Which is the best Mediatek Dimensity 1200 premium mid-ranger?
The premium mid-range segment has created a big confusion among the buyers as this segment consists of flagship smartphones like the iQOO 7, Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review) and now we have new smartphones like the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) and the POCO F3 GT (Review). So now the competition is very close between both the smartphones have a powerful Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset and come with 5G.
There are certain differences also. OnePlus Nord 2 made a huge statement this year with many upgrades in terms of cameras, performance and also runs the newer OxygenOS (the first smartphone to have the integration of ColorOS and OxygenOS). The POCO F3 GT is focused more on gamers with a gaming-centric design with those Maglev Triggers, a good display, and also mediocre cameras.
There is another option like the Realme X7 Max (Review) that has the same chipset as both of them and can be considered. So how does each smartphone stack up against one another in the premium mid-range segment and also come out on top? So should you go for the versatile and premium-looking OnePlus Nord 2 or the gaming-centric POCO F3 GT? Or else any other alternatives? Let’s find out in the full comparison.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Design:
In terms of design, both smartphones have very different design philosophies going for them. The OnePlus Nord 2 is more focused on a simple and premium-looking design with a glossy finish at the back whereas the POCO F3 GT has a matte finish with a gaming aesthetic design with RGB lighting around the camera module at back and along the sides, there are the Maglev Triggers for gaming capabilities.
The back of the OnePlus Nord 2 has a rectangular camera module inspired by the OnePlus 9 launched this year and here the camera bump is slightly protruding compared to that of the POCO F3 GT. Talking about the camera, the POCO F3 GT has a triple camera setup alongside a LED flashlight that looks like a lightning bolt, and this back also has some nice design lines running with the POCO logo.
Around the sides, both have a power button and volume buttons and POCO gets mechanical shoulder buttons called Maglev Triggers with indents around the sides whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 gets the OnePlus traditional alert slider to control notifications. The POCO F3 GT gets three microphones where one is located at the top, another at the bottom, and the third on the left side.
The bottom of both smartphones houses a USB Type-C port, a loudspeaker grille, a primary microphone, and a dual SIM card slot. There is neither support for a microSD card for storage expansion nor a 3.5mm headphone jack. However, the POCO F3 GT has a metallic frame around the sides which is premium compared to the plastic frame of the OnePlus Nord 2.
On the top, both get a secondary noise-canceling microphone but the POCO F3 GT gets the speaker grille on top which doubles up as a stereo speaker, and an IR Blaster to control various applications. The back of the POCO F3 GT has an IP53 rating which provides better water resistance compared to simple P2i coating on the OnePlus Nord 2.
The POCO F3 GT weighs around 207grams which is slightly higher considering the massive 5065mAh battery present compared to just 190grams weight on the OnePlus Nord 2. The POCO F3 GT is easier to grip and the back also does not catch many fingerprints. Overall, if you need the alert slider and simple look, then the OnePlus Nord 2 is better or else with a gaming design approach, the POCO F3 GT is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Display:
In terms of display, both the OnePlus Nord 2 and the POCO F3 GT provide an AMOLED display where OnePlus likes to call the Fluid AMOLED display, and on the other hand, POCO likes to call it a Turbo AMOLED display. Both these have Full HD+(1080×2400 pixels) displays with higher refresh rates which provide smooth scrolling and also multi-tasking.
The display on the POCO F3 GT is slightly larger at 6.67-inches compared to 6.43-inches on the OnePlus Nord 2. As both of them are AMOLED, the blues and blacks look deeper, and also the viewing angles are great. However, there was some green tint issue around the sides of the OnePlus Nord 2 which was not the case with the POCO F3 GT.
The OnePlus Nord 2 gets a 90Hz display compared to the 120Hz display on the POCO F3 GT. Both lack an Auto-Switch option and either you have to set at 90/120Hz on both or choose the standard 60Hz mode. There is a 180Hz touch sampling rate on the OnePlus Nord 2 whereas the POCO F3 GT gets a massive 480Hz touch sampling rate which means the touch responses are slightly better on the POCO F3 GT.
