OnePlus Nord 2T 5G hands-on review

Camera

The Nord 2T 5G has the exact same camera system, front and back, as the Nord 2 5G. This includes a triple camera system on the back and a single camera on the front.

The triple cameras on the back include a 50MP f1.8 Sony IMX766 main camera, 8MP f2.2 Sony IMX355 ultra-wide, and a 2MP monochrome camera. On the front is a 32MP f2.4 Sony IMX615.

The camera app is similar to the other recent OnePlus and Oppo phones we have seen, minus a few features and modes considering the mid-range status of the phone. Still, you get the usual bells and whistles, including a pro mode with RAW capture, night and portrait modes, dual-view video, and also a 960fps slow motion mode, which we haven't seen on a OnePlus phone in a while.

Camera

Before that, let's check out the still image performance, starting with the main rear camera. The main camera performs impressively well in good lighting conditions. The level of detail is good at closer distances, although the JPEG compression smears away high-frequency detail. Color accuracy and white balance are usually very good, with only select shades of magenta tripping the camera into producing red colors.

Main camera samples

The dynamic range in the images is also good, although the images do tend to have a slightly over processed look at times. Color gradation is less impressive, with things like foliage usually having one or two shades of green and yellow instead of a smooth gradient of colors as we normally see in real life and high-end cameras.

The pro mode supports RAW capture. RAW files have excellent detail, good dynamic range, and natural color gradation. Unfortunately, as usual, OnePlus makes it frustrating to use the pro mode by constantly resetting the settings every time you quit the camera app.

You can also shoot in 50MP resolution. These images are simply upscaled from the native 12MP output of the sensor, and thus don't actually have any additional level of detail over the 12MP images.

Moving on to the ultra-wide camera, there is a noticeable downgrade in image quality. It has a lower resolution than the main camera and in order to compensate it jacks up the sharpening considerably, which tends to look quite unpleasant. Dynamic range and color reproduction are also worse although not by much. Overall, the images are usable but could have been better.

Ultra-wide samples

There is no telephoto camera on the Nord 2T 5G but the 2x digital zoom option usually provides great results and even the 5x option is usable at times.

2x digital zoom samples

In low light, the main camera produces usable results but you should still ideally be using the night mode for better dynamic range, colors, and noise performance. The ultra-wide images are rather poor and don't get much better even with night mode enabled. OnePlus claims the Nord 2T 5G has better night mode performance than the Nord 2 5G due to the Dimensity 1300 processor but we observed no real difference between the two.

Main camera low light samples

Ultra-wide camera low light samples

The 2MP monochrome camera doesn't seem to do much at all. Even after being covered up, it makes no difference to the images when shooting with the monochrome filters, nor does it make any difference to portrait images. The phone also does not warn you when you cover this camera, suggesting it's probably not required for anything at all.

The Nord 2T 5G can record up to 4K 30fps on the main camera and 1080p 30fps on the ultra-wide camera. There's also a super steady mode and a dedicated film mode with manual controls.

Starting with the main camera, the 4K 30fps video turned out to be somewhat unusable due to the lack of image stabilization. The image itself looks great and has a lot of detail but is simply not suitable for handheld use and requires a tripod or some form of stabilization.

Switching over to 1080p, the image is a lot softer with a greater crop but still quite decent. More importantly, it is definitely a lot more stable and usable for handheld use.

The super steady mode can only record in 1080p at 60fps. It has a greater crop and even softer image than the standard 1080p mode but the stabilization does not look any better.

The phone also has a film mode, where you can manually control the ISO, white balance, shutter speed, exposure, and white balance. You can also enable or disable the stabilization. It only shoots in 1080p at 30fps with a 21:9 crop but you can use either the main or ultra-wide cameras. This mode also has log profile and HDR capture on more expensive phones but they are absent here.

The video from the ultra-wide camera looks by far the softest with the least impressive dynamic range. It's also quite shaky, making it unsuitable for handheld use.

Lastly, the Nord 2T 5G features new slow-motion modes not found on the Nord 2 5G. You can still shoot in the regular 1080p 120fps and 720p 240fps continuous slow-motion modes but there are now also 1080p 480fps and 720p 960fps ultra slow motion modes available. These shoot in quick bursts to produce short 10-second clips and cannot be used for continuous shooting. You can either shoot manually or have the camera fire automatically when it senses motion.

Looking at the 960fps clips, it seems the camera uses frame interpolation instead of actually capturing at 960fps. We have seen this one on other phones in the past and while it may occasionally be convincing, you can see the interpolation artifacts on fast-moving subjects, such as the flapping of these pigeon wings.