OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite, and, after much anticipation, the OnePlus Nord 4 has also arrived in the Indian market. It’s a new mid-range phone that features the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset, which has only been seen on the realme GT 6T (review) until now.
Now, that begs the question, can the OnePlus Nord 4 provide tough competition to the realme GT 6T or the Nothing Phone 2, both available at the same price point of INR 30,000? Let’s find out in this review. I have been using this phone for the last few days, and here’s my review of the OnePlus Nord 4.
OnePlus Nord 4 Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good display
- Excellent Performance
- Good thermals for a metal phone
- AI features
- 4 + 6 software updates
- Good battery life
- Fast charging speed
Cons
- Mediocre camera performance
- Pre-installed apps
- Only 1080p from the front camera
OnePlus Nord 4 5G Review: Design and Build
The OnePlus Nord 4 comes in three color variants—Obsidian Midnight, Mercurial Silver, and Oasis Green. We got our hands on the Oasis Green version. Each color has a unique texture: the Obsidian Midnight has a sleek brushed gunmetal design, the Mercurial Silver has a distinctive texture with curved lines, and the Oasis Green features a trendy dual-tone finish.
You can see that this green variant has glass on the top, which houses two camera rings. Meanwhile, the lower part features a dual-tone matte finish, making smudges less noticeable.
Moreover, the company opted for a metal unibody design, meaning the rear panel seamlessly blends into the frame. However, with the flat display and lack of curved edges, one-handed operation can be tricky, and the back can be a bit slippery. Nevertheless, these minor issues can be easily fixed with a backcase.
The two camera sensors have been placed horizontally in the glass section on the rear panel, accompanied by two flashlights right next to them and the antenna on the sides. Additionally, the OnePlus logo sits in the middle of the panel.
On the right side, you’ll find the power button and volume rocker, while the iconic OnePlus Alert Slider sits on the top left—a feature beloved by many. The bottom houses a dual nano-SIM card slot, a primary microphone, a Type-C port, and a speaker. On the top, there’s another speaker, an IR blaster, and a secondary microphone.
Moving on, the phone features a 6.74” flat OLED panel with a punch-hole cutout at the top. At the bottom of the screen, there’s a fingerprint sensor that unlocks the phone swiftly, although I would have liked the positioning to be slightly higher up on the screen.
The OnePlus Nord 4 tips the scale at 199.5 grams. While it may not be the lightest device out there, it does feel pretty lightweight in the hand, mostly thanks to the excellent weight distribution. And yes, the metal build of the phone makes it feel really premium.
Overall, the phone’s design is solid and very premium. It does feel really nice in the hand, but the flat edges and the sheer size of the phone (almost all phones are this size) do sometimes necessitate using two hands.
OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Display
Unlike what others have been saying, the display of the Nord 4 is impressive. Its 6.74-inch screen boasts a 1.5K resolution (2772 × 1240 pixels). Since this is an AMOLED panel, colors appear vivid and vibrant with excellent contrast. It excels in rendering sharp details in HDR videos, with highlights standing out effectively. However, it does struggle slightly with black and green hues.
The Nord 4 offers a total of four color profiles—Vivid, Natural, and two “Pro” modes that include Brilliant and Cinematic. Among these, the Natural mode tends to be easier on the eyes and also looks better (to me, personally). Additionally, it supports a 120 Hz refresh rate, which ensures a smooth display experience, although it switches to 60 Hz during gaming.
The screen boasts a brightness of up to 2150 Nits according to official claims, as per our reading on the lux meter it hovers around 1000nits, which makes it decently visible even in bright sunlight. However, its reflective nature sometimes makes bright light noticeable on the screen. All in all, you’ll face no issues with brightness on the Nord 4. The Nord 4 display can handle HDR10+ and Widevine L1, but it’s a bummer that Netflix and Prime Video don’t support HDR yet.
OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Cameras
The OnePlus Nord 4 comes equipped with a 50 MP Sony LYT600 1/1.95” main sensor and an 8 MP ultra-wide 1/1.4” IMX 355 with a FOV of 112°. For selfies, it boasts a 16 MP front-facing camera.
- Main camera: 50 MP Sony LYT600, OIS, 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps, 10800 30fps
- Ultra-wide: 8 MP IMX 355, 112° FOV, 1080p 30fps
- Front camera: 16 MP, 1080p 30fps
Now, in daylight, the main camera does perform well, delivering stable shots with accurate colors and decent dynamic range. However, as the environment gets darker (low light), the camera starts to show off its weakness. Low-light shots are not bad, per se, but zooming in even a bit will reveal all the noise and other issues with the image.
Take a look at the shots below, and you’ll instantly notice that the details are lacking and there is noticeable color distortion. Despite this, the dynamic range remains commendable—there are enough details in the shadows without overexposing the highlights.
