Which is the better between the OnePlus Nord 2 and iQOO 7?
The premium mid-range segment has been popular in 2021 as most of the smartphone manufacturers made their focus on making a semi flagship smartphone at an affordable price. So brands like Xiaomi, Realme, Samsung, etc. had been quite successful in making such smartphones. Lately came OnePlus brought its most anticipated smartphone, the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review).
OnePlus Nord 2 has been quite popular since its launch as it brings a good build and design, a nice 90Hz AMOLED display, a powerful and flagship Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset and comes with a clean OxygenOS with no ads or bloatware. iQOO entered the smartphones segment with its 7 series that focus more on gaming and performance and also bring some flagship specifications.
The iQOO 7 brings a good build and design, a nice 120Hz AMOLED display, has a powerful Snapdragon 870 chipset, a good set of cameras, and much more. So is the iQOO 7 the perfect premium mid-ranger and can it make for a position for itself in this crowded premium mid-range segment or will the OnePlus Nord 2 be the one to choose from? Let’s find out in the full comparison.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Design:
In terms of design. both the iQOO 7 and the OnePlus Nord 2 have a premium glass design and look different. The OnePlus Nord 2 has a smooth matte finish at the back which does reflect when light strikes at different angles whereas the iQOO 7 has a frosted finish at the back and just below the camera module stays the iQOO branding. Both have a rectangular camera setup that houses the triple cameras.
The iQOO 7 is slightly heavier at 196grams compared to 189grams on the OnePlus Nord 2 so as a result, the OnePlus Nord 2 feels lighter of the two and is easier to hold in one hand. Both of them have P2i coating at the back and do not have any kind of water or dust resistance. In terms of protection, the OnePlus Nord 2 has Gorilla Glass 5 both at the front as well as back.
On the other hand, the iQOO 7 has Schott Xensation protection on the front whereas the back has AG Matte Glass which is almost equivalent to Gorilla Glass 5. To the sides, both smartphones have a plastic frame that houses the volume buttons with a power button but OnePlus Nord 2 gets an additional alert slider for volume profiles.
At the top, both have a secondary noise-canceling microphone and at the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a loudspeaker grill, a dual SIM card slot, and a primary microphone. Both lack a microSD card slot for storage expansion and a 3.5mm headphone jack though. On the front, both have a single punch-hole and have minimum bezels to the sides. Both smartphones appeal in terms of design and build.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Display:
Both the OnePlus Nord 2 and the iQOO 7 have AMOLED displays but there are certain differences. The iQOO 7 has a slightly larger display at 6.62-inches Full HD+ (1080×1920 pixels) Super AMOLED display compared to 6.43-inches Full HD+(1080×1920 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display. As both these displays are AMOLED, the color reproduction and viewing angles are great.
The color reproduction is good on the OnePlus Nord 2 but iQOO 7 has a slightly warmer tone and colors look more saturated on the iQOO 7 display. Both these displays have support for Widevine L1 so streaming HDR contents from Netflix, Prime, etc. will not be having any issue. The OnePlus Nord 2 cannot stream HDR on Netflix whereas iQOO 7 with a software update can now stream HDR on Netflix.
As both these displays are AMOLED, there is an optical in-display fingerprint scanner that is accurate and fast. Now talking about refresh rate which ensures smooth scrolling and multi-tasking, the iQOO 7 sports a 120Hz refresh rate whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 has a 90Hz refresh rate. However, there is not much difference between 90Hz and 120Hz when you compare side by side in daily usage.
However, the iQOO 7 gets a 300Hz touch sampling rate which means faster touch responses during games and multi-tasking and it can also go as high as 1000Hz as it has a dual-chip built inside that uses a feature called frame interpolation which also helps in better gameplay at higher frame rates.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has only a 180Hz touch sampling rate which works well in games and provides faster touch responses. In terms of brightness, the OnePlus Nord 2 can go as high as 633nits compared to the iQOO 7 which can go as high as 1300nits when viewing the content in HDR. Under direct sunlight, both displays are bright enough but the iQOO 7 has slightly better visibility compared to OnePlus Nord 2.
So clearly, in terms of display with better brightness and a higher refresh rate, the iQOO 7 is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Performance:
Both the OnePlus Nord 2 and the iQOO 7 are powered by the flagship chipsets from Mediatek and Qualcomm. The OnePlus Nord 2 is powered by the flagship Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset which is coupled with a Mali-G77 MC9 GPU whereas the iQOO 7 is powered by the Snapdragon 870 chipset which is a flagship chipset that sits just under the Snapdragon 888 chipset.
