Can the Realme 9 Pro Plus take on the OnePlus Nord CE 2?
The premium mid-range segment has held a strong foothold with several offerings from manufacturers like Xiaomi, Realme, Samsung, and OnePlus. They offer the specifications almost close to a flagship and also are priced aggressively. As we all know Realme and OnePlus have been sub-brands of Oppo in the past but are two separate manufacturers of smartphones.
Realme 9 Pro Plus (Review) has been a very strong offering from Realme as it brings some very good specifications like a unique build and design, a 90Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Mediatek Dimensity 920 chipset, a triple camera setup that consists of the 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor with support for OIS has created a hype among all other smartphones in the premium mid-range segment.
OnePlus recently launched the second iteration of the Nord CE called the OnePlus Nord CE 2 (Review) which brings some very good specifications for a premium mid-range smartphone like a 90Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Mediatek Dimensity 900 chipset, a good triple camera setup, and much more at an attractive price.
So which is the better pick of the two between the OnePlus and Realme?
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Design:
Both the Realme 9 Pro Plus and the OnePlus Nord CE 2 have almost a similar look but the build quality is different on both. The Realme 9 Pro Plus has a glass back and if you consider the Sunrise Blue color, the back changes various colors when you tilt the smartphone at different angles if you consider other colors, they have a simple look but do shine.
The back of the Realme 9 Pro Plus has a smooth matte finish that does catch very less fingerprints and smudges. The OnePlus Nord CE 2 has a polycarbonate back and it does feel slightly cheaper compared to the glass back on the Realme 9 Pro Plus. The back is also very glossy and does catch fingerprints quite easily.
However, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 weighs around 173grams which makes it slightly lighter than the 182grams weight of the Realme 9 Pro Plus. Both do not have any official IP rating but do have P2i coating at the back. Both have a rectangular camera setup that consists of a triple camera setup with a LED flashlight.
To the sides, both the smartphones have a plastic frame that houses the power button and volume buttons but OnePlus Nord CE 2 misses out on the OnePlus signature alert slider which is slightly disappointing. At the bottom, both get a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a loudspeaker grill, and a primary microphone.
The Realme 9 Pro Plus has a dual SIM card slot located at the bottom without any microSD card slot for storage expansion whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 gets a triple card slot where you can have dual SIM cards and a dedicated slot of microSD card and it is located to the left just above the volume buttons. On the top, both have a secondary noise-canceling microphone.
On the front, both have a single punch hole display with minimum bezels to the sides but at the bottom the bezels on both smartphones are larger which is sort of disappointing on a premium mid-range smartphone. Overall, the build quality is better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 2.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Display:
Both the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and the Realme 9 Pro Plus have a 6.43-inches Full HD+(1080×1920 pixels) AMOLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of 20:9. As both these displays are AMOLED, the color reproduction and viewing angles are great but the panel on the Realme 9 Pro Plus has slightly better color reproduction.
Both have a 90Hz refresh rate which aids in smooth scrolling between applications, reading webpages, and playing games. However, the Realme 9 Pro Plus gets a 360Hz touch sampling rate whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has a 180Hz touch sampling rate both of which aid in faster touch inputs during gaming and multi-tasking.
In terms of display brightness, the display panel on the Realme 9 Pro Plus can achieve a peak brightness of 1000nits which is slightly higher than the 800nits of brightness on the OnePlus Nord CE 2. Both have different color modes – Vivid and Natural where Vivid brings out the punchier colors on the display which covers the DCI-P3 gamut.
Switching to the Natural mode brings out natural colors covering the sRGB scale. As these displays are AMOLED, both have an optical in-display fingerprint scanner which is accurate and fast. Both the displays have support for HDR10+ and Widevine L1 so streaming HDR contents on OTT platforms is a breeze but still both cannot stream HDR on Netflix and maybe this issue fixes with a future software update.
There is not much difference between both the displays but still with the slightly better touch sampling rate and brightness levels, the Realme 9 Pro Plus has a slight edge in terms of display.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Performance:
The Realme 9 Pro Plus houses the powerful Mediatek Dimensity 920 chipset which is also present in the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 900 chipset. Both these chipsets are almost similar except that the clock speed on the Mediatek Dimensity 920 chipset is at 2.5GHz compared to 2.4GHz on the MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset.
