Home > Smartphone comparison > Nord 3 vs Nord 2 5G – which one to choose?

OnePlus Nord 3 vs Nord 2 5G

64 out of 100
OnePlus Nord 3
VS
54 out of 100
OnePlus Nord 2 5G
OnePlus Nord 3
OnePlus Nord 2 5G

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.74-inch OnePlus Nord 3 (with MediaTek Dimensity 9000) that was released on July 5, 2023, against the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, which is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G and came out 1 year and 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the OnePlus Nord 3
  • Water-resistant body (IP54 classification)
  • 61% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1542K versus 960K)
  • Delivers 76% higher peak brightness (1110 against 630 nits)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Has a 0.31 inch larger screen size
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • 10% higher pixel density (451 vs 410 PPI)
  • The phone is 1 year and 11 months newer
  • Supports higher wattage charging (80W versus 65W)
  • Has a built-in infrared port

Review

Evaluation of OnePlus Nord 3 and Nord 2 5G 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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
74.6
(Good)
Value Index
32.3
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Nord 3
vs
Nord 2 5G

Display

Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.74 inches 6.43 inches
Resolution 1240 x 2772 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20.1:9 20:9
PPI 451 ppi 410 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 600 nits 450 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1450 nits 650 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 360 Hz 180 Hz
Screen protection Tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 85.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.7% 128.2%
PWM 366 Hz 119 Hz
Response time 7 ms 8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Nord 3
6.74″ (20.1:9 ratio) = 16.9 in2
Nord 2 5G
6.43″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.5 in2
~9% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Nord 3 +76%
1110 nits
Nord 2 5G
630 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 162.6 mm (6.4 inches) 159.12 mm (6.26 inches)
Width 75.1 mm (2.96 inches) 73.31 mm (2.89 inches)
Thickness 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) 8.25 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 193.5 g (6.83 oz) 189 g (6.67 oz)
Waterproof IP54 No
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Gray, Green Gray, Blue, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nord 3 +5%
89.5%
Nord 2 5G
85.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of OnePlus Nord 3 and OnePlus Nord 2 5G
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 9000 MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G
Max clock 3050 MHz 3000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 3.05 GHz: Cortex-X2		 - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-A78
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 6 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) MediaTek APU 590 MediaTek APU 3.0
GPU
Graphics Mali-G710 MC10 Mali-G77 MC9
GPU shading units 640 288
GPU clock 848 MHz 886 MHz
FLOPS ~1085.4 GFLOPS ~510.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of OnePlus Nord 3 and OnePlus Nord 2 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nord 3 +44%
1710
Nord 2 5G
1185
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nord 3 +31%
4477
Nord 2 5G
3419
Compute Score (GPU)
Nord 3 +39%
6409
Nord 2 5G
4595
Compute Score (GPU) 6409 4595
Single-core score 1710 1185
Multi-core score 4477 3419
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Nord 3 +61%
1542660
Nord 2 5G
960724
CPU 576859 384772
GPU 296679 144433
Memory 223305 177452
UX 445817 254067
Total score 1542660 960724
Samples [7 tests] [5 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Nord 3 +75%
775
Nord 2 5G
442
Stability 63% 80%
Graphics test 6 FPS 3 FPS
Graphics score 775 442
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Nord 3
n/a
Nord 2 5G
1286
Stability - 73%
Graphics test - 7 FPS
Graphics score - 1286
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Nord 3
n/a
Nord 2 5G
9943
Web score - 8179
Video editing - 5237
Photo editing - 16481
Data manipulation - 9610
Writing score - 14018
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
OnePlus Nord 3
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-05 -> alominzikkAnTuTu 111500307
📘 2026-09-05 (Alominzikk)AnTuTu 111500307
📘 2026-06-20 (LukisekCZ)AnTuTu 111584537
📘 2026-05-11 (DG)AnTuTu 111542660
📘 2026-04-30 (Gigimutu1)AnTuTu 111561642
Add View all (23)
OnePlus Nord 2 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-05-22 -> Kot_LuisGeekbench 6 GPU4546
📘 2026-05-22 -> Kot_LuisGeekbench 6 CPU1112 / 3313
📘 2026-05-22 -> Kot_LuisAnTuTu 11960724
📘 2026-01-03 (The decoder's)AnTuTu 11982802
📘 2025-10-22 (reddington)AnTuTu 11980006
Add View all (9)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM OxygenOS 13.1 OxygenOS 13
OS size - 14 GB
OS updates 3 years -
Security updates 4 years -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 80 W 65 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (60% in 15 min) Yes (98% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:32 hr 0:31 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:39 hr 09:17 hr
Watching video 15:44 hr 13:38 hr
Gaming 05:40 hr 05:22 hr
Standby 94 hr 92 hr
General battery life
Nord 3 +3%
21:57 hr
Nord 2 5G
21:19 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8700 x 5800
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 112° 119°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Monochrome: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.9
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony IMX890 Sony IMX766
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.3
Sensor Sony IMX355 Sony IMX355
Sensor size 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.14 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Sensor GalaxyCore GC02M1 -
Sensor size 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) -
Pixel size 1.75 micron -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Nord 3
n/a
Nord 2 5G
125
Video quality
Nord 3
n/a
Nord 2 5G
105
Generic main camera score
Nord 3
n/a
Nord 2 5G
116
Samples - Photo samples of OnePlus Nord 2 5G from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 4608 x 3456 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.5
Focal length 24 mm -
Sensor 1/5 Sony IMX615
Sensor size 1/3.09" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC, SBAS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
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* 19 18
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
Nord 3
78.9 dB
Nord 2 5G +3%
81.6 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced July 2023 July 2021
Release date July 2023 July 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $499 $470
Successor - OnePlus Nord 5 - OnePlus Nord 5
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 80 W Yes, 65 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the OnePlus Nord 3 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
77 (71.3%)
31 (28.7%)
Total votes: 108

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