OnePlus Nord 2T review: Old wine in new bottle. Oneplus nord 2 t

The Nord 2T is virtually identical to last year’s model, and it doesn’t do enough to justify the premium.

Android Central Verdict

Outside of a few design changes, the OnePlus Nord 2T is nearly identical to last year’s Nord 2. The only major difference on the hardware side of things is 80W wired charging. You’re getting the same 90Hz AMOLED panel, same caliber of hardware with the Dimensity 1300, same cameras at the front and back, and the same 4500mAh battery. That said, the Nord 2 was one of the best mid-rangers of 2021, and the Nord 2T excels in the same areas.

Pros

  • Reliable hardware
  • Good AMOLED screen
  • All-day battery with fast charging
  • Bloat-free software

Cons

  • – No meaningful difference to last year’s model
  • – No IP rating
  • – No wireless charging
  • – Slow software updates

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You’re not mistaken if you think that OnePlus is launching too many Nord devices of late. The first-gen Nord released just two years ago, and the Nord 2T has the distinction of being the 10th device in the series. The frenetic launch cycle is in line with OnePlus’s shift in strategy, with the manufacturer now focused on the budget and mid-range categories.

Just this year, we’ve seen the Nord CE 2 5G (which is nearly identical to the Nord CE), the Nord N20 5G, and the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G. With so many launches clustered together, there’s very little in the way of differentiation between these devices, and that’s particularly true with the Nord 2T. The T branding is usually reserved for a mid-cycle refresh, but confusingly, the Nord 2T is launching a year after the Nord 2.

The bigger issue is that there isn’t anything new with the Nord 2T. This is a tame release even for a mid-cycle refresh; it has the same hardware, same cameras, same battery, and the same screen as last year’s Nord 2. As far as I can make out, the only difference is the switch to 80W fast charging, and a new design.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In my Nord 2 review last year, I called it the mid-range phone to beat, and the device is still going strong in 2022. So I understand why OnePlus didn’t make any meaningful alternations here, but in the last 12 months, there have been a lot of noteworthy launches in this category. So does the Nord 2T hold up against the best mid-range phones in 2022? Let’s find out.

OnePlus Nord 2T: Pricing and global availability

The Nord 2T was unveiled on May 19, going up for sale starting May 22 in the U.K. and other countries in the region. OnePlus launched the device in India on July 1, with sales kicking off July 5. The Nord 2T is sold in two variants, with the 8GB/128GB model retailing at £369(445) in the U.K. and €399 (416) in Europe. The 12GB/256GB model is available for £469 (568) in the U.K. and €499 (542) in other parts of Europe.

Given the value-focused nature of the Indian market, the Nord 2T is considerably more affordable in the country. The 8GB/128GB version is available for ₹28,999 (367), and the 12GB/256GB option can be picked up for ₹33,999 (430). Essentially, you can get the 12GB/256GB model in India for less than the 8GB/128GB variant in the U.K. — this has been the case with OnePlus hardware for a few years now, making India the best market to pick up the manufacturer’s phones.

OnePlus Nord 2T: Design and screen

OnePlus has been making phones for over eight years now, and in all that time, it has paid a very close attention to design. The Chinese manufacturer didn’t have anywhere near the scale of Samsung or Xiaomi, and as such, it had to turn to OPPO to source parts and manufacture its phones. Because it didn’t have as much control over the hardware itself, OnePlus made it a point to differentiate its devices with evocative designs.

Other than that, you’re getting the same fundamentals as the Nord 2; the Nord 2T has a glass front and back that’s sandwiched by a polycarbonate mid-frame, and the in-hand feel is identical. Both phones have nearly identical dimensions, but the Nord 2 is slightly easier to manage as it doesn’t feel top-heavy, unlike the Nord 2T. Like last year, you get Gorilla Glass 5 covering the front and back of the device.

The Nord 2T is available in Gray Shadow and Jade Fog color variants, and the Gray Shadow has a matte finish that’s designed to make it easier to hold and use. You’ll find the alert slider on the right, the SIM card tray at the bottom next to the USB-C charging port, and there’s stereo sound here.

OnePlus hasn’t made any changes to the screen, and as such the Nord 2T uses the same 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD (2400 x 1080) panel with 90Hz refresh as last year. That’s an interesting choice, as the Nord 2 itself retained the same panel as the first-gen Nord. Essentially, you’re getting that same panel here with little in the way of differentiation.

