A scarce year has passed since this manufacturer introduced the OnePlus Nord, and today we already have its successor. This OnePlus Nord 2 aims to follow in the wake of its predecessor and make a small space in the segment of smartphones with the best value for money at the moment. If you want to know more, then we will give you our review.
A few weeks ago, we published a review of the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, and this time, the seller Aliexpress Museum has sent us the next version, the OnePlus Nord 2, to check their advances made in the device.
As I said in the previous review, it was a device that caught my attention, mainly because of its software and its high performance. The terminal they have sent us is the Global version with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.
As for unpacking, it comes in a fairly large black box with the model name on top. Inside the box, you will find the OnePlus protected by translucent paper. Below this is a small envelope, where the manufacturer has put the different start manuals, the transparent TPU cover, and a few stickers of the brand. At the bottom of the box is the red USB to USB Type-C cable and a massive 65W power charger.
Something that criticized the previous model was its fast charge of only 30W. On this occasion, OnePlus’s decision to implement a charge so fast (65W) is to be praised that you get 100% battery in a few minutes.
software
As I already explained in the OnePlus Nord CE 5G review, this layer of Oxygen OS customization in its version 11.3 under Android 11 provides a fluidity of the system that has nothing to envy other large and reputable devices manufacturers.
Oxygen OS is one of the best and most complete layers of personalization of a smartphone; they also assure us up to 3 years of updates and 4 years of security patches. Few companies tell us so clearly.
It comes with the Google Play app store and Google services pre-installed. The following Google applications are also pre-installed, such as Chrome, Google Play Movies, Gmail, Maps, Youtube, Drive, Photos, Calendar, Contacts, Podcast, etc.
In addition, the manufacturer, OnePlus, has decided to add its applications: weather, Notes, Games, a File Manager, Community, Clone phone, etc. Some of them can be uninstalled without major inconvenience.
As I mentioned in the last review, they have a fairly clean system and no external applications (except for Netflix). If you want to check all the applications that this terminal came with, I invite you to look at the screenshots. There you will see all the applications that it had as it started.
As I said, Oxygen OS is a very well-optimized customization layer that offers extreme customization to the user. You can configure the smartphone with “dark mode” to take advantage of the Amoled screen and thus save a certain amount of battery. You can also change the screen’s refresh rate from 60 to 90 Hz and get a better experience in the system or, on the other hand, calibrate the sRGB colors of the screen.
It comes with an application called “Zen Mode,” which will give us a break from our smartphone as soon as we start it and run it. That is, relaxing music will begin to play, and all applications will be disabled so that we cannot use them. We can only make or answer calls. Once the time indicated in the application is over, we can use the OnePlus again.
It has on-screen gestures similar to those of other manufacturers. I am used to using them and have not noticed anything. They have worked well at all times.
As for multimedia, it does not have video output through the USB type C port, so we will not enjoy the Android operating system on an external monitor. It has the Widevine L1 encryption codec with which we can enjoy Netflix with resolutions higher than FHD.
Facial recognition is fast and accurate even in low light conditions. However, as you can see in the video that I will leave you, it is not capable of unlocking with the light emitted by the device screen.
Fingerprint sensor and face unlock
Design and Materials
This OnePlus Nord 2 has a plastic finish in which, and at least in the color I have, fingerprints do not remain. It has a conservative design with a small change in style on the part of the cameras.
It did not seem like a large device to me, and it may be due to its weight of 189 grams and its size of 73.3 mm long x 159.1 mm high x 8.2 mm thick. I liked wearing it and especially how it feels close to hand.
The screen is a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED type with a FullHD + resolution (1080×2400 lines) that provides 402 pixels per inch. I think it is a good screen without being like the ones we can find in devices that are around 1000 euros. As for the brightness, it is 500 nits which are fine. The screen refresh rate is 90 Hz.
As for the front of the OnePlus Nord 2 must be said that it is practically all-screen; 88% of the front is used. The selfie camera is built into the left side of the screen. The fingerprint reader is integrated into the screen itself. This one is fast and accurate, and I think it has improved quite a bit over the OnePlus Nord CE 5G version that I tested a few weeks ago. However, it does not have a notification LED, and in the same way as the previous version, a few small pixels light up on the screen to indicate if the camera is working.
On the left side is the volume up and down button. On the right side is the lock button, and unlike the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, it does include the “alert-slider” button to manually switch between the different sound, vibration, and silence profiles.
At the bottom, we find the centered USB Type-C connector. On the right side is the speaker and on the left is the microphone next to the opening of the nanoSIM tray. A speaker that, together with the call speaker, ** is stereo **. Keep improving and modernizing the Nord range. On the top side, it only has a noise-canceling microphone.
As for the back of this OnePlus Nord 2, it has 3 cameras. Two of them are quite large and are located vertically. The third one is quite small and is located next to the LED flash. I did not find that they protrude too much from the body of the phone.
Power and Hardware
This OnePlus Nord 2 comes with different hardware than what we are used to in this manufacturer. On this occasion, the manufacturer, surely to save costs, has decided to incorporate the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 64-bit processor manufactured in 6nm. It is an 8-core processor with a configuration of four of its cores, ARM Cortex A55, capable of reaching a speed of 2.0 GHz to re