Both these displays have support for HDR10 and Widevine L1 so streaming HD content from OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime, etc. but the support for HDR content is not available on the OnePlus Nord 2 yet and the POCO F3 GT has it so maybe OnePlus will be fixing this issue through a future software update. In terms of color reproduction, the POCO F3 GT has the slightly better color saturation of the two.
In terms of color saturation, POCO F3 GT provides more color profiles which include – Auto, Saturated, Standard, and Advanced Settings where you can set the display to warmer or cooler tone whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 display can be set to Vivid or Gentle and also warmer or cooler tone when needed. In terms of peak brightness, the POCO F3 GT can go 1300nits compared to 800nits on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Though the POCO F3 GT has an AMOLED display, there is no room for an optical in-display fingerprint sensor as it gets a side-mounted one embedded on the power button which is faster compared to the optical in-display fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus Nord 2. Overall, with a slightly higher refresh rate, better brightness levels, and support for HDR, the POCO F3 GT is the better one.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Performance:
Both the OnePlus Nord 2 and the POCO F3 GT sport the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset which is the flagship chipset from Mediatek that is built on a 6nm process. This chipset has a tri-cluster setup that includes a 1×3.0GHz Cortex-A78 core with 3×2.6GHz Cortex-A78 cores and other 4×2.0GHz Cortex-A55 cores and is coupled with a Mali G77 MC9 GPU.
The OnePlus Nord 2 uses the AI technology in the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset which enhances the display by providing enhanced features such as AI Color Boss or the AI resolution boost and even in cameras, there is a larger use of AI for scene detection and also for videos. However, this would not make a difference much as the chipsets are the same.
In terms of daily performance, both feel smooth and can handle the heaviest tasks easily without any stutters or lags. Heavy games like Call Of Duty Mobile, BGMI, Asphalt 9 Legends, etc. ran smoothly on each of the smartphones but in BGMI, you cannot play HDR graphics with Extreme frame rate as the graphics go down to Smooth when Extrem frame rate is selected.
The POCO F3 GT provides a Game Turbo mode for enhanced gaming capabilities and also the 480Hz touch sampling rate helps with quicker responses and animations. However, still, the gameplay is better on the Snapdragon 870 powered smartphones like iQOO 7, Xiaomi Mi 11X as they can run the Extreme frame rate with HDR settings together and the temperature is well under control during gaming.
After a long time of gaming continuously for 3-4 hours, the back of the OnePlus Nord 2 did felt warmer a bit compared to the POCO F3 GT which heated up slightly thanks to the vapor chamber cooling system that does maintain peak temperature during gaming. Even in benchmarks such as Antutu v8 and Geekbench 5.1, the POCO F3 GT scored slightly higher compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
In terms of storage variants, the OnePlus Nord 2 is available in three variants- 6/8/12GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128/256GB storage whereas the POCO F3 GT is available in two variants – 6/8GB RAM with 128/245GB storage and both have faster UFS 3.1 speeds. Overall, the performance is equally good on both but POCO F3 GT has a slight edge in terms of gaming and benchmarks.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Software:
The POCO F3 GT runs on MIUI 12.5 with a POCO launcher whereas OnePlus Nord 2 runs on OxygenOS 11.3 which is ColorOS behind the scenes. Both have Android 11 out of the box and OnePlus made a big statement this year as it has integrated OxygenOS with ColorOS and this has brought several improvements but the look and feel are not so good.
The OxygenOS offers a superior software experience with no bloatware and the presence of third-party applications. There are no notifications and ads present whereas the POCO F3 GT does have some third-party applications present which can be uninstalled as the GetApps throws in a lot of notifications but since it is a POCO smartphone, you get less bloatware compared to MIUI on Xiaomi smartphones.