There isn’t much to talk about on the hardware side of things. The Nord 2T is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1300, and there’s virtually no difference to last year’s Dimensity 1200. The Dimensity 1200 has the same set of A78 and A55 cores with the same frequencies, and it uses the same Mali G77 gaming engine with nine cores. The Dimensity 1300 is built on the same 6nm node, so there aren’t any efficiency gains here either.

CrossMark (Overall)ProductivityCreativityResponsivenessGeekbench 5.1 (single-core)Geekbench 5.1 (multi-core)3DMark Wild Life (score)3DMark Wild Life (FPS)3DMark Wild Life Extreme (score)3DMark Wild Life Extreme (FPS)
645 530 510
653 495 551
664 588 472
570 484 533
803 534 743
2405 2826 1929
4227 4627 2335
25.3 27.7 14.02
1294 1318 642
7.75 7.9 3.8

Now, given that the Dimensity 1300 is identical to the Dimensity 1200, there should be less than a 5% variance in these scores between the Nord 2T and the Dimensity 1200-powered Nord 2.

However, that isn’t the case. The Nord 2T scored consistently lower for workloads involving a single core, and I’m not really sure why that’s the case. It could be that the Dimensity 1300 on the Nord 2T has been configured for energy efficiency, and as such it has a lower thermal threshold.

The 3DMark scores show that it is able to deliver marginal gains over the Nord 2, and in my usage, I didn’t see any real-world difference between the Nord 2 and 2T in gaming when using both devices side-by-side.

The hardware here is on par with the best mid-range phones, and that makes the Nord 2T a good option if you’re interested in mobile gaming. The Dimensity 1300 has a few additional features aimed at gaming thanks to an AI-assisted utility that variable rate shading and better resource management.

I’m still not sure why the phone has such low single-core scores, but it doesn’t pose a problem in real-world use — I didn’t see any lag or slowdowns in daily use.

You won’t find any differences on the connectivity side of things either; the Nord 2T has the same Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity as the Nord 2, and you get the same AptX HD audio codec. And just like last year, there’s no ingress protection whatsoever, so you’re better off not using the device if it’s raining out or near water bodies. The Nord 2T has eight 5G bands in India — 1/3/5/8/28/40/41/78 — with the global model featuring nine bands in total: 1/3/7/8/20/28/38/41/78.

OnePlus didn’t change the storage configurations as well, and you can pick up the Nord 2T with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Like last year, the device uses LPDDR4X RAM modules and UFS 3.1 storage. The base model should be ideal for most users, with the 256GB option available if you need more storage. Given how little has changed over last year, I would have liked to see 256GB of storage as standard on the Nord 2T.

The optical in-screen sensor is just as reliable as last year, and I didn’t have any issues with it. Similarly, the vibration motor delivers good feedback, and is a decent enough showing in this category.

The marquee hardware addition on the Nord 2T is 80W fast charging, up from 65W in the Nord 2. The phone uses a dual-cell design with two 2250mAh cells that charge up to 40W simultaneously, and it takes just over 35 minutes for a full charge. You’ll be able to get up to 60% in 15 minutes, and while that’s more than adequate for several hours’ worth of use, there isn’t any meaningful charge over last year.

Like the rest of the device, there isn’t anything new to talk about on the camera side of things with the Nord 2T. The phone uses the same 50MP Sony IMX766 primary lens as last year, and it’s joined by an 8MP wide-angle module and 2MP portrait lens. You’ll find the same 32MP camera at the front, and like last year, it is limited to 1080p video.

On the subject of video, the 50MP camera at the back is still limited to 4K at 30fps; this isn’t a hardware limitation either by MediaTek or Sony, and I don’t really understand why we can’t get 4K at 60fps in this category. There is the ability to shoot 1080p at 480fps and 720p at 960fps now, and other than that, this is the same package as the Nord 2.

OnePlus Nord 2T Review: The Nord gets a T variant

In late 2016, OnePlus introduced the concept of the T variant to its main device with the OnePlus 3T. The T variant was largely similar to the original device but packed in a few better specs and features. In some ways, it was a bit like the S series of many brands, which often added a few features to the original without changing it too comprehensively. The OnePlus Nord series has now got its T variant with the OnePlus Nord 2T 5G, a boosted version of the bestselling OnePlus Nord 2 5G.

