Is OnePlus Nord 2 the Best Affordable Flagship Right Now?

OnePlus Nord 2 5G debuted last week as the successor to the original OnePlus Nord. The new smartphone has a number of upgrades: a bigger primary camera, larger battery, and faster charging over the last year model. It is also the first phone from OnePlus to have a MediaTek SoC over a Qualcomm one. In addition to those hardware specifications, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G also carries a new OxygenOS version. The smartphone overall has many features to attract people looking for a phone under Rs. 35,000.

This week, host Akhil Arora speaks with Reviewer Aditya Shenoy and Deputy Reviews Editor Roydon Cerejo on the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital to talk about the OnePlus Nord 2 5G and pit it against the competition.

The OnePlus Nord 2 5G starts at Rs. 27,999 for the base 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. It also comes in 8GB + 128GB and 12GB + 256GB options that are priced at Rs. 29,999 and Rs. 34,999, respectively. The pricing is slightly higher when compared with that of the OnePlus Nord. However, it is aligning with the competition that includes the recently launched Poco F3 GT, which starts at Rs. 29,999 for the same 6GB + 128GB configuration.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G First Impressions: Still Finding North

The OnePlus Nord 2 has provided a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary camera sensor, and a 4,500mAh battery along with Warp Charge 65 fast charging. These additions provide customers a decent upgrade over the original OnePlus Nord that came with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 primary camera and a 4,115mAh battery with Warp Charge 30T support.

It also comes with an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI SoC that makes it a different phone altogether in the OnePlus portfolio. The chipset is claimed to be designed in collaboration with MediaTek to deliver a list of artificial intelligence (AI) backed enhancements. These include quicker scene detection as well as the ability to increase the sharpness and boost the colours on certain apps, including YouTube and MX Player. The enhancements make user experience on the OnePlus Nord 2 different from the Poco F3 GT that has a vanilla variant of the aforementioned MediaTek Dimensity chipset.

OnePlus Nord 2 vs Poco F3 GT: Battle of the Affordable Flagships

Unlike the Poco F3 GT that runs on Xiaomi's highly-customised MIUI skin, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G carries OxygenOS 11.3 that offers a stock Android-like experience. There are, however, some signs that make the custom skin closer to Oppo's ColorOS.

We talk about those signs and how the recent OnePlus-Oppo merger is streamlining the differences between OxygenOS and ColorOS as a whole. We also discuss the Nord 2's competition — chiefly the Poco F3 GT — and who should pick OnePlus' new phone.

You can listen to all this and much more about the Nord 2 by hitting the play button on the Spotify player embedded above.

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