Both these have support for 5G. In terms of all the tasks like scrolling through webpages, playing games, and multitasking between applications, both smartphones could handle everything easily without breaking a sweat. In games like Call Of Duty, BGMI, etc. both ran smoothly without any frame drops and in BGMI both could manage the gameplay at Ultra frame rate with HD graphics.
After a longer period of gaming, both smartphones did feel slightly warmer at the back and since the Realme 9 Pro Plus gets a dedicated vapor cooling system, the heat dissipation is faster compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 2. In terms of CPU throttling tests, both smartphones could sustain the performance of around 80-90 percent which is good.
In terms of benchmarks, both scored equally good with the Realme 9 Pro Plus scoring slightly higher. The Realme 9 Pro Plus has support for 5 5G bands whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has support for 8 5G bands. Both smartphones have 6/8GB LPPDDR4X RAM with 128GB storage of UFS 2.2 speeds, but Realme 9 Pro Plus also gets an 8GB RAM with 256GB storage variant.
However, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has a microSD card slot for storage expansion which the Realme 9 Pro Plus does not have. Overall the performance and gaming are good on both, but the Realme 9 Pro Plus is slightly better in terms of benchmarks, but 5G support is better on the OnePlus Nord CE 2.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Software:
The Realme 9 Pro Plus runs on RealmeUI 3.0 based on Android 12 out of the box whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is running on OxygenOS 11 with Android 11 out of the box which is sort of disappointing as in 2022, the OnePlus is still providing Android 11 whereas other manufacturers are providing Android 12 out of the box. Both these user interfaces are almost the same as they are derived from Oppo’s ColorOS.
Both provide a lot of customizations to icon shape and size, different styles for the Always-On Display, wallpapers, and also fingerprint animations. However, there is a considerable amount of bloatware present in the form of third-party applications on the Realme 9 Pro Plus which can be uninstalled easily. OxygenOS always remains clean with no bloatware and it continues to provide a premium software experience.
Both have virtual RAM which can be used for enhanced multitasking between applications. In terms of software updates, both smartphones will get another two years of AndroidOS updates and three years of security patches, and here Realme 9 Pro Plus gets the advantage as it can be updated to Android 14 whereas OnePlus Nord CE 2 can be updated to Android 13 only.
So on an overall basis, if you want the latest AndroidOS and do not care about the bloatware, then the Realme 9 Pro Plus is better but if you want the premium software experience without any bloatware, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Cameras:
Both the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and the Realme 9 Pro Plus have a triple camera setup at the back. The Realme 9 Pro Plus has a 50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has a 64MP f/1.8 OmniVision sensor for the main camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 2MP macro camera.
Both have a 16MP f/2.4 camera on the front. The images from the main camera of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 come out with good details and the same goes for the Realme 9 Pro Plus also, but the latter one has better dynamic range and contrast. The images from the Realme 9 Pro Plus have less noise in the background and colors also look punchier compared to OnePlus Nord CE 2 which maintains a natural look.
At night, the images from both the main cameras come out with good details but the ones on the Realme 9 Pro Plus look slightly sharper and have less noise. The dynamic range is also better compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 2. The OnePlus Nord CE 2, on the other hand, tries to overexpose the background at times and there is plenty of noise also present.
With the dedicated night, mode turned on, the images from both the cameras come out with good details and dynamic range, and less noise but still the Realme 9 Pro Plus is better as it has OIS. The images from the ultrawide camera come out with a decent dynamic range and the details look good but are a tad softer with more noise in the background.
Both the ultrawide cameras have a 119-degree field of view but they do suffer from distortion around the edges. The images taken during the night from the ultrawide camera come out with a good dynamic range but do suffer from noise in the background. However, the colors look natural on the OnePlus Nord CE 2 compared to the Realme 9 Pro Plus though.
The 2MP macro camera on both smartphones comes out with decent details, washed-out colors, and a lot of noise in the background. In terms of portraits, the Realme 9 Pro Plus has better edge detection and details and also looks slightly sharper than the OnePlus Nord CE 2. The background blur is slightly better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus.