The Nord 2 with a different back

You could mistake it for the Nord 2 from the front and sides. It sports the same 6.43-inch Full HD AMOLED display with a 90 Hz refresh rate on the front and a tiny punch hole notch in the top left corner. The curved sides (no straight ones yet) are also similar to the Nord 2, with the right-hand side features the alert slider, a OnePlus trademark that has gone missing from its Nord CE offerings. Even the proportions and weight are largely similar – the Nord 2T is exactly the same height (159.1 mm) and is as slim (8.2 mm) as the Nord 2, and is just a touch less wide (73.2 mm against 73.3 mm). It is also just a gram heavier at 190 grams against the 189 grams of the Nord 2.

Flip the phone over to the back, and things change. The Nord 2T is the first Nord that comes with no shade of blue whatsoever, a little odd when you consider that blue is the Nord’s official color and a part of its packaging. You instead get a dark Gray Shadow and a green-ish Jade Fog color variant. We got the Gray Shadow, which looked very classy indeed, with a gentle, shimmery glitter that will remind some of the Sandstone finish on the first OnePlus phone. It is smooth glass and not as textured as the OnePlus One, but it is very elegant to look at.

The camera unit is slightly squarish with rounded sides, with two massive spheres inside that give the impression that this is a dual-camera phone. Peek more closely, and you will discover that one of those spheres actually houses two cameras. How quickly have brands progressed from flaunting cameras to hiding them – we also saw something similar with the iQOO Neo 6.

All said and done; the Nord 2T is a good-looking phone which is relatively handy by modern phone standards. It is not super-compact, nor will it stretch palms as much as many others. The Gray Shadow variant has a very understated, classy look to it. We just wish it had some sort of officially rated dust and water resistance.

That speedy, smooth Nord performance…

In terms of performance, the OnePlus Nord 2T is almost an exact clone of the OnePlus Nord 2. So much so that we are tempted to link you to our Nord 2 review. This similarity of performance stems from very similar specs. The display is the same, as we have already pointed out. The cameras are the same as well – a 50-megapixel Sony IMX 766 with OIS at the back, accompanied by an 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor, with selfies being handled by a 32-megapixel snapper in that notch. The battery is 4500 mAh as well.

A point of difference is the MediaTek Dimensity 1300 chipset which replaces the Dimensity 1200 on the Nord 2, paired with RAM and storage combinations of 8 GB/ 128 GB and 12 GB / 256 GB. OnePlus says that the processor delivers better performance than its predecessor and adds some AI magic to photography on the device. Does this actually happen? Well, we did feel that pictures from the main sensor seemed a little more colorful and videos too had richer colors, but the difference between the Nord 2T and Nord 2 is tough to spot. That said, there is no doubt that the main sensor is one of the best in its segment, although the ultrawide loses out on detail, and the mono camera seems to exist just to make up numbers. Selfies are very good, and videos from the selfie camera are of good quality too.

The same applies to the performance of the phone in gaming and multimedia. The stereo speakers sound a little tinny at times, but the display is bright and colorful, and the processor will easily handle most tasks and games. You can even enjoy Genshin Impact and Call of Duty after tweaking a few settings, just as you could on the Nord 2. The phone runs on Oxygen OS 12.1 based on Android 12 and is smooth and snappy, without any bloatware to clutter up the experience. But then, that was the case with the Nord 2 as well. The battery lives of the two phones are similar, too – you can easily get through a day of normal use. And yes, you get support for 5G as well.

…with faster charging

The one place where there is a clear difference between the Nord 2T and the Nord 2 is in battery charging. While the Nord 2 was charged by a 65W Warp Charge charger, the Nord 2T gets the 80W SuperVooc charger that was seen with the OnePlus 10 Pro. The difference in charging speeds is discernible but not staggering – the Nord 2 used to get charged in a little over half an hour, and the Nord 2T gets charged in a little under half an hour. The extra power saves you about five minutes – just how important that can depend for you.