When it comes to daily tasks like web browsing, streaming social media, and using some applications, both smartphones can handle everything without breaking a sweat. The app opening/closing time is equivalent on both smartphones. However, when it comes to heavy tasks like video rendering, playing games, etc., the iQOO 7 clearly holds the edge as it is faster, and also the gameplay is slightly better.
In games like BGMI, Call Of Duty Mobile, etc. both smartphones could play easily at their highest graphics setting without any stutters. In BGMI, the OnePlus Nord 2 can play at an Ultra frame rate with HDR graphics or Smooth graphics with an Extreme frame rate. The iQOO 7 here also holds the edge as it runs at Ultra+HDR graphics with an Extreme frame rate as Snapdragon chipsets are better optimized for gaming.
After long hours of gaming, the back of both smartphones did feel slightly warmer but the temperature was well under control on the iQOO 7 and since it has a large stainless steel vapor cooling chamber, it dissipates heat much faster than the OnePlus Nord 2 which does not have any dedicated cooling system.
In the CPU throttling test, the iQOO 7 could maintain a good sustained performance compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
Both these chipsets support 5G and the OnePlus Nord 2 has around 7 bands of 5G compared to just one band on the iQOO 7 which makes the OnePlus Nord 2 slightly better future proof than the iQOO 7. In terms of carrier aggregation, OnePlus Nord 2 is better than the iQOO 7. Also, the haptics is better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
There is very little throttling on the iQOO 7 which clearly shows that the Snapdragon 870 is efficient compared to the Mediatek Dimensity 1220-AI chipset. In terms of benchmarks like Antutu v8, Geekbench 5.1, the iQOO 7 scores slightly higher than the OnePlus Nord 2. Both come with 8/12GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB/256GB storage which are of UFS 3.1 speeds.
When it comes to performance, definitely the iQOO 7 holds the edge but in terms of network connectivity and haptics, the OnePlus Nord 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Software:
When it comes to software, things did change for OnePlus quite a bit as they announced their merger with the parent company, Oppo so as a result with the OnePlus Nord 2 you are getting the OxygenOS which has ColorOS built underneath so as a result there are a lot of changes in the new OxygenOS but you still do not get ads or unnecessary applications and bloatware.
OxygenOS has always been known for providing a clean software experience and it continues to impress now also. It does come with a lot of customizations and features like FuntouchOS present on the iQOO 7. Now talking about FuntouchOS, it continues to improve with each update and provides almost close to Stock Android experience.
Both have Android 11 running out of the box on top of their respective skins. The iQOO 7 has quite an amount of bloatware present in the form of Hot Apps that include applications like Dailyhunt, Josh, Moj, MX Takatak, etc. which are simply not present on the OnePlus Nord 2 which only has the Netflix application pre-installed only.
On the iQOO 7, you get constant notifications which do hamper the software experience a bit. When it comes to software updates, both guarantee another two years of Android OS updates and three years of security patches. So overall, the software experience is better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Cameras:
In terms of cameras, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a 50MP f/1.9 Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MP monochrome camera with no macro camera. The iQOO 7 has a 48MP f/1.8 Sony IMX598 sensor for the main camera, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera. On the front, the iQOO 7 has a 16MP f/2.0 camera whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 gets a 32MP f/2.5 camera.
In terms of images from the main camera, the iQOO 7 takes images with more natural colors as there is no oversharpening taking place compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 which has more saturated colors. The dynamic range is good on both smartphones but iQOO 7 has better exposure and also has less noise in the background compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
At night, things do change a bit for the OnePlus Nord 2 as it has a better dynamic range and the details also look sharper compared to the iQOO 7. There is also less noise than the iQOO 7 but when it comes to natural colors, the iQOO 7 holds an edge over the OnePlus Nord 2 which has oversaturated colors in the images. The dedicated Night Mode works better on the OnePlus Nord 2 compared to the iQOO 7.
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
The iQOO 7 holds an edge in terms of the ultrawide camera as it gets a larger 13MP ultrawide camera compared to an 8MP one on the OnePlus Nord 2. As a result, the images from the ultrawide camera on the iQOO 7 come out with a wider field of view and much better-looking details with low noise when compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 which suffers from noise and edge distortion. It also has softer details.
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
At night, the images from the ultrawide camera come out better on the iQOO 7 though both have noise present in the background it is well controlled compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. Both have a dedicated night mode on the ultrawide camera and here also the dynamic range and level of details are better on the OnePlus Nord 2 which has much softer-looking details and more noise.
