnePlus Nord 1 and 2

The second generation of OnePlus Nord follows in my footsteps Last year’s model – the most prominent example of “a lot of mobile for money”This makes one wonder if there is any benefit in swiping twice or more for the flagship mobiles of Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus itself.

Let’s look at the differences between OnePlus Nord and OnePlus Nord 2:

The chassis is the first thing you’ll notice, because while the OnePlus Nord is made of glass and aluminum, it’s made of glass and plastic for the Nord 2.

In terms of size, it’s nearly identical to the somewhat higher-end Nord 2, while the screen is just 0.01 inches smaller. There are no noticeable differences exactly in this part.

It’s actually on the inside and the camera part where the biggest differences are. The OnePlus Nord 2 is powered by a MediaTak processor and a 4,500mAh battery, the Nord 1 uses a Qualcomm chipset and its battery capacity is somewhat smaller at 4,115mAh.

On the Geekbench test, the OnePlus Nord 2 scored nearly 40 percent higher on the single-core test and just over 60 percent on the multi-core.

At the same time, the Nord 1 has two additional camera sensors, one extra on the back and one on the front, compared to the Nord 2, without that implying better image quality. In fact, we think there are quite a few differences between this year’s OnePlus Nord and this year’s OnePlus Nord.

This is how it is

As mentioned, the OnePlus Nord 2 is built from plastic and glass and has a chassis that is a bit reminiscent of the old Nokia/Microsoft Lumia mobile phones that were made of polycarbonate. In terms of design The OnePlus 9 Pro is almost identical.

Our test model is gorgeous in a dozen blues, called Mist Blue — also available in grey, called Sierra Gray — with a reasonably distinct vertical camera bump on the back. Below is a discreet OnePlus logo.

Our model is also equipped with 12 GB of memory and 256 storage. The price is about 5200 kr. OnePlus Nord 2 also comes in a version that at the time of writing costs 4450 kroner. It has 8 GB of memory and 128 GB of storage.

The OnePlus Nord 2 is almost identical in appearance to the OnePlus 9 Pro.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo

The OnePlus Nord 2 is almost identical in appearance to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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The front is almost a screen, but if you look closely you will see that there is a certain thickness of the frame. The front camera is built into the screen, something we’re used to from other Android phones, but it’s not the kind with advanced face recognition like the iPhone.

Instead, the OnePlus Nord has two-finger sensors in the screen, which work very well and which we generally like better than face recognition. Especially in dark environments.

Other than that, it’s worth noting OnePlus’ handsome volume switch where you can easily switch between silence, vibration, and tone. A key we would like more manufacturers to use.

top screen

OnePlus’ OxygenOS is, in our opinion, one of the best and easiest-to-operate cases for Android mobile phones. It’s relatively similar to standard Android, with some nice tweaks as well.

From the home screen, you can swipe up to access the app drawer, swipe down to access the OnePlus toolbox with weather forecasts, recently used apps, save parking position and the like.

From the home screen, you can also swipe right to see the news feed.

90Hz: It costs less than half, but the OnePlus Nord 2 actually has a faster screen than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
90 Hz: It costs less than half, but the OnePlus Nord 2 actually has a faster screen than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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The navigation itself is similar to other newer Android phones in that you use gestures to switch between apps and swipe back and forth, but you can also use Android’s button-based navigation style. You can select this when setting up the phone, but it can be customized later in the settings.

Scrolling around Android 11 and scrolling up and down on web pages is easy. Not only because of the relatively powerful MediaTek chipset, but also because the OnePlus Nord 2 has a 90Hz screen which means it refreshes 90 times per second. It gives a smoother picture than, say, 60 Hz, which the iPhone has.

The only detail we have to show on the OnePlus display screen is that the automatic brightness adjustment is rarely as high as we want it to be. The image is often too dark when we are outside in the sun and we have to manually adjust the brightness.

In fact, we switched to manual tuning after only a few days, and hardly ever again.

You don’t understand this

So if you are wondering whether you should buy the OnePlus Nord 2 for 5200 kr – 4450 kr for the cheapest – or one of the best Android models for 10,000 kr, it’s good to know what you want Not Get it if you go north 2.