OnePlus Nord 2T Review Verdict: One of the best below Rs 30,000

All said and done; one can see why OnePlus opted to call this device the Nord 2T rather than the Nord 3. The OnePlus Nord 2T is the Nord 2 with a fresh coat of paint and a faster processor and charging. There was not too much wrong with the Nord 2 anyway, so what the Nord 2T adds to it is welcome but hardly revolutionary.

The OnePlus Nord 2T is available at Rs 28,999 (€ 395.60) for the 8 GB/ 128 GB variant and Rs 33,999 (€ 489.00) for the 12 GB/ 256 GB variant. Those are quite an achievement when you consider the fact that they are Rs 1,000 lower than the similar RAM and storage variants of the OnePlus Nord 2, which were released a year ago. Those price tags also make the Nord 2T a front runner for anyone looking for a phone with a clean interface, good cameras, and fast charging.

Is it worth an upgrade if you already have a Nord 2? Not really, unless you are obsessive about processors. It also faces competition from the Snapdragon 870 running iQOO Neo 6 and the Poco F4 which are priced in the same region. Still, if you are a OnePlus fan and cannot yank your budget all the way to the OnePlus 10 series, then this is as good as it gets. It is also a great point to start one’s OnePlus journey as it hits the middle ground between the utterly basic CE series and the more flagshippy number series. It is very good value for money for anyone looking at a smartphone under Rs 30,000.

  • Elegant design
  • Good performance
  • Fast charging
  • Good main camera
  • Clean UI
  • Underwhelming secondary cameras
  • Only 90 Hz refresh rate
  • Speakers do not sound the greatest
  • No dust and water resistance

Oneplus nord 2 t

OnePlus Nord 2T review: Lab tests. display, battery life, charging speed, speakers

  • Color accuracy The screen settings offer two color modes. Vivid mode (corresponding to DCI-P3 color space) and Natural (sRGB color space). The accuracy is very good for both. the profiles are not too saturated, but the white and gray hues are a bit bluish. You can get a superb accuracy for both modes (average deltaE of 2.2) by using the Warmest setting of the Color Temperature bar. Refresh rate You can choose between Standard (60Hz) and High (90Hz) refresh rate options. There is Auto mode, but the High setting acts like Auto anyway. it runs all compatible apps in 90Hz and reverts back to 60Hz for static images and video playback/streaming. We saw games using 90Hz refresh rate, but we are not sure if they are indeed drawn at 90fps or not. HFR gaming has been a forbidden fruit for BBK phones for years unless a deal has been struck with a specific game developer. Nothing has been announced for the OnePlus Nord 2T so far, though. HDR and streaming The OnePlus Nord 2T display has been officially certified for HDR10 and HDR10 compliance. The phone also comes with Widevine L1 DRM support, so it should be able to stream 1080p HDR10 content. It can do it on YouTube, but Netflix and Prime Video are yet to enable HDR10 streaming. Display enhancements OnePlus offers one video enhancement on the Nord 2T. Video Color boost. it does exactly what the name suggests. it tries to boost the colors of your videos in select video apps.
  • Battery life

    The OnePlus Nord 2T battery capacity is the same as on the Nord 2. 4,500mAh. It has the same display and almost identical chipset, it just runs on a newer Android version, so we expected similar battery performance. The OnePlus Nord 2T scored a 100h endurance rating (vs. 102h for the Nord 2) with strong performance across all three main tests. calling, web browsing, and looped video playback. Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. details can be found here. The standby performance is average, a tad worse than the Nord 2, and that’s the reason for the slightly lower total endurance rating. Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test is done at the display’s highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns, check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we’ve tested.

    Charging speed

    One of the most notable Nord 2T brings is the faster 80W SuperVOOC charging, up from 65W on the Nord 2. There are numerous sensors monitoring the temperature, so don’t you worry about overheating. The Nord 2T ships with the 80W brick and a 10A-rated charging cable, so you don’t need to buy anything extra to achieve the top charging speed. 15 minutes on the 80W charger refilled the battery from 0% to 60%. Then, 30 minutes gave us 99% charge.

    30min charging test (from 0%)

    • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 100%
    • Poco F4 GT 100%
    • OnePlus Nord 2T 99%
    • OnePlus Nord 2 98%
    • Realme GT Neo3T 95%
    • Poco F4 92%
    • Xiaomi 12 Lite 84%
    • Poco X4 GT 75%
    • Nothing phone (1) 48%

    Two minutes later and the OnePlus Nord 2T was charged to 100%.

