OnePlus Nord 2T Review

OnePlus Nord 2T is certainly a very tempting smartphone that has replaced the Nord 2.  ‘T’ model is introduced for the first time in Nord series, otherwise it was previously reserved for the flagship OnePlus series.

The OnePlus Nord 2T is basically the same as 2021’s Nord 2 yet that doesn’t prevent the more current variant from being one of the most mind-blowing mid-range mobile phones you can purchase. Although the formula is same but this T iteration has shown improvements in speed, performance and charging. The Nord 2T accompanies a newer processor along with faster 80W wired charging. A bit of altered design, chipset and charging are the main differences as compared to original Nord 2.

Also Read: Google Pixel 6a Review

OnePlus Nord 2T specs at a glance:

• Body: 1×73.2×8.2mm, 190g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic frame.
• Display: 43″ AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 409ppi.
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 1300: Octa-core (1×3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G77 MC9.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 12, OxygenOS 12.1.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS;
• Ultra-wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.2.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/480fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 80W, USB Power Delivery.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; stereo

Price and availability

OnePlus Nord 2T was launched in Pakistan in May, 2022 and presently its price is Rs. 79,999 with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage variant. OnePlus is available in Gray Shadow and Jade Fog colours.

Design

The OnePlus Nord 2T is a slim device weighing 190g, despite its large flat screen, unlike many premium devices with curved edge displays.

Build: OnePlus Nord 2T was built with two Gorilla Glass 5 panels and glossy plastic frame in between. The front glass is flat, while the rear glass and the frame are slightly curved towards the edges.

Scanners: The new Nord 2T has a clean back with large camera island with big black circles. A front facing camera sits in the upper left of the screen as a cut out. There is also an optical fingerprint scanner beneath the screen which is fast and reliable. Outside, there is also the dual-LED flash.

Versions: Both the glossy and the frosted version are beautiful in their own way. The glossy (Jade Fog) finish picks up fingerprints and smears, while the frosted (Gray Shadow) model gets less finger prints. The grip is not good enough on both.

Controls: There is an earpiece at the top of the Nord 2T. There is a a power/lock button on the right side and left side accompanies the three-step silencer used for ‘silent’, ‘vibrate’, and ‘ring’. The bottom is crowded with dual-SIM tray, the primary microphone, the USB-C port, the second stereo speaker’s outlet.

There’s no headphone jack, no adapter nor is there an IP rating for dust and water resistance.

Display

The Nord 2T’s 6.43in screen is a 20:9 Fluid AMOLED display, with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 that can refresh at up to 90Hz and  and HDR10+ support. This makes animations, apps and browsing smoother than the standard 60Hz, which you can adjust for less battery consumption.

Brightness: The minimum brightness level at point white is 2 nits while the maximum manual brightness is of 449 nits. OnePlus’s auto-brightness settings are really good that adjust the backdrop illumination to the right level.

Refresh Rate: The 90Hz is decent. The panel gets quite bright and text looks clear and sharp, even through the plastic protector.

Without a headphone jack you are confined to the world of Bluetooth audio. I tested the phone with a few pairs and had no connection issues.

Cameras

Only two out of four cameras are good on Nord 2T has four cameras yet two of them are great; main camera and selfie camera.

Main Cam: The main camera is a 50Mp Sony IMX766 sensor that captures excellent shots in daylight with photos being clear and crisp with decent dynamic range and sharpness.

Zoom: The 2T doesn’t contain telephoto lens but 2x zoomed images are really good because of 50Mp sensor. The software digitally crops in to give you solid shots. The software lets you zoom up to 10x, but results deteriorate after 2x.

2MP Cam: The 2Mp monochrome sensor fundamentally sits idle. There’s not a glaringly obvious explanation to have it here but to showcase the telephone as having three cameras on the back.

8MP Cam: The 8MP ultra-wide lens can capture most of your scene with its 120-degree angle, but the quality is not good at all. Pictures look fine yet zoom in and there’s a ton of commotion in the handling.

Software: Similar to various modern Android phones OnePlus’s camera software add an immersion to its shots to make the colours a little more Instagram-ready and a bit less natural. You can post on social media without editing.

Night mode: It has an updated night mode to impart artificial brightening affect to the scene to look less dark than it is. You can turn the night mode off to get more realistic lighting results.

Video Cam: The Nord 2T can record 4K at 30fps, not 60fps and also contains some fun features for video like portrait bokeh and filters. The overall video result is quite solid.

Front Cam: The 32Mp selfie camera sensor is the same one as in the OnePlus 10 Pro with excellent results and it’s more than good enough for video calls.

Performance and software

Variuos OnePlus and Android phones in general use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor but this is the first phone to consist MediaTek’s Dimensity 1300 processor, which is incredible as compared to Snapdragon, making performance excellent.

Storage: The phone is excellent for gaming as well as everyday use without any hindrance. OnePlus has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage another variant with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. Neither model has microSD expandable storage but they are both dual nano SIM compatible.

Connectivity: You additionally get dual SIM 5G compatibility, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, and Wi-Fi 6 built in. The under-display fingerprint is incredible and works better compared to that on the Google Pixel 6 Pro. Face unlock with the front facing camera is prompt and matched well with the swipe to unlock option to make passcodes something old-fashioned with the Nord 2T.

Battery and charging

The Nord 2T has upgraded the wired charging speeds only with the included charger, from 65W to 80W. I charged the phone from dead to 100% in 27 minutes and it was at 67% after 15 minutes. With this innovation a 10-minute charge will give you potentially hours of use. There’s no wireless charging, which is common for phones at this cost. However, the battery life of this phone is actually impressive. This is a phone with good staying power.

Also Read: Huawei Mate Xs 2 Review

The mix of this brilliant life span and exceptionally quick charging is one of the most incredible motivations to pick the 2T , if your current phone has short battery life or slow charging. The G62 lacks in its ability to charge that humongous 5,000mAh cell. That’s because the maximum supported charge here is 15W, which you can’t even make full use of if you solely rely on the 10W charger that comes in the box.