The first OnePlus Nord has its distinctive place in the mid-premium category of smartphones, and the OnePlus Nord 2 5G wants to cement the company’s popularity in this segment. The new model features 5G connectivity, a high-end MediaTek system on a chip, excellent hardware specifications, and a promising camera system. If this has piqued your interest, read this review to see what OnePlus Nord 2 5G has to offer:

OnePlus Nord 2 5G: Who is it good for?

This smartphone is a solid choice for:

• People who want a great phone but can’t afford a flagship device
• Users who want an Android experience without bloatware
• People who desire high-speed charging
• Users who want a phone with high-end performance
• People who desire security updates for more than the standard two years

Pros and cons

There are many things we love about the OnePlus Nord 2 5G:

• It is a good looking smartphone
• The OxygenOS is a sleek and fast Android version
• Good camera system
• Very few bundled apps
• It charges fully in only 30 minutes
• Three years of security updates
• It has a headset jack
• Good quality protective case included

There are some minor downsides to consider:

• No dust/water resistance
• The cameras have only digital zoom
• No headset included in the box

Verdict

There are many things to love about the OnePlus Nord 2 5G: its pleasant design, good quality display, excellent performance, outstanding fast charging, and bloat-free operating system. While not perfect, the camera system packs quite a punch, and many users will love it. Couple these elements with a reasonable price, and you get a product that will surely attract many users. We believe that the OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a great smartphone that will become one of this year’s most popular devices. If you want a smartphone that delivers flagship-like performance, design, and features, but without paying a premium price, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G is one of the best choices you can make.

Unboxing the OnePlus Nord 2 5G

We received the OnePlus Nord 2 5G in a special black box designed for the bloggers and tech enthusiasts testing this smartphone before its global launch. Inside, we found the actual box in which the smartphone is sold to customers, alongside a welcome message for the press, and three bumper cases created for this smartphone.

Unboxing the OnePlus Nord2 5G

The bumper cases for the OnePlus Nord 2 5G are diverse in the way they look, targeted at different audiences. Personally, I preferred the classic look of the black bumper case.

OnePlus Nord2 5G bumper cases

When you open the box for the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, you immediately see the smartphone, nicely packaged in a protective cover.

Opening the box

Under the smartphone, you find the power adapter, a USB cable, and another box.

OnePlus Nord2 5G - What is inside the box

The smaller box hosts a good quality protective case for your smartphone, a welcome message to the OnePlus family, a pin for ejecting the SIM tray, the quick start guide, the safety information, and other leaflets. The only downside is that we didn’t find a headset included with this smartphone.

OnePlus Nord2 5G comes with a protective case

The OnePlus Nord 2 5G packaging looks just as great as the one for premium smartphones. We also appreciate the high-quality protective case included in the box.

Design and build quality

OnePlus Nord 2 5G has a large 6.43-inch display with rounded corners. The Blue Haze version we received for testing has a porcelain-like glossy finish which looks great. The phone’s size is 6.25 x 2.88 inches or 158.9 x 73.2 mm in length and width, with a thickness of 0.32 inches or 8.25 mm. The weight of the phone is 189 grams or 6.66 ounces. One nice detail is that OnePlus has already applied a screen protector, so you don’t need to buy one separately. On the top side of the screen, you notice the selfie camera and a speaker.

A screen protector is applied on the display

The OnePlus Nord 2 5G has a glass back and a plastic frame. The back features the camera system, the OnePlus logo, and a sticker with the IMEI and serial number. On the right margin, you find the Power button and the Alert slider, a classic for OnePlus smartphones.

The back of the OnePlus Nord2 5G

On the left edge, you find only the Volume buttons.

The left side of the OnePlus Nord2 5G

On the top bezel, you find only a microphone that’s probably used for noise cancellation purposes and stereo sound recording.

The top bezel of the OnePlus Nord2 5G

The SIM tray, a microphone for taking calls, a USB Type-C 2.0 port, and the speaker are found on the bottom bezel.

The bottom bezel of the phone

This smartphone is available in two color versions: Gray Sierra and Blue Haze, pictured below. Both of them look good and we’re curious to see which color will be popular with the OnePlus audience.

OnePlus Nord2 5G is available in two colors

OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a good-looking smartphone with pleasant design and colors, which feels thin and relatively light when you hold it in your hands.

Hardware specifications

OnePlus Nord 2 5G comes with an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI System on a Chip that offers support for 5G mobile networks and a Mali-G77 MC9 graphics chip that works very well for all tasks, including mobile gaming. The smartphone is available in versions with 6G, 8GB, 12 GB of RAM, and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage space. We received in testing the most powerful variant, with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

Details about the OnePlus Nord2 5G

There’s no microSD card support for extending the storage space, but the built-in storage should be enough for most people unless they record many videos in 4K resolutions. OnePlus Nord 2 5G has a dual nano-SIM slot for people who need to use two phone numbers on the same device.

A dual nano-SIM slot is available

The display uses an AMOLED panel, and it has a refresh rate of 90 Hz, a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, and a pixel density of 410 ppi (pixels per inch).

OnePlus Nord2 5G has an AMOLED display

The camera system has three cameras on the back of the smartphone and one on the front. They have the following features:

• A 50-megapixel primary camera, with a Sony IMX766 sensor, a pixel size of 1.0 μm, f/1.88 aperture, 6P lens, and optical image stabilization.
• An ultra-wide camera of 8 Megapixels, f/2.25 aperture, a field of view of 119.7°, and electronic image stabilization.
• A depth camera on the back, with 2 Megapixels and f/2.5 aperture.
• There’s also a Dual-LED flash on the back, alongside the three cameras.
• A 32 Megapixel camera on the front, with a Sony IMX615 sensor, a pixel size of 0.8μm, f/2.45 aperture, and electronic image stabilization.

With the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, you can record videos at 4K resolutions and 30 frames per second, or 1080p resolution and 30 or 60 frames per second.

The camera system

One of the aspects in which the OnePlus Nord 2 5G shines is the fast charging technology: it bundles a 65W Warp Charger that is a lot faster than what you get from the competition. The battery is non-removable, and it boasts a capacity of 4500 mAh.

The 65W Warp charger

The smartphone also packs good connectivity options: Bluetooth 5.1 support, GPS, and NFC. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t have support for Wi-Fi 6, and you can use only the older Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4 standards. In terms of sensors, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G has an in-display fingerprint sensor, an accelerometer, electronic compass, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, SAR sensor, proximity sensor, and a sensor core that monitors the other sensors inside your smartphone.

If you want more details about all the features and hardware specs, visit this page: OnePlus Nord 2 5G Specs.

Read the second page of this review for details about the smartphone experience offered by the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, its cameras, operating system, and bundled apps, as well as its performance in benchmarks.