    Time to full charge (from 0%)

    • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 0:16h
    • Poco F4 GT 0:17h
    • OnePlus Nord 2 0:31h
    • OnePlus Nord 2T 0:32h
    • Poco F4 0:38h
    • Realme GT Neo3T 0:40h
    • Xiaomi 12 Lite 0:50h
    • Poco X4 GT 0:57h
    • Nothing phone (1) 1:31h

    Note that after reaching 100%, it usually takes between 3mins and 6mins for the Nord 2T to show Charged on the screen, which marks the actual full charge of the battery.

    OnePlus Nord 2T review

    So even with a faster charger, the Nord 2T appears to have no advantage in actual top-up times over the Nord 2. The Nord 2T gets an advantage within the first 10-15 minutes. the Nord 2T will get an extra 8-10%, but then it will slow down considerably more to keep temperatures in check and match the Nord 2 charging speed over the entire. So, unless you charge your phone for 10 minutes or less each day, you won’t notice any difference.

    Speakers

    The OnePlus Nord 2T features two speakers in a hybrid setup. the earpiece acting as one, while the other one is next to the charging port at the bottom of the phone.

    Naturally with this hybrid setup, the bottom speaker is slightly louder and has more bass. But when playing music or videos, we experienced good sound balance.

    The OnePlus Nord 2T speakers scored a Very Good mark in our loudness test and we can confirm music sounds pretty loud on this phone. The bass is barely there, the mids are so-so, but the speakers are excellent in the high frequencies. Even the audio seems shallow at times, we are happy with the overall speaker quality of the Nord 2T speakers.

    Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal “0db” flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.

    Reader Комментарии и мнения владельцев

    EIS not work this phone so bad. So shakky video don’t buy this phone if you like to shoot little of video on running time? It’s camera stability work like Redmi note 11 11 pro plus? OnePlus laying to user. No have EIS even I switch u.

    Dont buy this phone, battery life is disaster, it drains 5%/h over night or in idle, if you use it offcourse its even worse, that means that this phone cannot be 24h just simply on let alone if you use it. I have bought it and made the biggest mistak.

    this phone does not carry Wireless charging, Shame on newer cars u need to carry a cable

    OnePlus Nord 2T Review

    The Nord 2T doesn’t bring a groundbreaking update on the original Nord 2, but it’s one of the best affordable mid-range Android handsets around. Its main camera is great, the design is better than most at the price, and the MediaTek processor within is remarkably powerful. Limited display brightness in direct sunlight is likely the main potentially off-putting area of concern.

    Cons

    Key Features

    Introduction

    Are you looking for some of the original spirit of OnePlus: the flagship experience at an affordable price? Then the Nord series is arguably a better place to start than the mainline OnePlus handsets.

    The OnePlus Nord 2T is a mid-range Android that costs £369 (it’s not currently available in the US), delivering many of the characteristics I look for in top-tier Androids. These include features such as a quality camera that takes decent low-light photos, fast general performance and a solid ability to handle games, plus a construction that isn’t entirely plastic; screen display glass doesn’t count.

    OnePlus has come out as a sibling of Realme and Oppo, but the OnePlus Nord 2T represents a better deal than almost anything from those brands for most buyers.

    Design and Screen

    OnePlus offers phones in more tasteful colour options than most of the competition, and the Nord 2T is a good example. Mid-range phones such as this often go all-out on bold gradients and shiny effects. If that’s your bag, great. However, don’t you think the light mint green here offers a little more sophistication?

    The OnePlus Nord 2T is an unusually classy-looking phone, whose design is only dimmed by the camera housing. Its dual circle motif is fine, but the off-centre positioning of the two secondary cameras is a bit clunky.

    They sit there for a reason, of course; but if this were a higher-end phone, you’d expect a little more effort and expense to be put into making these finer points appear just right.

    The rest of the design is top-tier stuff. We get a lovely curved glass back, and while the metallic-looking sides are plastic, expecting a full metal and glass design with the Nord 2T’s specs at this price just isn’t realistic.