Both provide good amounts of customizations to icon shape and size, fonts, Always-On display, and much more. In terms of software updates, OnePlus provides two years of OS updates and three years of security updates but for the POCO we are not sure but still, you get two years of Android updates. So clearly, in terms of software experience, the OnePlus Nord 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Cameras:
Both have a triple camera setup where the POCO F3 GT has a 64MP f/1.65 Omnivision OV648 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MPf/2.4 macro camera. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a 50MP f/1.88 Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera which was seen on the ultrawide camera of the OnePlus 9 Pro, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MP monochrome sensor.
The front of the POCO F3 GT has a 16MP f/2.5 Sony IMX471 sensor whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 gets a 32MP f/2.4 Sony IMX615 sensor. OnePlus integration with ColorOS provides a whole new look to the camera application which is straight away from ColorOS. The POCO F3 GT gets a camera application from Xiaomi.
The main camera on the OnePlus Nord 2 has a better dynamic range and details look sharper compared to the POCO F3 GT. There is a lot of oversharpening in the images taken on the POCO F3 GT whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 has more natural colors and also the contrast is well maintained. The noise is quite prominent on the POCO F3 GT images and on the other hand, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a wider field of view.
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
At night, things change in the favor of the OnePlus Nord 2 as the Sony IMX766 sensor outshines the Omniviosn sensor on the POCO F3 GT. The images from the OnePlus Nord 2 have better details, dynamic range, and contrast compared to the POCO F3 GT. The POCO F3 GT has more noise in the images and there is a lot of oversharpening compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
With the dedicated Night Mode, things do change for the POCO F3 GT as it reduces noise to quite some margin and also improves the dynamic range but still with the dedicated Night Mode, the OnePlus Nord 2 does a far better job with no noise and good contrast. The POCO F3 GT still struggles from oversharpening and high contrast.
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
The 8MP ultrawide camera is similar on both smartphones but the details are better on the POCO F3 GT whereas the dynamic range and color saturation are better on the OnePlus Nord 2. There is noise on both images and have a 119-degree field of view but since there is a lot of noise present, the sides of both the images look distorted. But in terms of colors, the OnePlus Nord 2 has better natural colors.
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
(Credits: Guiding Tech)
At night, the images from both smartphones’ ultrawide cameras suffer from a large amount of noise and have poor dynamic range. There is a lot of oversharpening present on both and as result, the edge distortion is quite present on both. Though here the OnePlus Nord 2 gets a dedicated Night Mode for the ultrawide camera which is not present.
The 2MP monochrome camera on the OnePlus Nord 2 is just a black and white sensor for black and white images whereas the POCO F3 GT gets a 2MP macro camera which takes decent macro images with poor dynamic range and the colors also look washed out. The macro images from the OnePlus Nord 2 are just average from the ultrawide camera.
In terms of portraits, the OnePlus Nord 2 provides better edge detection, and also the background blur is well maintained whereas on the POCO F3 GT, the background blur is not so good due to the larger amount of oversharpening and the skin tones look very artificial. The dynamic range in portraits of the OnePlus Nord 2 is better than the POCO F3 GT.
In terms of selfies, the OnePlus Nord 2’s 32MP camera outperforms the POCO F3 GT’s 16MP camera in terms of dynamic range and also has a more natural skin tone going for it. The skin tones look more natural on the OnePlus Nord 2 and the noise is also lower compared to the POCO F3 GT. The POCO F3 GT, on the other hand, has a lot of oversharpening. The selfie portraits also come out better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Both smartphones can record 4K videos at 30fps which is great but OnePlus Nord 2 has OIS present which the POCO F3 GT lacks. The videos on the OnePlus Nord 2 have a better dynamic range and more natural color saturation compared to the POCO F3 GT. The videos on the POCO F3 GT have a lot of oversharpening and the videos do come out with more noise though EIS does a fair job.
