1/10
OnePlus Nord CE 2 is OnePlus’s latest budget Nord phone to launch in India. As you can probably tell, the Nord CE 2 is a “lite” version of the Nord 2, where CE stands for Core Edition. The premise is simple. A phone like the Nord CE 2 exists because OnePlus wants to tap into India’s masses, make its phones accessible to a wider audience. For buyers, this means, it’s now possible to get a decent OnePlus phone at more affordable prices. OnePlus Nord CE 2 price in India starts at Rs 23,999. We spent some time with the Nord CE 2 and here’s a quick first look at the phone—its design, specs, and top features. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
2/10
The Nord CE 2 is hands-down a big upgrade to its predecessor, the Nord CE, as far as all-round design is concerned. Even though it’s built out of plastic, OnePlus is using a backplate that looks and even feels like glass, which is to say it’s more premium. It comes in two colours—Bahama Blue and Gray Mirror. The blue version we have for review has this beady, almost bubble-gum like playful aesthetic that’s eye-catching, and sure to attract a lot of attention. The camera island is fused with the rest of the backplate and lifts gradually, giving the phone a nice and seamless unibody look. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
3/10
Measuring just 7.8mm and weighing in at only 173g, the Nord CE 2 is very sleek and light, comfortable to hold and operate. The back is prone to smudging though, and we’re not too fond of the glossy frame. There is no alert slider, a hallmark OnePlus feature, that would be hard to live without once you have had a taste. That said, the Nord CE 2 is meant to be a gateway into the OnePlus universe, which is to say, most people buying it would be first-time users. At the same time, that alert slider could have been a big differentiator for this phone, so it all depends on how you see it. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
4/10
It’s nice to see OnePlus holding on to a headphone jack and micro-SD card slot in the Nord CE 2, two features that are fast becoming a rarity even among mid-range phones. Storage expansion is also “dedicated” so you’re getting three different slots which is a nice touch. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
5/10
The Nord CE 2 has a 6.43-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and hole punch cut-out. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, too. OnePlus claims the panel supports HDR10+ playback but we were unable to make this work in apps like Netflix at the time of writing. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
6/10
Under the hood, the Nord CE 2 gets a MediaTek Dimensity 900 chip which is paired with up to 8GRAM and up to 128GB UFS2.2 storage. Performance is nice and smooth in daily use. The phone can play high-end games at medium settings though OnePlus doesn’t offer high refresh rate (90Hz in this case) support for most games including Alto’s Odyssey. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
7/10
It’s a little disappointing to see OnePlus shipping the new Nord CE 2 with Android 11 (OxygenOS 11.3), much like its predecessor almost a year later. The phone is eligible to get two major OS updates and three years of security. The software experience, though it borrows a few things here and there from ColorOS (like say, the camera UI), has considerably lesser bloat and almost no spammy notifications. The experience, therefore, is nice and fluid. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
8/10
The Nord CE 2 has three cameras on the rear including a 64MP main, 8MP ultrawide-angle, and 2MP macro camera. The setup is very similar to the Nord CE. On the front, the Nord CE 2 has a 16MP selfie shooter. More on camera performance in our full review. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
9/10
The Nord CE supported just one 5G band. The Nord CE 2 supports 8. So, that’s another big upgrade, right there. Powering the phone is a 4,500mAh battery with 65W “SuperVOOC” fast charging. In our experience, the phone takes some 50-minutes to charge from 0-100% which is nice. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
10/10
The Nord CE 2 seems like a jack of all trades in our first impressions. It’s all about the bare necessities and it does well inside that realm of offering a nice and dependable performance across the board. Pricing is key here because we feel, OnePlus has priced the Nord CE 2 very well. The phone starts at Rs 23,999 for a version with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. A version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will set you back by Rs 24,999. Watch this space for our full review of the OnePlus Nord CE 2. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)