OnePlus announced the successor to the affordable OnePlus Nord in the form of the Nord 2 on 22 July. With all the specifications now official, we now know what the Nord 2 offer and how it fits into the OnePlus line up. 

We've put the OnePlus Nord 2 up against the OnePlus 9 to help you work out which OnePlus device might be right for you, and whether you should save a bit of cash and opt for the Nord 2 over the flagship device.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G Euro 4G Volte GSM Global 128GB + 8GB 50MP Triple Camera NFC Dual Sim International Version (Gray Sierra)

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Design

  • Nord 2: 158.9 x 73.2 x 8.3mm, 189g
  • 9: 160 x 74.2 x 8.7mm, 192g

The OnePlus Nord 2 looks very similar to the OnePlus 9. There is a rectangular camera housing on the rear with two larger prominent lenses and one smaller lens below with the flash adjacent to the smaller lens.

An alert slider and power button are on the right edge, while the volume rocker is on the left. A punch hole singular front camera is positioned in the top left corner of the flat display and it offers no official IP rating

The OnePlus 9 has a rectangular camera housing on the rear and looks pretty much how the Nord 2 looks but its third lens sits centrally below the other lenses in the housing on the rear, with the flash positioned higher up and Hasselblad branding also included. The housing is also slightly wider than the Nord 2.

The alert slider, power button and volume rocker are all in the same position as the Nord 2's, and there is a single punch hole camera in the top left of the flat display again. There is no official IP rating on the 9 either and like the Nord 2, it has a glass rear and a plastic frame.

In terms of physical size, the Nord 2 is almost identical to the OnePlus 9, though fractionally shorter, narrower and slimmer.

Display

  • Nord 2: 6.43-inch, Full HD+ (410ppi), 90Hz refresh rate
  • 9: 6.55-inch, Full HD+ (402ppi), 120Hz

The OnePlus Nord 2 comes with a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution that is 2400 x 1080, resulting in a pixel density of 410ppi.

The OnePlus 9 meanwhile, has a 6.55-inch display, making it slightly larger than the OnePlus Nord 2's, despite the devices having a very similar footprint. It has a Full HD+ resolution, with a pixel density of 402ppi.

The OnePlus 9 has a refresh rate of 120Hz, while the OnePlus Nord 2 comes with a 90Hz refresh rate. There is an under-display fingerprint sensor on the OnePlus 9 and the Nord 2.

Hardware and specs

  • Nord 2: MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI, 6/8/12GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 4500mAh
  • 9: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, 8/12GB RAM, 128/256GB storage, 4500mAh

The OnePlus Nord 2 runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset, which is said to be similar in performance to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870. It is supported by up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. 

There is a 4500mAh battery capacity under the hood, with support for 65W fast charging.

The OnePlus 9 runs on the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, supported by up to 12GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage. It too has a 4500mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging, but it has support for wireless charging too. The Nord 2 doesn't offer the latter.

Cameras

  • Nord 2: Triple rear (50MP main OIS + 8MP ultra wide + 2MP mono), 32MP
  • 9: Triple camera (48MP main + 50MP ultra wide + 2MP mono), 16MP front, Hasselblad partnership

The OnePlus Nord 2 comes with a triple rear camera, consisting of a 50-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilisation and an aperture of f/1.88. The main sensor is joined by an 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens with an f/2.25 aperture and a 2-megapixel mono lens with an f/2.5 aperture.

The OnePlus 9 also has a triple camera, made up of a 48-megapixel main camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 50-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera with f/2.4 aperture and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor. It also has Hasselblad tuning on board. 

The Nord 2 has a 32-megapixel front camera, while the 9 comes with a 16-megapixel front camera.

Conclusion

The OnePlus Nord 2 and the OnePlus 9 share a number of similarities, including design, RAM, storage options and battery capacities.

The OnePlus 9 has the slightly bigger display, with a faster refresh rate, whilst also offering wireless charging as a feature and its chip is likely to perform slightly better over the Nord 2's. It's likely to be the camera department that offers the real differences between these two models though.

The OnePlus 9 starts at £629 in the UK, while the Nord 2 starts just shy of £400 so there's that to consider too. You can read our full OnePlus 9 review here, and we have our first impressions of the OnePlus Nord 2 here.