    This is a smaller phone than many mid-range models, as a result of its 6.43-inch display. While its size isn’t ideal for gaming, it certainly makes the OnePlus Nord 2T easier to handle. It’s a more approachable handset for the kind of person who would pick an iPhone 13 Pro over an iPhone 13 Pro Max – and not only for its lower cost.

    There’s no headphone jack, nor microSD memory card slot, but there are a couple of other neat hardware features. Like other OnePlus phones, the Nord 2T has a silent mode slider that lets you switch between vibrate-only and a true silent mode with the swipe of a thumb. The fingerprint scanner also uses an in-screen sensor, whereas phones at this price typically have side-mounted units.

    This scanner is a little slower than the pad of the top OnePlus phones, but it does help elevate the Nord 2T, making it appear a higher class of affordable Android.

    The phone comes with stereo speakers, and they’re loud. They can blast over the sound of cooking, or a shower. However, they don’t have the low-end power that helps smooth out the audio of louder phone speakers. They lack the weight of the best and can sound a bit abrasive at high volumes.

    OnePlus Nord 2T Review. Should You Buy?

    The OnePlus Nord 2T’s 6.43-inch screen is where we see some restraint, which has probably helped OnePlus to include neat touches such as the in-screen finger scanner. This is an OLED Full HD display, but it has a 90Hz refresh rate rather than the 120Hz kind seen in some rivals.

    This isn’t necessarily a big deal. The slight jerkiness while scrolling at 60Hz becomes more obvious when you’ve become accustomed to 120Hz high refresh rate displays; but 90Hz still looks smooth. It may be half-way between the two, but returns start to diminish (without disappearing altogether) after 90Hz.

    There are two colour modes and, as is the case with the handset’s design, these are more restrained than those of alternatives from OnePlus sister company Realme. The default Vivid appears to be a DCI-P3 preset, while natural is modelled after sRGB, and will look far too weak for many folk these days.

    It’s great to have the option, but I find that – in a reversal of the normal situation – it makes photos taken with the camera appear a little undersaturated. This is likely because the camera takes shots in the RGB colour space, but the sRGB colour mode is so strict that it won’t display the full range of colours in those images. As ever, baked-in camera gallery apps should be able to apply their own calibration settings.

    OnePlus often makes big claims about the brightness of its phones’ screens. There are none attached to the OnePlus Nord 2T; it reaches 460 nits indoors, which is fine. Brightness outdoors is a little below average at 630 nits. If you want a phone that offers great outdoor visibility, the Realme GT Neo 2T is a better option – its display measured in at 770 nits for brightness.

    Software and Performance

    OnePlus was once celebrated for the software offering that accompanied its Android phones. Its UI is called OxygenOS, and at one point was planned to be replaced by Oppo’s ColorOS – until there was an outcry from the OnePlus fanbase.

    There are a few annoying elements in the latest version of the software. Flick down from the right of the homescreen and Shelf pops up. This is a bit like the menu that pops up with a similar gesture on iPhones. But where Apple’s is useful, Shelf kind of isn’t.

    It’s home to widgets, like the weather; one that shows how much storage the phone has left; and a Spotify panel. You’re far more likely to bring it up accidentally, when you mean to pull down your notifications.

    Thankfully, you can turn it off, and I strongly recommend you do so. The OnePlus Nord 2T interface becomes much more vanilla having done so, with no more upsetting surprises in store.

    There’s a neat Always-On display mode of which I’m a fan. It shows icons for recent notifications, displays the time, and offers a guide as to where the fingerprint scanner sits. Useful.

    The Always-On display can be customised, and – if you’d rather save battery – switched off entirely. We’ve probably seen the best days of OxygenOS at this point, but it’s still easy to get on with once you banish the irritating Shelf.

    There is no third-party bloatware to be found here, just a few utility apps and Zen mode, an almost comically hardcore meditation-adjacent app. Set the timer and it blocks off notifications, alongside access to all of your apps bar the camera. Calls will still come, through – OnePlus doesn’t want to be at the centre of news stories about anyone missing the birth of their child because of Zen mode. Nice idea, though.

    At the heart of the OnePlus Nord 2T sits the new version of the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 seen in the Nord 2. The Dimensity 1300 is a little faster in both GPU and CPU areas.

