Ai+ Nova 2 Ultra 5G Review: Sharp AMOLED, Dimensity 7400, and a New Brand Trying to Skip the Warm-Up

The Nova 2 Ultra is trying to build trust quickly by spending on the visible stuff first.

That strategy is obvious the moment you read the top half of the sheet. The phone does not look underpowered. It does not look cheap. In fact, a Dimensity 7400 plus a large AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and very high listed brightness gives the Nova 2 Ultra a more confident opening than many safer brands manage around Rs. 20,999.

This is exactly what a newer brand has to do if it wants attention. It has to make the product legible in one glance. The Nova 2 Ultra does that well. It sounds fast enough, looks bright enough, and carries enough headline value to stop people from dismissing it too early.

The problem is that this kind of first impression only works if the rest of the ownership story holds together. That is where the Nova 2 Ultra becomes more complicated. It has enough hardware ambition to get shortlisted, but not enough long-term reassurance yet to feel fully settled.

The core value proposition is actually coherent.

A lot of aggressive phones end up feeling random. This one does not. The 6000mAh battery, decent chipset, sharp AMOLED panel, Wi-Fi 6, and expandable storage create a phone that should feel broadly capable in normal use. That matters. It means the Nova 2 Ultra is not depending on one flashy component to cover for a weak overall structure.

The display is probably the strongest part of the whole proposition. A 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with this resolution and brightness claim should make the phone feel expensive faster than its brand name does. People notice that immediately. They notice scrolling smoothness, contrast, and visibility. For a newer player, that is a smart place to invest.

The chipset choice is also disciplined. Dimensity 7400 is not a gimmick. It gives the phone a legitimate performance floor for day-to-day use and keeps the Nova 2 Ultra from sounding like a spec-sheet bluff. That alone makes it easier to take seriously.

The weaknesses are not tiny, and they all land in places that affect trust.

The first is charging. 33W is not terrible, but it feels conservative next to how aggressively many rivals now treat charging in and around this range. With a 6000mAh battery, it is enough to work, but not enough to feel like a real competitive advantage.

The second is the camera and connectivity framing. A 50MP + 8MP rear camera without OIS and no NFC is not a deal-breaker, but it reduces how complete the phone feels. These are exactly the little things that make a newer brand work harder to earn trust.

The biggest issue, though, is software support. A listed promise of only 1 year of OS updates and 2 years of security support is weak for Rs. 20,999. Even if the hardware itself is respectable, the long-term ownership story looks lighter than it should.

This is a good fit for the buyer who wants hardware value first and is willing to accept a shorter safety net.

If your shopping style is simple, the Nova 2 Ultra will appeal. You want a good screen, enough performance, a large battery, and a phone that feels above-entry-level immediately. On those terms, it makes sense.

It makes less sense for buyers who care about long software life, camera stability, or broad ownership confidence. Those people usually do better with a device that gives away slightly less in the small print, even if the headline sheet is a touch less dramatic.

So the right conclusion is not that the Nova 2 Ultra is risky in some abstract way. The conclusion is that it is a sharper short-term hardware buy than a long-term comfort buy. That distinction matters.

The short version.