The affordable OnePlus, for example, doesn’t have an IP rating, which means it’s not officially dust- and water-resistant, or water-resistant. This is also similar to some other OnePlus models.

It also doesn’t support wireless charging, despite the transition from aluminum to plastic, but it’s probably one of the things it offers to keep the price down.

We also mentioned these two points for the first OnePlus Nord.

More than a good enough camera

The camera has never been a strength of OnePlus, and in the past it seemed to be one of the areas the company spared a bit to keep prices low. The OnePlus Nord 2 is far from the best camera on the mobile market, but then it is important to remember the price range of a mobile phone.

The camera is better than what we would expect from a smartphone at 5,000 kronor.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo

The camera is better than what we would expect from a smartphone at 5,000 kronor. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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By the way, here is the design of the main camera on the back:

  • Main sensor: 50 MP, f/1.9, OIS (12 MP in normal mode)
  • Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f / 2.3 aperture and 119 ° field of view.
  • Monochrome sensor: 2 MP, f/2.4 aperture.

With the main camera, the OnePlus Nord 2 can shoot in a maximum resolution of 4K at 30 frames per second. The front camera captures 1080p at a maximum of 30 frames per second.

On the front, there is also a simple 32-megapixel sensor.

Lots of light is the OnePlus Nord 2's best friend. Photo: Martin Kenningrode Storbo

Lots of light is the OnePlus Nord 2’s best friend. Photo: Martin Kenningrode Storbo
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Lots of light is the OnePlus Nord 2's best friend. Photo: Martin Kenningrode Storbo

Lots of light is the OnePlus Nord 2’s best friend. Photo: Martin Kenningrode Storbo
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As we wrote in our OnePlus 9 Pro test, we have some problems seeing the dot with the black and white sensor, because we don’t notice from or to the image quality when we hold the sensor.

After a week with Nord 2, the camera pleasantly surprised us. In good sunlight, as recently, it is difficult to distinguish between photos taken in North 2 and The most expensive Samsung Galaxy S21 +. If I zoom in, or magnify the image on a larger computer screen, the differences will be more pronounced with more detail and better contrasts for Samsung, but a lot tells me that mobile phone images are often only seen on a mobile screen.

With Ultra Wide Angle activated, there is clear shading and blurring on the outer edges, especially in dark environments, revealing that the OnePlus Nord 2 has the sharpest camera sensor, but the blurring is not as prominent both outdoors and indoors, for, say, landscape photography .

It often turns yellow when taking photos in a dark environment.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo

It often turns yellow when taking photos in a dark environment. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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At a wide angle, you can clearly see that it becomes blurred at the outer edges.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo

At a wide angle, you can clearly see that it becomes blurred at the outer edges. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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But these are details that we expect in this price range, and even in more expensive mobiles we see such examples.

In dark environments, the camera quality is quite good. Image overview, for example, the city center becomes fine, while with objects moving at a shorter distance, it quickly becomes blurred.

Photo overview in the evening is usually good - and better than we would expect for a mobile phone for 5000 kroner.  Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo

Overview photos in the evening are usually good – and better than we would expect for a mobile phone for 5000 kroner. Photo: Martin Kenningerode Storbo
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conclusion

OnePlus is a mobile phone manufacturer that we’ve consistently admired, and the OnePlus Nord 2 is no exception.

Here you get a lot of cell phones for the money. Almost an impressive amount.

The performance is solid, as is the build quality. The screen has a frame rate 50 percent higher than iPhone 12 Pro Max is 160 percent more expensiveIt also charges faster.

Test: Is this the price?!

The camera is also good, which is actually better than what we’d expect from a mobile in this price range.

There are two “deficiencies”: no IP rating and no support for wireless charging, but it is also not so common on mobile phones for 5000 kroner.

– Lots of mobile for money
– Well built
90Hz screen
– Charges fast
– good camera
The fifth generation network

– Inaccurate automatic brightness adjustment
– The black and white camera has little to offer
– Not certified waterproof
No wireless charging support

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Hanisi Anenih

Hanisi Anenih

"Web specialist. Lifelong zombie maven. Coffee ninja. Hipster-friendly analyst."

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