However, colors look more saturated on the Realme 9 Pro Plus whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 maintains a natural look. In terms of selfies, the images from the Realme 9 Pro Plus come out with a better dynamic range and details and also look sharper than the OnePlus Nord CE 2. Both come out with natural skin tones without any oversharpening but still, the noise is less on the Realme 9 Pro Plus.
The portrait selfies come out with good edge detection on both but selfies from Realme 9 Pro Plus have better edge detection and do not suffer from oversharpening like on the OnePlus Nord CE 2. In terms of videos, both can record 4K videos at 30fps, and videos from both smartphones come out with good details and dynamic range but still, videos on the Realme 9 Pro Plus have less noise and colors also look saturated.
During night, the videos on the Realme 9 Pro Plus have very less noise and have good stabilization as OIS is present which is missing on the OnePlus Nord CE 2. However, switching to 1080p at 60fps on both smartphones, EIS works well on both but still the videos come out slightly better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus.
The ultrawide camera on both cameras can record 1080p videos at 30fps and the videos come out with a decent dynamic range and details look slightly softer on both and there is a lot of noise present in the background. The selfie camera on the front takes 1080p videos at 30fps and the details come out sharper with less noise present but still, Realme 9 Pro Plus has better dynamic range and contrast.
Overall, the cameras are better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 2.
For full camera comparison click here.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Battery Life:
Both the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and the Realme 9 Pro Plus have a 4500mAh battery which can easily last for two days with normal usage with the display set to standard 60Hz and with heavy usage that includes heavy multi-tasking between applications, rendering videos, playing games like BGMI for 3-4 hours, streaming social media, etc. and display set to 90Hz, both smartphones can last for one single day.
The standard screen on time was around 7-8 hours on the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and around 6.5-7 hours on the Realme 9 Pro Plus. In terms of charging, the Realme 9 Pro Plus sports a 60W fast charger that can charge the smartphone from 0 to 100 percent within 50 minutes whereas the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has support for 65W fast charging and it takes around 40 minutes from 0 to 100 percent.
So with the slightly better battery life and faster charging, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is better.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 vs Realme 9 Pro Plus Audio Quality:
The one area where the Realme 9 Pro Plus clearly holds the edge is in terms of audio quality as you get a stereo speaker setup that sounds loud and richer compared to the single speaker on the OnePlus Nord CE 2. However, the single speaker on the OnePlus Nord CE 2 does have very good sound quality. Both get a 3.5mm headphone jack and the sound output through both of them is very good.
Verdict:
Both the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and the Realme 9 Pro Plus are very good premium mid-range smartphones and do provide some good specifications. There are a some similarities between both smartphones like both have a 90Hz AMOLED display, equally good chipsets, 4500mAh battery, almost the same user interface with some differences, and a triple camera setup.
But there are certain differences between both smartphones like the Realme 9 Pro Plus has a premium glass sandwich design compared to the polycarbonate back on the OnePlus Nord CE 2, though both have 90Hz AMOLED displays, the brightness levels and touch sampling rate is better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has support for more bands of 5G compared to that of the Realme 9 Pro Plus.
Though both smartphones run on almost the same user interface, the OxygenOS on the OnePlus Nord CE 2 provides a premium software experience without any bloatware compared to the RealmeUI on the Realme 9 Pro Plus that does come with bloatware which can be uninstalled. However, the cameras are better on the Realme 9 Pro Plus compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 2 both in terms of images and videos.
The battery life is slightly better on the OnePlus Nord CE 2, but when it comes to audio output, the Realme 9 Pro Plus is better. So if you want the better build and design, a good AMOLED display, powerful performance and gaming, good battery life, decent software experience and do not care about the bloatware, while cameras being the topmost priority, then the Realme 9 Pro Plus is the perfect buy.
But if you want a cleaner software experience without bloatware, a good AMOLED display, good performance, good battery life, and build and design with cameras are not your priorities, then the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is the one to go for. But on an overall basis, the Realme 9 Pro Plus is worth considering over the OnePlus Nord CE 2 making it the winner of the two.