Speed Test G: OnePlus Nord 2 vs OnePlus Nord (one clear champion)

OnePlus raised more than a few questions when it switched from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip in the original Nord to a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 in the Nord 2. Did the company risk alienating performance enthusiasts in the name of price? We now know just who would win this OnePlus Nord 2 vs OnePlus Nord battle, and it’s definitely not a train smash — far from it.

Android Authority‘s Gary Sims pitted the OnePlus Nord 2 against its predecessor in his more realistic Speed Test G benchmark, and the newer phone decimates its predecessor. It’s not even a close contest. The Nord 2 finished the CPU and GPU tests roughly 20 seconds faster than the older phone, and was still 10 seconds ahead in a mixed-use scenario. The newer Nord finished the overall test nearly a full minute sooner.

Read more: OnePlus Nord 2 review

Sims credited the OnePlus Nord 2 victory in part to a Mali GPU that appears to be much faster than the Adreno 620 from last year’s handset.  We’d add that the Dimensity 1200 is built around the newer Arm Cortex-A78 architecture where the Snapdragon 765G is based on Cortex-A76. Simply speaking, the MediaTek part’s newer roots give it a better foundation.

That could make your buying decision fairly easy. If you’re new to the OnePlus world and have the choice of the Nord 2 vs the original, get the latest model unless you find an exceptional deal on its ancestor. While both phones have so-so cameras, the Nord 2 is far enough ahead in raw performance that you’ll likely appreciate the difference for years to come. What do you think, though? Let us know in the comments.