OnePlus Nord 2T Review: Good Phone with Bad Software

Sudarshan Ravichandran — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 14:36:38 +0000

The OnePlus Nord 2T went official in Europe in late May. It made its debut in India around early July. The smartphone is marketed as an upgraded version of the OnePlus Nord 2, which was released in July 2021.

On paper, the OnePlus Nord 2T arrives with a new chipset, faster-charging speed support, and a revamped design. But most other features remain the same as its predecessor.

Further, it is the only OnePlus-branded phone in its price segment, as the brand has stopped selling the older OnePlus Nord 2. So the question arises whether this handset is worth buying in 2022 despite coming with minor upgrades.

I try my best to explain whether you should invest in this device in my review.

OnePlus Nord 2T Review

Disclosure:

This review is based on my first-hand experience with a OnePlus Nord 2T (8GB + 128GB) loaned by OnePlus India. The opinions stated here are mine alone and the brand did not have any editorial input or early look.

Since the OnePlus Nord 2T is in the market for months, I have tried my best to share my thoughts on its as simple as possible. The review is divided into two parts: Pros and Cons. I am calling them ‘The Good’ and ‘The Not So Good.’

The aforementioned two sections will be followed by ‘Conclusion’, which will include my closing thoughts.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s delve into the review.

OnePlus Nord 2T: The Good

The design and the in-hand feel of the OnePlus Nord 2T are way better than what’s seen in the official renders. I have the Jade Fog color variant, which has a glossy rear finish. Whereas, the Gray Shadow version has a matte texture on its back. Either way, the plastic frame is glossy on both variants, which will wear out soon if the smartphone is used without a case.

The camera placement looks odd in renders, but I don’t mind it in real life. Most likely, you will also feel the same.

Thanks to 8.2mm thickness and the curved rear glass panel, the device is comfortable to wield, though it feels slightly heavy at 190g. The alert slider is quite useful to switch sound profiles instantly, however, it is placed too high for my tiny hands.

The handset flaunts a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) and a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen is comparatively smaller and more compact than on most phones these days due to its size and 20:9 aspect ratio.

By default, the smartphone comes with ‘Vibrant’ color profile, which offers boosted saturation. However, you can switch to the ‘Natural’ profile to get almost accurate colors.

All in all, it’s a good screen with ample brightness to view under direct sunlight. 90Hz refresh rate is enough for most users but if you are used to 120Hz refresh rate like me, then you may find it slower.

As far as content streaming is concerned, you get 1080p (FHD) support on leading platforms, including Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar to name a few. There’s also support for HDR streaming on YouTube.

Generally, the device feels smooth while using regular day-to-day apps spread across categories like social media, tools, banking, and others. That’s because it is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 1300 SoC paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.

Though the chipset sounds newer than the Dimensity 1200 chip present inside the OnePlus Nord 2, it is actually the same but with some tweaks relating to gaming (more on that later). Overall, it’s a good system-on-chip for regular usage.

Talking about cameras, the Nord 2T has got the exact same optical sensors as the Nord 2. You get an OIS-assisted 50MP Sony IMX766 primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide unit, a 2MP monochrome sensor, and a 32MP front-facing unit.

The images from the primary camera come out very well if you click them properly. You need to manually lower the exposure slider to get good shots. Else, you end up with pictures with overblown highlights.

The images are sharp with a wider dynamic range. But at times, the HDR processing could be too aggressive, a trend that is common on Oplus group phones.

The main camera is a joy to use in low-light situations, unlike on most mid-rangers. The sensor is big enough to let more light in. Night Mode further helps in difficult scenarios.

The ultra-wide camera is average, just like on most handsets. There’s a color inconsistency between it and the primary camera. Though it only performs well in good lighting conditions, you have support for Night Mode.

Photos from the front camera are also good for the price. But the skin tones are much better in the pictures from the main camera.

Finally, there’s support for up to 4K 30fps video recording on the primary camera, but stabilization is better in 1080p recording. The ultra-wide and front-facing cameras are limited to 1080p 30fps recording.

Other good things about the OnePlus Nord 2T include haptics, loud stereo speakers, and great connectivity.

OnePlus Nord 2T: The Not So Good

The software experience on the OnePlus Nord 2T is unpleasant. It runs OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12, which is nothing but a tweaked version of Oppo’s ColorOS 12.1.

I personally consider ColorOS to be one of the best Android skins on the market right now. But unfortunately, OnePlus’ optimizations and changes have ruined the experience on the OnePlus Nord 2T.

I am facing weird bugs on a modern smartphone, like delayed notifications and no notifications on the lock screen. Although the first issue got fixed automatically, I couldn’t find a solution for the latter.

A quick Google search led me to multiple posts on OnePlus forums complaining about this bug. It appears the ‘no notifications on lock screen’ problem is a common issue among most OnePlus smartphones. But I did not face it on the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, which I reviewed prior to this device.

There are UI inconsistencies throughout the software, and the swipe-down gesture from the top right side to access OnePlus Shelf is annoying due to accidental triggers.

Then, there are limited AOD styles as compared to stock ColorOS and the feature itself is poorly optimized. Unlike on Samsung’s One UI, you cannot control brightness, and it is too bright.

Initially, when I started using the phone, the battery was draining a lot with AOD turned on. Thankfully, that got fixed with a software update.

But I am still skeptical about the battery life. Though I could get a day’s worth of endurance now, there’s no guarantee whether the next software update will keep it this way.

The handset comes with support for 80W fast wired charging, and the required charger is included in the box. However, in my experience, I found negligible speed improvement from 65W charging. The device takes around 36 minutes to reach 100% from 10%.

Talking about the elephant in the room, the performance of the smartphone throttles a lot for unknown reasons. But it is worth noting that you won’t face this in regular usage.

The throttling issue persists during gaming and other resource-hungry tasks like rendering. In fact, the handset struggles to play 4K 60fps videos on YouTube. Hence, users looking to play competitive and high-end titles should look for other options.

Generally, OnePlus is associated with good performance. But with the extended portfolio of handsets with mid and low-grade chipsets and poor optimizations, consumers should have low expectations from its cheaper models.

Conclusion

The pros of OnePlus Nord 2T clearly outweigh its cons. But a smartphone with notification issues in 2022 is dumb. I hope the brand fixes it soon enough.

As far as the whole software experience is concerned, I don’t think there will be a solution in the near future unless OnePlus fully embraces ColorOS in international markets as it does in its home market China.

Also, I am not sure if the 80W fast charging could be optimized further. Because, in order to maintain battery health, usually brands limit the charging speed via software updates as the devices get older. So it may get worse in the future, but the chances of getting better are low.

There are multiple smartphones that cost around ₹30,000 in India. But only one of them bears OnePlus branding — OnePlus Nord 2T. So if you are strictly looking for a OnePlus smartphone in this price range and don’t play heavy games, I don’t mind recommending it.

WHERE TO BUY

Buy OnePlus Nord 2T @ AmazonIN or @AmazonUK

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