OnePlus Nord 2 5G launch: 50 MP camera, a one-of-a-kind chipset with powerful AI capabilities, and perhaps a reasonable asking price? Here’s what to expect- Technology News, Firstpost

Anirudh Regidistudio18Jul 21, 2021 21:27:22 IST

Details are scarce, but one thing we do know is that OnePlus will officially take the wraps off the OnePlus Nord 2 5G on 22 July. To catch the launch live, you can head to the official OnePlus Youtube channel here. Be sure to hit the ‘set reminder’ button so you’re notified in time for the launch.

While you wait, you can also head here on your smartphone (via Safari or Chrome) to enjoy some AR games celebrating the launch. Do well and you’ll be entered into a lucky draw where you stand to win a Nord 2 5G as well as any number of other goodies!

What we know

From the teased images, it’s apparent that the Nord 2 boasts of a familiar design and triple camera set up on the rear. The few details that have been confirmed indicate that, like the Nord before it, we can expect a 6.43-inch 90 Hz fluid AMOLED display with HDR support.

50 MP camera

The rear cameras get a significant upgrade in the form of a 50 MP primary camera based on Sony’s IMX 766 sensor. This camera features larger pixels — which should translate to slightly improved low light performance and overall image quality — and has OIS. The specs of the two remaining cameras are yet to be confirmed, but it’s safe to assume that we’ll be getting an ultra-wide and a macro.

MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI chip

What’s more interesting is the chipset that powers this phone. Unlike last year’s Snapdragon 765, the Nord 2 gets a big upgrade in the form of the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI SoC that OnePlus worked with MediaTek to enhance.

The base chip features an 8-core CPU — an ARM Cortex-A78 Ultra Core, 3x ARM Cortex-A78 performance cores, and 4x ARM Cortex-A55 efficiency cores — paired with a Mali-G77 MC9 GPU. The chipset supports dual-SIM 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, quad-channel memory and dual-channel UFS 3.1 storage.

The chipset can handle 4K ‘stacked’ HDR video recording so it’s safe to assume that the OnePlus Nord 2 5G will as well.

OnePlus hasn’t confirmed RAM and storage specs for the Nord 2 5G, but we can expect the new phone to at least match the previous phone’s 12 GB RAM and 256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage options.

As it stands, OnePlus claims that the new chip offers 65% faster CPU and 125% faster GPU performance when compared to the previous Nord.

Working with MediaTek, OnePlus has taken the regular Dimensity 1200 and incorporated new AI features. Primarily, these hardware-accelerated AI features deal with image processing, stabilisation, and night mode. Features like AI Color Boost and Resolution scaling are also present and are supposed to enhance the ‘display experience’. We assume that this refers to the quality of the images you see on the display.

Lastly, battery life. Again, there are no official details out on this front, but we should expect the Nord 2 to at least match the previous Nord and offer something larger than 4,000 mAh with support for 30 W fast charging.