OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G - How to spend your money well
For some time the well-known OnePlus brand, used to release top of the range, has embarked on the path of producing smartphones more affordable for everyone, with devices that offer all the quality of the brand but at affordable prices and without particular sacrifices. The first "experiments" of the Nord series were poco exciting but have allowed the company to learn from its mistakes and get to the present day with valid products at the right value for money. An example is the new OnePlus Nord 2 CE, of which we discover in this review, technical characteristics and user experience.
Let's start as usual by discovering what the sales package offers us, rather elegant thanks to a black color and reflective relief writing. In any case, inside we find, in addition to our OnePlus Nord CE 5G, also the charger with Warp Charge technology at 65W, the cable for charging and Type-C file transfer (iconic red color) and the pin to extract the tray. SIM. However, we also find a practical and very useful rubber protection cover with geometric designs, manuals and a plastic film to protect the display, already applied by the brand.
It is well known that OPPO and OnePlus are now the same company and this smartphone underlines this fusion, proposing itself with an aesthetic on the back that is very reminiscent of the lines seen on the top of the OPPO range. Specifically, the body is a single body with the photographic compartment, which therefore is not collected in a bump camera, but set right inside the back cover. As beautiful and well-finished as the rear, which in our case appears with a totally mirrored surface, the materials used are in any case plastic and the mirror color becomes a magnet for fingerprints and dirt in general, forcing you to turn with a cloth in microfiber or to take advantage of the cover in the package.
Apart from that, the sensation to the touch is excellent and also enjoys the ergonomics thanks to dimensions of 160,6 x 73,2 x 7,8 mm and a weight of only 173 grams, as well as rounded profiles that improve grip with the device. Right on the profiles we find in the upper part the second microphone for the reduction of the hiss in call, while on the right one is the power button. On the opposite side we find the volume rocker and the SIM tray, this capable of hosting 2 SIMs in nano and micro SD format for memory expansion at the same time. Finally, the lower profile houses the main microphone, 3,5mm jack input, Type-C port for charging and OTG support (no video output) and mono speaker.
Probably the absence of stereo sound could make someone turn up their noses, but personally I don't think it is a big defect, also because the possibility of using wired earphones is certainly an extra gear and much more appreciated by various "audiophiles". In any case, the volume released by the speaker is high but without distortions and although you could push a little more in the low tones, the balance of the sound spectrum is pleasant.
The navigation and reception of the terminal is also good, which can count on a 5G SA / NSA module while the rest of the connectivity is entrusted to a dual WiFi, Bluetooth 5.2 with LDAC, NFC and GPS support, with results and performance up to good brand name.
OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G on the front is embellished with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 glass that protects the 6,43-inch AMOLED screen. We have a Full HD + resolution (2400 × 1080), 409 ppi, format in 20: 9 but above all a dynamic 90 Hz refresh rate, HDR10 + support and sRGB support.
The AMOLED technology has made it possible to integrate the fingerprint sensor under the display, whose reactivity and reliability are at the top. On an aesthetic level OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G could be more beautiful, as the chin is showy but nothing dramatic also because this pays off positively in the multimedia field, relying on a color definition at the highest levels, even in streaming with DRM Widevine L1 . There are also goodies such as the Always On Display or the Canvas feature that allows you to adapt your own photograph and stylize it to then apply it as the background of this mode, but of course there is the possibility of customizing all the graphics, changing the style of the icons for example.
The smartphone arrives with OxygenOS 11.3 based on Android 11 and patch of March 2022, one of the most minimal but functional green robot interfaces in the panorama. However, you do not give up on system utilities such as the presence of parallel apps, to have multiple account instances of a single application, but also the ability to activate gestures or the navigation bar or block access to certain apps with a code and more. What really matters is the reliability and stability of the system, which make the experience of using the phone fluid in every area.
In fact, we can count on a respectable hardware, consisting of the MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor, octa-core solution with 6nm production process, ARM Mali G68 MC4 GPU flanked by an LPDDR4X RAM of 8 GB and 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage (expandable up to to 1 TB via microSD). Before judging the SoC, you should know that MediaTek has made significant leaps and bounds in terms of improvements on its processors, especially in the upper mid-range of the market. With this OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G, everything is optimized for performance that does not make you regret the purchase, without hesitation even in the heaviest operations.
Where the company could do much better than other competitors is in the photographic sector, expressed on the rear by a 64 MP megapixel main camera with f / 1.79 aperture and 0,7 μm large pixels (not optically stabilized but digitally). This lens is accompanied by an 8 MP ultrawide sensor with 119 ° field width, equipped with EIS and f / 2.2 aperture, and finally a 2 MP, f / 2.4 macro camera.
The selfie camera instead is 16 megapixel, Sony IMX471 sensor, equipped with EIS, f / 2.4 and capable of recording videos up to 1080p 60 fps. Overall, the quality of shots and videos is without infamy and without praise, although it must be admitted that in low light conditions the sensors show their weaknesses, returning photos and videos with strong chromatic imbalances and the presence of digital noise. I would have expected something more from the EIS in the videos, the possible resolution of which reaches up to 4K 30fps, in addition to the fact that in no case can you switch between one sensor and another during recording.
On the other hand, portrait mode and night mode are good, not miraculous but superior to many other views on competitor devices.
All that remains is to talk about the battery, which in the OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G has a capacity of 4500 mAh with double cell capable of receiving fast charging up to 65W in a wired way, as wireless charging is absent. SUPERVOOC technology is able to bring the battery from 1 to 100% in 32 minutes, while with only 15 minutes a recharge is guaranteed that can satisfy an entire day of work. The actual duration, in my case, allowed me to take advantage of the smartphone for at least 6 and a half hours of active display, with mixed use of apps and navigation, always arriving in the evening with the certainty of still having residual charge.
PROJECTED IMPACT
OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G is a truly balanced smartphone capable of offering a 360-degree user experience. For lovers of the brand, some iconicities are missing, such as the side slider and an almost neutered OxygenOS, but overall it is a device that I promote because of the performance, for the presence of a beautiful display, fast charging and complete connectivity but above all for the reliability of the system. He is definitely similar to OPPO's Find X5 Lite but at a price more affordable for everyone.