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
(Credits: Harshit Technical)
In terms of macro cameras, both smartphones lack a dedicated macro camera but iQOO 7 uses the ultrawide camera that doubles up as a macro camera that can go as close as 2cm closer to a subject resulting in good dynamic range, details look sharper and also the autofocus works well. The OnePlus Nord 2 uses the main camera for 2x zoom if you want a closer macro shot.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has a 2MP monochrome camera for black and white images and is also good for portraits. In terms of portraits, the iQOO 7 with a 2MP depth sensor does a better job in terms of edge detection and dynamic range but there is a certain bug in implementing the background blur which gets applied but not properly. The OnePlus Nord 2 has better background blur but skin tones look natural on the iQOO 7.
In terms of selfies, the OnePlus Nord 2 has a wider field of view with less noise in the background compared to the iQOO 7 but when it comes to the level of details, it looks sharper on the iQOO 7, and also the skin tones have a natural look compared to the iQOO 7 that has oversaturated colors. The portrait selfies come out better on the iQOO 7 in terms of color saturation and have less noise.
The videos come out better on the iQOO 7 as it supports 4K videos at 60fps whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 only supports 4K videos at 30fps only. The videos have a much better dynamic range and the colors look more natural on the iQOO 7 compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. Both have OIS present but OnePlus Nord 2 OIS provides better stabilization than the OIS present on the iQOO 7.
The 1080p videos at 60fps come out better on iQOO 7 with a better dynamic range and less noise compared to the OnePlus Nord 2. Both use EIS for the ultrawide camera videos but when it comes to the level of details look sharper and the dynamic range is better on the iQOO 7 compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 which has a lot of noise and dynamic range is just average in videos.
The selfie videos have a more natural look on the iQOO 7 with a slightly better dynamic range whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 has slightly saturated colors with some amount of noise. Both have EIS on the front camera but here OnePlus Nord 2 can record 4K videos from the front camera whereas the iQOO 7 can only record videos at 1080p.
So overall, the cameras are better on the iQOO 7, but in terms of low-light images, the OnePlus Nord 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Battery Life:
The OnePlus Nord 2 has a slightly larger battery capacity of 4500mAh compared to the 4400mAh battery on the iQOO 7. With both the displays set to their refresh rates, and with heavy usages like rendering videos, playing games like BGMI for around 4-5 hours, and all other tasks, both could easily last one day with the OnePlus Nord 2 having more battery left.
With normal usage and the display being to set to standard 60Hz, both could easily last two days and here also the OnePlus Nord 2 gets a better standard screen-on time of around 6-7 hours compared to 6-6.5 hours on the iQOO 7. The slightly better battery life achieved by the OnePlus Nord 2 over the iQOO 7 is achieved due to the battery optimization provided by OxygenOS which is slightly better than FunTouchOS.
In terms of charging, the OnePlus Nord 2 has support for 65W fast charging whereas iQOO 7 gets 66W fast charging. The iQOO 7 with the 66W fast charger takes around 30-35 minutes for a full charge from 0 to 100 percent whereas the OnePlus Nord 2 with the 65W fast charger takes around 40-45 minutes from 0 to 100 percent. So clearly, battery life is slightly better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
OnePlus Nord 2 vs iQOO 7 Audio Quality:
Both the OnePlus Nord 2 and the iQOO 7 have dual stereo speakers and here the OnePlus Nord 2 has the slightly better audio quality and the loudness is much better than the iQOO 7. The iQOO 7 has good audio quality but sometimes it sounds slightly shrill. Both have Dolby Atmos for enhanced sound profiles. Overall, the audio quality is better on the OnePlus Nord 2.
Verdict:
Overall, both these are great premium mid-range smartphones and do offer some very good specifications. There are a lot of similarities between both as they have high refresh rate AMOLED displays, a good build and design, good set of cameras and good battery life with support for faster charging. However, there are certain differences between both.
The OnePlus Nord 2 is an excellent package which brings a good build and design, 90Hz AMOLED display for media consumption, a clean software experience with no bloatware, a good audio experience and good battery life with support for 5G. The performance also feels great with the flagship Mediatek Dimensity 1200-AI chipset.
On the other hand, there is the iQOO 7 which brings in a good build and design, slightly better 120Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 870 chipset that supports 5G, good battery life with faster charging. If you compare both smartphones side by side, the iQOO 7 has a better display, slightly better performance with gaming capabilities and a better set of cameras compared to the OnePlus Nord 2.
The OnePlus Nord 2, on the other hand, is compact and lightweight of the two, provides a clean software experience with faster updates, a better audio experience, slightly better battery life, better network connectivity with support for multiple bands of 5G and has better low-light performance over the iQOO 7.
So if you want a smartphone that provides a great software experience with no ads or bloatware, is lightweight, has a great battery life and provides good performance, then go for OnePlus Nord 2. But if your priorities are gaming with performance, a better display for media consumption, cameras and good battery life and do not care regarding the bloatware present in user interface, then iQOO 7 is the one to go for.