Something today is making me nostalgic. Yes, it takes me back to those simple days when phones used to be smaller, compact and useful. I am talking about the new OnePlus Nord 2T, which is just 6.43 inches long and stands out immediately with its design, size, and aesthetics when all the other brands focus on larger and bulkier devices.

OnePlus Nord 2T 5G comes almost a full year after the release of Nord 2 5G, so you must expect a significant upgrade, which isn’t the case. We witness a slightly altered appearance around the back, with new colours and finishes. A new MediaTek Dimensity 1300 processor has been introduced for this model, and the fast charging has been upgraded to 80W.

What is the first thing that you look for in a mid-range smartphone? Probably a camera.

The camera module now has two large circular cutouts, one of which houses the primary camera and the second houses the ultra-wide and monochrome cameras. It has a hole-punch cavity for the selfie camera in the top-right corner. Nord 2T has a big Sony IMX766 flagship sensor with OIS on the 50MP primary camera.

The phone is powered by a 4,500mAh battery and can be charged using the 80W charger in the box. The charging speed is another big change compared to the Nord 2, which had 65W fast charging. The fast charger takes around 30 minutes to fully charge the 4500mAh battery, which is also one of the best seen in this price segment. The phone lasts for almost the entire day of heavy usage and does not drain since you can juice it up easily and conveniently.

The phone runs OxygenOS 12.1, which is based on Android 12. The gaming performance was quite good, and the phone did not get too hot while playing taxing games. I tried Call of Duty and Apex Legends, high-end games, and the phone performed well under default settings. However, a nominal frame rate was dropped once the settings were set to high.

You get an AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, so if you are used to a 120Hz refresh rate, too bad for you. The display mainly produced saturated colours at the default Vivid colour profile. Switching to the Natural mode made more accurate colours. The display seemed sufficiently bright outdoors, but the phone’s ambient light sensor always dimmed the display a bit too much when using it indoors, forcing me to increase the brightness bar after unlocking the phone. Another exciting feature of this phone is the video colour boost option that gives your videos more vibrant colour profiling and increases your battery usage, as it clearly states.

Nord 2T is one of the best looking phones out there and even at this price range it feels no less than a premium phone double its price. It is extremely comfortable to use with one hand and feels quite light and well-balanced despite packing Gorilla Glass 5 on the front as well as the back panel.

The OnePlus Nord 2T 5G at Rs 28,999 delivers everything most users would ever want in a mid-range smartphone, and that’s about it. It does not go above and beyond to deliver something more or add exceptional value. The design is slick with tapered edges and feels premium on the outside. Also, the size of the Nord 2T gives you the confidence to hold and flaunt the smartphone.

OnePlus recently reentered the mid-range smartphone market segment with the launch of the OnePlus Nord. It may not be the best phone from the company’s stable, but it definitely packs a punch. The Nord had definitely been the talk of the town during its launch phase. However, it got a bittersweet reception after its specifications and pricing were announced.

Instead of taking a step further in the flagship range competition, OnePlus went with the tried-and-tested formula of returning to the mid-range segment, offering three variants of the Nord. I got a chance to use the top trim with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is what I am going to talk about in this review.

Now, I have been an OnePlus user for over two years. My model, the OnePlus 6 has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Naturally, I was expecting a considerable upgrade when using the Nord. But, the primary difference that I noticed, unfortunately, was the screen size and not the performance. Even in hardcore gaming, the best advantages the Nord offered was a slightly bigger screen, a better 20:9 aspect ratio, and clearer graphics.

Look and Feel:

The Nord is only marginally bigger than my OnePlus 6, though it has much thinner bezels and a better body-to-screen ratio. The phone also feels mediocre to hold. Not that it feels of inferior quality in any way, but it just meets usual OnePlus standards. It does get an all-glass body with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both front and back. However, the downer is the plastic frame, which diminishes sturdiness and makes you feel less confident when handling your device. It also does not have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, further adding to its disadvantages over its competitors. I got to review the Gray Onyx coloured model, which I personally would always prefer over the Blue Marble.

The Nord retains the company’s signature slider button for volume profiles on the right, along with the power/wake button. The overall look and feel of the phone is neat, however, it misses out on the premiumness that OnePlus phones are generally associated with.

Camera:

Having said that, the Nord takes the cake with its camera. OnePlus offers some of the best manual control options in its camera. Even in my OnePlus 6, the Pro mode can be used to click DSLR quality images. Consequently, the Quad Camera setup of the Nord is lightyears ahead. Still sticking to the Pro mode, the OnePlus Nord allowed me to click lifelike images effortlessly. But for the occasions when I felt too lazy to adjust the settings, the Nord had my back with its 48MP Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) camera. It has a Sony IMX586 main sensor, along with three secondary cameras of 8MP, 2MP, and 5MP. All other photo modes (which are a lot by the way) support superzoom and superwide mode, but the 48MP mode takes all control in its own hands. Just focus and click away!

Video options are also ample, with 4K recording at 30 fps, 1080p recording at 30 and 60 fps, and a Time-lapse mode at 4K (30 fps) and 1080p (30 fps). For “Slo-Mo” content creators, the Nord can take super slow-motion videos at 1080p at 240 fps! The media that I captured was further enhanced when displayed on the 6.44” Fluid AMOLED screen. Not to forget its 90Hz refresh rate that offered a decently seamless transition.

Processor:

Honestly, I was quite disappointed by the processor choice. Again comparing with my OnePlus 6, I found its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 to be much more efficient than the Nord’s Snapdragon 765G, which was rather dejecting. While both processors have 8 cores, the Snapdragon 765G has a combined peak CPU speed of 15.4 GHz, while the Snapdragon 845 clocks 18.28 GHz. The Nord does get a higher upload speed of 210 MBits/s, has a 267MHz higher RAM speed, and has a larger maximum memory size, which is why the Nord is available with 12GB of RAM. But apart from that, I missed the feeling of getting a processor upgrade when switching from my OnePlus 6 to the Nord.

Phone Setup:

Talking about switching, OnePlus offers a neat little app called, well, OnePlus Switch. This allowed me to replicate my existing settings and applications from my old OnePlus 6 to the new Nord. The transfer also happened in the time it took me to reach home from the office, which is why I was all set to experience the Nord as soon as I stepped in. To emphasize, the app transferred more than 50 GB of data, along with multiple customization and personalization settings in a span of 15 minutes, without a strong Wi-Fi connection.

Battery:

Being an ardent gamer, I mastered many different genres of games (Challenge me if you dare?). The OnePlus Nord allowed me to play games as intensely as I wanted while offering a decent battery backup with its 4115 mAh battery pack. On the occasional weekend that I played games from morning till night, I only had to leave the Nord on charge for a little over an hour. The WarpCharge 30T charger that comes in the box was wholly responsible for that, no questions asked. Honestly, I needed a bigger break than that so I am not complaining.

Verdict:

Priced at Rs 29,999, the top trim of the OnePlus Nord is the best choice for potential customers. This is because, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, users can experience the fullest potential of the OnePlus Nord. Also, its option with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced just Rs 2000 less, which makes the top trim an even more value for money option. The Nord offers everything that OnePlus is known for, but it leaves something to desire. Probably as OnePlus says, Never Settle?

Tag: Nord

OnePlus Nord 2T- A Small Package