OnePlus Nord 2T review

The usual triple-camera

The OnePlus Nord 2T packs a triple-camera on its back - the same setup as the original Nord 2. There is a 50MP OIS camera, an 8MP ultrawide shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. There is also a dual-LED flash around.

The 32MP front camera is also carried over from the Nord 2.

So, the Nord 2T offers a 50MP primary camera with a Sony IMX 766 1/1.56" Quad-Bayer sensor with 23mm f/1.88 optically stabilized lens, 1.0µm pixels, and PDAF. This camera shoots in 12.5MP resolution by default and offers Night Mode and 2x digital zoom.

The ultrawide camera relies on an 8MP Sony IMX 355 sensor behind f/2.25 lens. There is no autofocus, but it too has Night Mode.

The monochrome depth camera uses a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 sensor with f/2.2 aperture.

Finally, the selfie camera has a 32MP Sony IMX615 sensor with a Quad-Bayer filter, 0.8µm pixels and 26mm f/2.45 lens. The focus is fixed.

The Oxygen camera app is virtually identical to the Oppo/Realme one. Shocking, isn't it? It offers AI Scene Enhancement - it's like an advanced HDR mode, which may stack several images to offers even further improvements in the dynamic range, but the most prominent "improvement" is the higher color saturation.

The Pro mode works only on the main camera, and you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-6400 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-32s range), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments).

There is an automatic Ultra Night Mode, which triggers in extreme low-light conditions, say 1 lux luminance. There is also a switch for Tripod Night Mode, which uses up to 30s (simulated) shutter speed to make a sharper, more detailed and noise-free photo.

Camera app

Photo quality

The main camera saves 12.5MP photos by default and those are excellent. There is plenty of resolved detail, the noise is low, the dynamic range is solid and the contrast is great.

The color rendition is realistic, with a dash of extra punch, making it easily likable. If you are fan of punchier photos, you may want to try the AI mode - it will introduce a more pronounced saturation boost.

We shot all photos with Auto HDR as intended by OnePlus. The overall processing was balanced, and we liked the foliage and the random detail across the buildings. Sometimes the images may a look a bit overprocessed because of the HDR, but if disabled manually, some of the non-HDR photos often turn to be softer and with smeared foliage.

Main camera, 12.5MP

Despite the lack of a telephoto camera the Nord 2T has a 2x zoom toggle on the viewfinder and we are happy to report it produces better digital zoom than the Nord 2. We found the zoomed samples to be excellent with acceptable detail and the same overall processing as the regular ones.

No surprise on the latter as it's the same camera in play, but the detail levels are slightly surprising and we suspect some Super Res-like computational photography is at play here.

Main camera 2x zoom, 12.5MP

And here are a few 50MP images, as the Nord 2T supports shooting in the sesnsor's full resolution. We don't see anyone using this 50MP mode as it doesn't yield more detail when downsized to 12.5MP and all you get is larger files and slower processing.

Main camera, 50MP

The 8MP ultrawide camera saves good photos, too. The resolved detail is okay, the contrast is great, and the dynamic range is adequate. The noise is once again kept low.

The colors are slightly desaturated and not quite as likeable as the main camera.

The photos have more of an overprocessed look too, because the Auto HDR has to work harder here, but this is still better than noisy and smeared non-HDR images, so we'd advise once again for leaving the HDR to Auto.

Ultrawide camera, 8MP

Portraits are shot with the help of a 2MP depth sensor. The subjects are well exposed and nicely detailed, the colors are excellent and the Auto HDR does well for bringing back blown backgrounds. The simulated blur looks good, too.

The subject separation isn't great though, with busier backgrounds and messier haircuts posing an issue.

Portraits, 12.5MP

Now, let's see some low-light photos.

The ones we took with the main camera are great - they are detailed, with good color saturation, and excellent contrast. The noise is kept impressively low, and blow highlights around light sources a rare occasion. The image stacking and OIS seem to have worked great together for high-quality low-light photos.