    This is a great processor for a phone at the price, in particular representing a real jump in GPU performance over most sub-£400 phones. The one chipset I might pick over it is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870, which is a fantastic mid-range SoC. But I imagine this might be more expensive, and the OnePlus Nord 2T is nothing if not a cost-sensitive phone.

    It scores 2732 in Geekbench 5, 738 per core. This is similar to the Realme GT 3T Neo’s score with a Snapdragon 870. In 3DMark’s Wild Life test it scores 4637 points, roughly 10% higher than a Snapdragon 870 phone.

    Performance stability over a 20-minute stress test is fantastic at 99.3%, meaning there’s no thermal throttling when running a challenging 3D game that’s within the phone’s capabilities.

    The OnePlus Nord 2T’s handles Fortnite beautifully. All the graphics options are unlocked, including the Epic fidelity preset and 60fps play at High graphics. Frequently this isn’t the case at this level.

    Both of these top-end ways to play are within the Nord 2T’s comfort zone. While there are slight frame rate dips from the caps on occasion, such as when falling from the drop shop at the start of a round, you see these even in Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones.

    If you see a game performing less well than you’d hoped, check for software updates.

    Camera

    The OnePlus Nord 2T has the same primary camera hardware as the Nord 2: a Sony IMX766 sensor with an f/1.88 lens. This is a large sensor and just about the best you’ll find for the money. It also makes an appearance in the £600 Realme GT 3 Neo and the £1000-plus Oppo Find X5 Pro.

    oneplus, nord, review

    However, software handling matters just as much as hardware these days, so how does the OnePlus Nord 2T compare? Pretty well.

    Photos taken with the primary camera deliver natural-looking colour and good dynamic range. Thanks to the high-quality sensor and dedicated Night mode, image quality holds up remarkably well in challenging lighting.

    Lower-cost phones are starting to use proper computational night modes, but only good camera hardware is going to get you solid photos of your homemade burgers shot in a living room lit only by a shaded 60W bulb or two. The OnePlus Nord 2T performs impressively in both scenarios, night and dingy lighting, comparable with some phones twice the price.

    The OnePlus Nord 2 had one of the best affordable mid-range phone cameras you’ll find. And while this new model doesn’t bring a mind-blowing improvement, it still outpaces most at the price. You’ll have to wait for the Pixel 6a to get something that’s potentially better.

    There are just a few minor issues. I’ve found that detail dips a tad when you use the dedicated Night mode, and that results can vary a little between exposures, most likely caused by hand-shake during capture. However, this shouldn’t really be an issue when the OnePlus Nord 2T has optical image stabilisation.

    The 50-megapixel mode also brings virtually zero improvement to fine detail at pixel level. Shots barely look any different to the standard 12.5-megapixel images blown up in size on Photoshop; 2x digital zoom images are only okay, too. They do at least use a processing style more tuned than the 50-megapixel mode, in order to offer a better impression of sharp, fine detail; but they don’t hold up that well close-up.

    The OnePlus Nord 2T is also fractionally slower to shoot than some of the other phones I’ve used recently, such as the Realme GT 3 Neo and Poco F4 GT. However, this isn’t a major issue when you consider the phone’s £369 price. Camera quality is one of the better reasons to pick a Nord 2T over some of the alternatives.

    I’ve hardly mentioned the secondary cameras yet. The 8-megapixel ultra-wide comes with the usual mid-range compromises. Pictures don’t hold up that well when you zoom in, but can look better than many I’ve tried at this level recently. Image character is fairly consistent with the primary camera, and the lens handles strong light sources remarkably well.

    The third camera is a 2-megapixel monochrome unit, and it’s likely to go unused by many OnePlus Nord 2T owners. It only appears to be employed in a BW filter mode or two found deep in the camera app, as an aid for the main camera. Totally pointless.

    Video also comes with a few compromises. You can shoot at 4K resolution, but only at 30 frames per second. The detail and clarity of day-lit 4K is excellent, but stabilisation is limited. It appears to rely on not-that-impressive OIS and, possibly, a tiny bit of software stabilisation. The 4K field of view is slightly narrower than that of standard 1x photos, suggesting some EIS may be present.

    However, this isn’t enough to make hand-held walking footage look smooth, the image lurching when you overpower the OIS with too much motion.

