OnePlus Nord 2 5G vs OnePlus 9
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 OnePlus 9, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G and came out 4 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the OnePlus Nord 2 5G
- Shows 12% longer battery life (32:08 vs 28:34 hours)
- Optical image stabilization
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 9
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- Delivers 30% higher peak brightness (827 against 635 nits)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- 18% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (788K versus 667K)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- 38% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1134 and 822 points
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.43 inches | 6.55 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 410 ppi | 402 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 90 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes |
| 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 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 85.8% | 87.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 128.2% | 98.9% |
| PWM | 119 Hz | 323 Hz |
| Response time | 8 ms | 13 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 158.9 mm (6.26 inches) | 160 mm (6.3 inches) |
| Width | 73.2 mm (2.88 inches) | 74.2 mm (2.92 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.7 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 189 g (6.67 oz) | 192 g (6.77 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | Gray, Blue, Green | Black, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G |
| Max clock | 3000 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 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: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 6 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MC9 | Adreno 660 |
| GPU clock | 850 MHz | 840 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~1720 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 186770 | 200022 |
| GPU | 232801 | 313671 |
| Memory | 114516 | 124703 |
| UX | 131863 | 143596 |
| Total score | 667086 | 788674 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 50.7 °C | 48.8 °C |
| Stability | 66% | 55% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4182 | 5761 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 6705 | 10571 |
| Video editing | 5362 | 6067 |
| Photo editing | 14197 | 26647 |
| Data manipulation | 9198 | 11278 |
| Writing score | 10293 | 15666 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8, 12 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | OxygenOS 12 | OxygenOS 13 |
| OS size | 14 GB | 35 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 65 W | 65 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (98% in 30 min) | Yes (100% in 29 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:31 hr | 0:29 hr |
| Web browsing | 12:29 hr | 10:27 hr |
| Watching video | 13:49 hr | 12:25 hr |
| Gaming | 05:27 hr | 04:06 hr |
| Standby | 94 hr | 92 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8700 x 5800 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 119° | 140° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) | 3 (48 MP + 50 MP + 2 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 |
- 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/1.43", Sony IMX689 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.3 |
- 50 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Monochrome lens | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
- 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 OnePlus 9 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4920 x 3264 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.0 |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" | 1/3.06" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (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 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, SBAS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| 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
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | July 2021 | March 2021 |
| Release date | July 2021 | March 2021 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the OnePlus 9. It has a better display, performance, software, and connectivity.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 235