The ultrawide camera does a good job in terms of dynamic range in videos but there is a lot of noise and oversharpening is present. However, both do get Ultra Stable Mode for video stabilization. On the front, the videos from the OnePlus Nord 2 have a wider field of view and the skin tones are natural compared to the POCO F3 GT, whereas on the POCO F3 GT, there is a lot of oversharpening and noise present.
Overall, the cameras are better on the OnePlus Nord 2 compared to the POCO F3 GT.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Battery Life:
The POCO F3 GT sports a larger 5065mAh battery compared to the 4500mAh battery on the OnePlus Nord 2. So with both smartphones set at their highest refresh rates 90 or 120Hz respectively, the POCO F3 GT lasted for around two days and more with normal usage whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 lasted a single day with some charge left.
With heavy usage, both smartphones easily lasted for a single day and the standard screen-on time was around 6-6.5 hours on the OnePlus Nord 2 whereas the standard screen-on time was around 7 hours on the POCO F3 GT. Both do offer battery optimizations with power-saving modes. But when it comes to charging, there is a different story.
The OnePlus Nord 2 ships with a 65W Warp charger that takes the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent within 40 minutes which is slightly faster compared to the 67W fast charger provided with the POCO F3 GT which takes around 55minutes from 0 to 100 percent. POCO does provide a slightly slower charging speed as they say it preserves the battery health in the long run in the future.
Overall, the battery life is slightly better on the POCO F3 GT but if you need faster-charging speeds, then the OnePlus Nord 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs POCO F3 GT Audio Quality:
Both the POCO F3 GT and the OnePlus Nord 2 have support for dual stereo speakers where the POCO F3 GT has a proper setup that includes speakers at the top as well as the bottom. The bass level is slightly better on the OnePlus Nord 2 but the overall sound experience is better on the POCO F3 GT. The OnePlus Nord 2 has support for Dolby Atmos for enhanced sound quality.
There is no 3.5mm headphone jack on each smartphone but POCO does provide a USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack converter inside the box. So here also POCO edges ahead of OnePlus Nord 2 and even for noise cancellation, there are three microphones.
Verdict:
Overall both are great premium mid-range smartphones and are very close in terms of performance as both sport the same Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset but here with a vapor cooling chamber, triple microphones, and Maglev Triggers, the gameplay is superior to the OnePlus Nord 2 and even in benchmarks, the POCO F3 GT scores higher than the OnePlus Nord 2.
When it comes to the build and design, it is personal preference whether you look the premium and more plain look of the OnePlus Nord 2 or the gaming-centric look of the POCO F3 GT which makes it unique but the POCO F3 GT does get the better build as it has an aluminum frame around the sides and the back has IP53 rating whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 feels lighter compared to the POCO F3 GT.
In terms of display, the POCO F3 GT is better as it gets a slightly higher refresh rate at 120Hz compared to 90Hz on the OnePlus Nord 2 and it also has a larger display with better brightness levels and this display supports 480Hz touch sampling rate thus providing faster inputs on the display. When it comes to software experience, OnePlus Nord 2 is clearly the better one with no ads and bloatware present.
The cameras are also better on the OnePlus Nord 2 with a superior main camera and a selfie camera compared to the POCO F3 GT and here the images and videos also come out better due to the presence of OIS also. The battery life is slightly better on the POCO F3 GT compared to the OnePlus Nord 2, but the latter one has faster-charging speeds.
So overall, if you want a smartphone that has a unique design with gaming-centric looks and if gaming is the highest priority, then the POCO F3 GT is clearly the one to go for. It also has an excellent display, better sound stereo speakers, and also better battery life of the two. But if you want a cleaner software experience, superior cameras, and also a premium design with good performance, then the OnePlus Nord 2 is the better choice.
However, other than these there are other alternatives like the Realme X7 Max that has the same Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset is slightly cheaper but that comes with a plastic back instead of glass and there is also the iQOO 7, Xiaomi Mi 11X, etc. that comes with some very good specifications and also have Snapdragon 870 chipset which is well optimized for gaming and performance.