The just-announced OnePlus Nord 2 has been confirmed to use the same performance throttling as was recently reported for the OnePlus 9. But the good news is OnePlus is working on a way for users to turn this off if they so wish.
Speaking to Android Police, OnePlus said that there would be "performance optimizations" on the OnePlus Nord 2 as well as the OnePlus 9R. However with Android 12, OnePlus promises it will allow users to pick between a new full-power mode and the existing optimized mode.
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This all started with the de-listing of the OnePlus 9 series from popular benchmarking app Geekbench, due to the discovery that the phones were throttling performance on many apps. OnePlus confirmed this was the case, saying that the throttling helped maintain battery life while keeping performance consistent across all units. However the idea of throttling didn't sit well with OnePlus power users, and was considered a form of "benchmark manipulation" by Geekbench's team.
It now sounds like that OnePlus has learned its lesson just in time for OxygenOS 12 (or ColorOS 12 if it starts using new parent company Oppo's software instead) by putting the choice into the hands of its users. It's a pity however that the company's latest phones will ship with throttling still enabled, and can't be altered until OnePlus sends out the Android 12 update, which may not happen until next year for some models.
During our own testing of the Nord 2, we found that performance seemed to be in line with what we expected from the Dimensity 1200-AI chipset. However that doesn't guarantee that the phone was using its full potential during our time using the phone.
The OnePlus 9 series, and specifically the OnePlus 9 Pro, produced some of the highest numbers we'd seen on our tests, thanks to its Snapdragon 888 chipset and up to 12GB RAM. However, we'll have to wait until its Android 12 update to see that performance fully unleashed on everyday apps.
