OnePlus Nord 2 came out well over a month ago in July. I got the new ‘Green Woods’ colour which went on sale very recently. Right out of the box, the smartphone looks very clean and premium. I haven’t seen the other two colours physically, but after seeing the ‘Green Woods’ variant, I don’t think I would want to either. There are plenty of things that I love about the Nord 2 upon using it for the first time. Let me tell you everything in detail.
OnePlus Nord 2 First Impressions: Body Design and Display
The OnePlus Nord 2 is honestly one of the most beautiful smartphones I have held in my hands. The ‘Green Woods’ variant is just so premium that I wish it was offered in the flagship OnePlus 9 series. Regardless, OnePlus made a really good decision by going with this colour.
The body is slim and light. The rear is made of PU leather with some subtle textures on it, which is really good. There is a USB Type-C port at the bottom, and just beside that are the speakers. The volume rockers are on the left side of the smartphone, and the power button is on the right.
There is an in-display fingerprint sensor so the smartphone unlocking experience is ultra-smooth. The camera bump is very similar to that of the OnePlus 9. Just above the power button at the right is the ‘alert slider’, which is just very clicky when moving and gives a very satisfying feel. The front camera sensor is in a punch-hole cutout at the top left.
The display looks really smooth and great in terms of colour. It has something really sharp about it. The details are really good, and I like the overall gist I am getting from it. I am sure the 90Hz refresh rate display won’t feel any less smooth as I use it for the next few days. I honestly believe this is one of the best displays in this price segment in the Indian market. It is a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution.
OnePlus Nord 2 First Impressions: Camera
I haven’t taken a lot of shots, but the camera looks really good. I will surely share a ton of pictures when I come out with the final review, but the overall camera layout looks very similar to what we saw in the OnePlus 9 series. There are additional camera modes in the camera app including ‘Ultra Resolution’, ‘Movie’, ‘Dual-View Video’, ‘Slo-Mo’, ‘Time Lapse’, and Pano mode. Then there are basic modes which are ‘Expert’, ‘Photo’, ‘Video’, and ‘Night’.
You can also shoot in the ‘1x’ mode, ‘0.6x’, which is wide-angle-sensor, ‘2x’, and ‘5x’. The zoom shots were very clear, and I really like the camera app because it is very simple and easy to use. The selfie sensor is quite good as well.
There are a few modes above for clicking pictures, such as ‘AI’ and ‘HDR’, which can be activated to click even better pictures. You can also add filters to the images by clicking on the ‘three circles’ kind of icon at the top of the screen.
I could also very easily access the Google Lens right from the camera app, which was great.
OnePlus Nord 2 First Impressions: Performance and Conclusion
OnePlus Nord 2 runs on MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI SoC. I have the 12GB RAM variant, so I expect everything to be smooth. The Dimensity 1200-AI SoC is expected to do everything I would want to. In the final review, I will for sure share the Geekbench results of the smartphone and the chipset. In terms of performance, I wouldn’t want to comment anymore right now because I haven’t completely used it yet. I plan to download some heavy games such as Asphalt to see how it will perform.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is available in three different variants in India. The first variant comes with 6GB+128GB for Rs 27,999, second variant with 8GB+128GB for Rs 29,999, and 12GB+256GB variant for Rs 34,999.
At this price range, this smartphone looks absolutely like a beast. You can play games, download heavy applications easily in both the 8GB and 12GB RAM variants. I could easily see myself using this for the next two years if I am going for a device in a mid-range segment. Enough now; more on the review later. I will extensively test the smartphone to see what it can and can’t do. See you soon!