Main camera, 12.5MP

Night Mode is available, of course, and it improves on the skies and fixes blown highlights. The photos are likable, though a bit unrealistic. So depending on how much you like bright and colorful photos from night scenes you may love the Nigh Mode output or chose to stick to the default mode in the dark.

Main cam Night Mode, 12.5MP

The zoomed 2x photos at night are a bit soft, but still usable with good color saturation, and contrast. They are noisy, but not to a ruinous extent.

2x zoom, 12.5MP

You should probably refrain from using Night Mode at 2x zoomed, as the results are awfully artificial and overprocessed for just about any taste.

2x zoom Night Mode, 12.5MP

The 8MP low-light photos from the ultrawide camera are for emergency use only. The resolved detail is limited, and the noise is not overpowering. But the photos are underexposed and with desaturated colors.

Ultrawide cam, 8MP

Night Mode seems like a must for the ultrawide camera and it really helps achieve the correct exposure, improves on the dynamic range, and brings the noise down somewhat. The color saturation gets a much-needed boost.

UW cam Night Mode, 8MP

There is also a Tripod Night Mode available (there is a tripod trigger on the viewfinder). It uses longer exposure times but seems to be doing little to no multi-frame stacking unlike the Night Mode.

The results are solid - the Tripod Night Mode photos from either camera look quite natural and they are more detailed and pretty noise-free. The colors are excellent, too.

Standard • Night Mode • Tripod Night Mode

Standard • Night Mode • Tripod Night Mode

In extreme low-light conditions (read - pitch dark), an automatic Ultra Night Mode is triggered when using the Night Mode option. It literally makes the night as bright as day.

Ultra Night Mode

And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the OnePlus Nord 2T . You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.

OnePlus Nord 2T against the Galaxy A53 and the Nothing Phone (1) in our Photo compare tool

Selfie quality

The 32MP selfie camera saves 32MP photos even if it's supposed to spit 8MP snaps because of the Quad-Bayer filter. They have plenty of resolved detail, good exposure, and realistic look with adequate contrast and dynamic range. The colors were always true to life.

You will notice a significant drop in sharpness in scenes where HDR decided to get involved, or the light wasn't ideal, though.

Selfies, 32MP

The portrait selfies offer the same quality as the regular selfies - subjects are sharp, well-exposed and colorful when conditions are perfect, and not as sharp otherwise. The backgrounds are blurred proficiently, and we liked what we saw.

The subject separation is rather poor here, though and even simpler haircuts weren't handled well.

Portrait selfies, 32MP

Video quality

The OnePlus Nord 2T captures videos with its main, ultrawide and selfie cameras. The main cam records video up to 4K at 30fps, and there's 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. The ultrawide and selfie shooters are limited to 1080p@30fps video capturing.

You get the option to choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs.

Electronic stabilization is available - it is always-on and applied across all cameras, on all resolutions and frame rates. The main camera also benefits from OIS.

The Nord 2T, just like the Nord 2, is generous with the bitrates - the 4K footage gets 50Mbps, while 1080p/30fps is allocated an above-average 20Mbps when using the h.264 codec. The stereo audio bitrate is about 160kbps for the 4K clips and 256kbps for 1080p.

The 4K video we shot with the main camera is great - detailed and nicely processed with a natural look. The noise is low, the colors are accurate, and the dynamic range is good, but not unrealistically wide.

The ultrawide camera shoots 1080p videos with okay detail and low noise. The contrast and the dynamic range are adequate, while the colors are washed out at times.

The 4K videos from the main camera at night are quite noisy, but otherwise with good detail, colors and satisfying contrast.

OnePlus can do AI Night video - just hit the AI button when shooting video in low-light conditions. It is shot in 1080p at night and does look good. It highlights the light sources giving them a slightly better look and color saturation. The 1080p AI video does look slightly brighter than the regular 4K footage. The other benefits - gains in sharpness and lower noise are because of the lower video resolution.

Finally, here is the OnePlus Nord 2T in our video tool so you can make your own comparisons.

2160p: OnePlus Nord 2T against the Galaxy A53 and the Nothing Phone (1) in our Video compare tool