This story was originally published and last updated .
Until now, the OnePlus Nord 2 has only been the subjection of leaks and speculation, unless you count this accidental mention on the company’s website. We had heard that it might be the first OnePlus phone to feature a MediaTek processor, and it turns out that’s spot on. Today, OnePlus officially acknowledged the existence of the upcoming Nord successor and confirmed that it’ll use an exclusive version of the Dimensity 1200 chipset.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G, to give it its full title (we mustn’t forget about that all-important 5G) will be powered by a new MediaTek processor with enhanced AI capabilities designed to aid camera performance, improve the phone’s display, and enable better gaming experiences. The chip is called the Dimensity 1200-AI in order to distinguish it from its less artificially intelligent sibling.
In practical terms, this means that the Nord 2’s camera system will be able to recognize 22 different scenes, adjusting color and contrast accordingly to produce better photos. This should also lead to improvements in low-light imaging. When it comes to video, OnePlus says it will allow for live HDR effects during recording and DOL-HDR (Digital Overlap High Dynamic Range) will finetune recordings for the best possible quality and color accuracy.
Nord 2 is expected to look like any other Nord phone, basically.
The processor will also leverage AI for two features that improve the display. AI Color Boost and AI Resolution Boots will automatically do their thing based on the type of content you’re viewing. There’s also Smart Ambient Display that will change the brightness of the display based on contextual awareness as well as ambient light levels.
Finally, the new chipset is also said to enhance gaming performance, although the advantages are a little vaguer in this area. Await higher refresh rates in certain games (Brawl Stars was mentioned as an example), low latency, improved heat management, and efficient battery use — all the buzzwords you’d expect from a phone that can do gaming.
That’s about all we officially know about the Nord 2 5G for now, but its launch can’t be far away. Get ready for the usual, wearisome drip-feeding of info over the coming weeks before an almost entirely revealed device is finally fully revealed to us.
Coming July 22, but not to the US
The latest tidbit to come out of OnePlus regarding its upcoming Nord 2 5G mid-ranger is that it will be announced on July 22. The company’s CEO, Pete Lau, wrote in a forum post that it will be introduced later this month for users in Europe and India only, all but confirming that the US will once again miss out on the more exciting end of the Nord lineup.
So the pieces are starting to fall into place. We have the name, chipset, and launch date. We’ll no doubt get another morsel sometime in the next few days.
