OnePlus Nord 2: The Next Chapter of The Brand’s Mid-Range Journey

Following the company’s announcement earlier this month, OnePlus has officially unveiled its new mid-range offering, the OnePlus Nord 2. At a glance, the new model does not look so different from its predecessor but once you go through at least its specs sheet, there are plenty of things that set them apart.

For starters, OnePlus has ditched Qualcomm Snapdragon for the new model which is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI processor. OnePlus and MediaTek apparently have worked together to boost the AI capability of this chip while it also offers 65% faster CPU performance and 125% better GPU performance.

OnePlus has also decided to use the faster UFS3.1-based storage for 5G-capable Nord 2 although the phone still comes with LPDDR4X memory. We doubt that it is noticeable to most people but the dimension of the Nord 2’s display is slightly different at 6.43-inch as compared to the 6.44-inch display on the original Nord but it still features a Full HD+ 90Hz Fluid AMOLED panel just like its predecessor.

When it comes to photography, OnePlus has once again roped in Sony’s hardware into the picture as the main camera inside Nord 2 which has been equipped with a 50MP IMX766 sensor that is also being accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide camera and 2MP mono lens. There is also another Sony sensor on the phone’s selfie camera in the form of the 32MP IMX615.

Completing the general specifications of the Nord 2 is a 4500mAh dual-cell battery that supports the company’s proprietary 65W Warp Charge technology. Through the tech, OnePlus claimed that the phone can be fully charged in just 30 minutes.

Pricewise, the OnePlus Nord 2 with 8GB/128GB setup goes for EUR399 (~RM1,988) in Europe while 12GB/256GB option costs EUR499 (~RM2,485). The price tag seemed rather hefty but we do expect the phone to be priced much lower in Malaysia although it is not yet known if OnePlus would bring it to our market anytime soon.

AMD To Reveal Mid-Range Radeon RX 6000 On 3 March; Shows Off Dual-Fan Radeon Cooler Shroud

Earlier today, AMD tweeted via its official Radeon RX account that it will be revealing the latest addition to its RDNA2-powered Radeon family on 3 March. More importantly, the tweet includes a 20-seconds render clip, showing off what is clearly a Radeon card equipped with a reference dual-fan cooler shroud.

As these things go, the dual-fan cooler is very likely a hint that AMD’s next graphics card will target the mainstream and mid-range market, meaning that the card could possibly be the long-rumoured RX 6700XT.

As a quick primer, previous reports indicated that AMD planned on releasing a graphics card that was less powerful than the 6800 series and 6900XT, equipped with a Navi 22 GPU. Additionally, the card is rumoured to ship out with 12GB GDDR6; 4GB less than what all current high-end Radeon RX 6000 series cards currently have. Not long after, the “official” logo of the RX 6700XT was leaked online, giving us an idea what we can expect. This was somewhat confirmed later by an EEC submission by Gigabyte that included no less than three variants of the card.

Unfortunately, the tweet doesn’t include any further details about the card’s performance, nor does it include any specifications. That said, we at least know that, because the card is made with AMD’s RDNA2 technology, we also know that the card’s GPU will be based on the company’s 7nm die lithography.

One additional takeaway that we think bears noticing is the ray-traced reflections at the bottom of the card, literally. To date, AMD has not mentioned anything new about the feature since it last released its Hangar 21 tech demo, and frankly, it does seem like a subtle hint that the company could also be gearing up to announce the availability of the feature on 3 March. So, fingers crossed on this.