On the other hand, photos taken with the ultra-wide sensor show average detail, but there’s a noticeable color shift when compared to the main lens. You can notice the high contrast in the photo below, where the grass appears much greener than it actually is. Basically speaking, images from the ultra-wide lens are a bit more saturated.
The 16 MP front camera performs well, delivering good social media-worthy photos, though the details can be slightly soft. While the default mode does not apply any crazy filters, you can retouch your selfies using filters like Retouch Skin Tone, Cheek, and Teeth if you are into that.
The OnePlus Nord 4 can record videos in 4K at 60fps, and you can capture slow-motion videos at 1080p with 120fps. The front camera, however, is limited to 1080p at 30fps. Additionally, the phone offers portrait video mode and ultra-wide shooting mode, both supporting 1080p resolution. If you have shaky hands, the Nord 4 comes with EIS and OIS support to stabilize your videos.
Overall, the primary sensor captures good photos, but the ultra-wide camera and selfie sensor are average. It’s suitable for casual social media photography, but if you prioritize smartphone photography, you might want to consider other options like the vivo V30 or the HONOR 200.
OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Software and Performance
It’s evident that, with the Nord 4, OnePlus is betting more on the performance than anything else. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 SoC. It’s the successor to the 7+ Gen 2 and has a similar raw performance to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. Accompanying the 7+ Gen 3 on the Nord 4 are 8 GB/ 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 or 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
With the new 7+ Gen 3, the Nord 4 handles any task with ease. I’ve done extensive multitasking and daily tasks, and it runs quite smoothly. However, it should be noted that the device gets warm when pushed hard.
As for gaming, games like Asphalt 9 ran smoothly without lag, even after half an hour of gameplay. After this gaming session, its battery usage was minimal, and there were no issues with overheating or excessive battery drain. Yes, the device did get warm, but the 17,000 mm² cooling system is doing an excellent job here.
We can confidently say that this is a good gaming phone. Plus, we ran a few benchmarks so that you have an idea of what the Nord 4 is capable of.
In 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme, the Nord 4 scored an impressive 3055 with an average frame rate of 18.3fps. In the AnTuTu benchmark, the Nord 4 scored 1,077,497, which is quite low for a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3.
Software
The OnePlus Nord 4 runs on OxygenOS 14.1, based on Android 14. My experience with it was smooth and easy, especially since I was already familiar with OnePlus phones. Even if you are coming from another operating system, the interface is quite easy to adapt to. While it does come with some pre-installed apps, you can uninstall them all if you prefer.
At this point, it’s a known fact that OxygenOS 14.1 is quite similar to OPPO’s ColorOS. Therefore, you’ll find the File Dock feature here too, allowing you to easily save documents, photos, texts, and more, and share them across different apps.
There are also the AI features of ColorOS here. These features include AI Speak, AI Summary, and AI Eraser in the camera app.
The AI Speak feature can read aloud in English as well as some other languages, including Hindi. While it does read out the entire article pretty well, it also does read advertisements and links to other articles, which feels a bit odd.
The AI Summary feature is pretty handy too, as it extracts the main points of any news and presents them in a concise format. The AI eraser can remove unwanted objects and people from your images to make them cleaner.
OnePlus has promised four years of major OS updates and six years of security updates on the OnePlus Nord 4. This means that you will get OS updates until Android 18 (2028) and security updates until 2031.
OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Battery and Charging
The OnePlus Nord 4 packs a beefier 5,500 mAh battery with 100W fast charging, a notable upgrade from the Nord 3’s 5000 mAh battery and 80W fast charging. Its main rival, the realme GT 6T, matches the Nord 4’s battery capacity but edges out with faster 120W charging.
Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone 2 trails with only 45W fast charging. However, it compensates with wireless charging support, a feature absent in the Nord 4 at this price point.
The OnePlus Nord 4’s battery life is impressive, delivering 7-8 hours of screen-on time with moderate usage. Charging is also swift—I went from 42% to 72% in just 10 minutes. So, you can expect a full charge in about 45 minutes.
Should You Buy the OnePlus Nord 4 5G?
Smartprix Rating: 7.9/10
Design:
Display:
Cameras:
Performance:
Software
Battery and Charging:
8/10
7.8/10
7/10
8/10
7.8/10
8.2/10
The OnePlus Nord 4, priced at INR 29,999, is a solid value. Its all-metal unibody design is unique, making it a standout if you’re set on a metal phone. Performance-wise, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 offers impressive power for the price, and the thermals are well-managed thanks to the 17,000mm² vapor cooling system.
The cameras on the OnePlus Nord 4 are decent but not exceptional. However, if you’re after a phone with a great display, solid performance, a unique design, AI features, and six years of updates, this is a good pick.
If top-notch camera quality or even better performance is what you seek, consider alternatives like the POCO F6 (review) or iQOO Neo9 Pro (review) for performance, and the vivo V30 (review), HONOR 200, or Motorola Edge 50 Pro (comparision) for superior cameras.
First reviewed in July 2024.
