OnePlus Nord 2 5G vs Google Pixel 6a

67 out of 100
OnePlus Nord 2 5G
VS
70 out of 100
Google Pixel 6a

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.43-inch OnePlus Nord 2 5G (with MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G) that was released on July 22, 2021, against the Google Pixel 6a, which is powered by Google Tensor and came out 10 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the OnePlus Nord 2 5G
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 18W)
  • Has a 0.33 inch larger screen size
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6a
  • Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
  • Delivers 38% higher peak brightness (880 against 637 nits)
  • 31% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (913K versus 695K)
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • 38% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1469 and 1065 points
  • The phone is 10-months newer
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of OnePlus Nord 2 5G and Google Pixel 6a crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.43 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 410 ppi 429 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 650 nits 1100 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 85.8% 83%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 128.2% 96.9%
PWM 119 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 8 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
637 nits
Pixel 6a +38%
880 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.12 mm (6.26 inches) 152.2 mm (5.99 inches)
Width 73.31 mm (2.89 inches) 71.8 mm (2.83 inches)
Thickness 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 189 g (6.67 oz) 178 g (6.28 oz)
Waterproof No IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors Gray, Blue, Green White, Black, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nord 2 5G +3%
85.8%
83%

Performance

Tests of OnePlus Nord 2 5G and Google Pixel 6a in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G Google Tensor
Max clock 3000 MHz 2800 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex A55
- 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1
L3 cache 8 MB 4 MB
Lithography process 6 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G77 MP9 Mali-G78 MP20
GPU shading units 576 1280
GPU clock 886 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS ~979.2 GFLOPS ~2170.9 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1065
Pixel 6a +38%
1469
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
2931
Pixel 6a +24%
3629
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
695430
Pixel 6a +31%
913419
CPU 181329 -
GPU 241109 -
Memory 136131 -
UX 136255 913000
Total score 695430 913419
3DMark Wild Life Performance
4197
Pixel 6a +48%
6194
Max surface temperature 50.7 °C 41.4 °C
Stability 70% 56%
Graphics test 25 FPS 37 FPS
Graphics score 4197 6194
PCMark 3.0
8839
Pixel 6a +12%
9859
Web score 6831 6177
Video editing 5352 5806
Photo editing 15029 17969
Data manipulation 9115 9425
Writing score 10578 15432
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6, 8, 12 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory clock 2133 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM OxygenOS 13 Stock Android
OS size 14 GB 14.3 GB

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 4410 mAh
Max charge power 65 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (98% in 30 min) Yes (42% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:31 hr 1:51 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 12:29 hr 10:54 hr
Watching video 13:49 hr 16:44 hr
Gaming 05:27 hr 06:05 hr
Standby 94 hr 91 hr
General battery life
32:08 hr
32:11 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8700 x 5800 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 119° 114°
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) 2 (12.2 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.3
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 17 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.9", Sony IMX386 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
Monochrome lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of OnePlus Nord 2 5G from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 6a from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 3840 x 2160
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.0
Focal length - 24 mm
Pixel size 0.8 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.8" 1/2.8"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
125
Pixel 6a +6%
133
Video quality
105
Pixel 6a +20%
126
Generic camera score
116
Pixel 6a +5%
122

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.2 5.2
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC, SBAS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
81.6 dB
Pixel 6a +7%
87.4 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced July 2021 May 2022
Release date July 2021 June 2022
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 65 W Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the camera, performance, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 6a. But if the battery life and software are more of a priority – go for the OnePlus Nord 2 5G.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
40 (37.4%)
67 (62.6%)
Total votes: 107

User opinions

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