That sound like a confounding of the type of noise reduction at each individual pixel (correlated double sampling or whatever) with the NR post-processing that involves spatial averaging and leads to some smearing of detail. Nothing in the modern active pixel CMOS approach inherently involves the "smearing" type of NR, and indeed the lower noise levels make such smearing NR less needed than with CCD sensors.
Actually, we don't know, do we? or maybe you do but I don't, I can only listen to my friends in the business.
But I will know with certainty in a few months when I start working with my own design's real raw sensor data.
If you have real raws (before firmware) please show them. Otherwise we will postpone the discussion.
Edmund