    There are two other key options. You can shoot standard 1080p, with enhanced software stabilisation but a softer image. Or turn on the Ultra Steady mode – this doesn’t use the ultra-wide camera, instead just cropping even further into the frame to fuel the software stabilisation. This is Smart, maxing out on the use of the best sensor on the phone.

    The OnePlus Nord 2T also has an AI mode designed primarily for low-light video. It’s limited to 1080p/30fps and supports “Live HDR”, which is likely an implementation of DOL-HDR – a sensor-level feature, where two different exposures can be captured per frame simultaneously.

    However, it’s best used for scenes where you won’t move the camera much, since motion is significantly worse than when shooting at normal 1080p/30fps. Still, low-light video quality is already above average at the price thanks to the large high-quality sensor.

    The front camera is a Sony IMX615, a 32-megapixel sensor. It’s a great front camera for a phone this affordable, and while it actually spits out 32-megapixel images, it likely makes use of pixel binning to improve image quality in low light.

    Battery Life

    The OnePlus Nord 2T isn’t a huge phone and, no surprise, doesn’t come with a huge battery. It’s a 4500mAh unit, just like the Nord 2’s.

    oneplus, nord, review

    For the first week or so of testing, I used the phone in its default modes. It was set to the 90Hz refresh rate, with the Always-On display mode turned on.

    With this setup, you’ll see stamina that’s similar to the last-generation Nord, and pretty alike higher-end OnePlus phones. This handset isn’t made to take a battering, with long stints spent streaming YouTube or playing 3D games. I typically ended up with at most 15% battery left by the end of the day.

    It isn’t a worryingly short-lasting battery, neither is it a trooper. However, I attempted to tone down some settings, without doing anything that would limit system performance, to see whether it would make a difference.

    After switching off Always-On mode and dropping the display refresh rate to 60Hz, the phone had 44% charge remaining by bed time. This was a slightly lighter day of use, but it does show that there are steps you can take to improve battery performance on those occasions you won’t be able to give the OnePlus Nord 2T a top-up.

    Charging gets a boost over the OnePlus Nord 2 – on paper, at least. The Nord 2T offers 80W charging, up from 65W in the Nord 2. However, according to our power meter, it maxed out at 70W draw and had already dropped down to 45-46W by minute two of charging. The peak rates are partly for show.

    It reached 50% in 17 minutes, and took 48 minutes to charge the device to full, having reached “100%” on its display almost 10 minutes earlier at the 39-minute mark. Charging speeds will be affected by ambient temperatures, but this isn’t quite as quick as you might have hoped for from an “80W” charging system.

    Note that there’s no support for wireless charging, as in the Nord 2.

    Should you buy it?

    The OnePlus Nord 2T is a star, if you want a top value mid-range phone whose design is more sophisticated than most. It’s further enhanced by refined haptics, the SoC is excellent, and the primary camera is a top performer in virtually all conditions. There’s more than a hint of that old OnePlus magic on display here.

    Own a Nord 2? There’s very little reason to upgrade then. While some improvements have been made throughout, and a newer SoC included, the difference isn’t dramatic –and the Nord 2 holds up well anyway in 2022.

    Final Thoughts

    The OnePlus Nord 2T isn’t a groundbreaking update on the Nord 2, but it’s nonetheless one of the very best affordable mid-range phones available in 2022. It offers a killer combination of style and technical ability that even value leaders such as Xiaomi and Realme struggle to match.

    On the style front we get tasteful colours, a glass rear panel, elegant haptics and an in-screen fingerprint reader, usually associated with more expensive Android handsets. Hardware highlights include a MediaTek SoC that delivers great gaming performance with minimal throttling, and a top-tier Sony IMX766-based camera that holds up well in virtually any shooting scenario.

    Issues? While the OnePlus Nord 2T’s stereo speakers are loud, they lack the rounded tone of a set with greater low-frequency content. And the screen doesn’t get hugely bright outdoors, limiting visibility in direct sunlight.

    How we test

    We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.

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    FAQs

    Is the OnePlus Nord 2T waterproof? The phone doesn’t come with a water- or dust-resistance rating, so keep it away from water.

    Does the OnePlud Nord 2T have a headphone jack? There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the phone.

    Does the OnePlus Nord 2T have wireless charging? Wireless charging isn’t supported; there’s only cabled charging here.