OnePlus Nord 4 Review

OnePlus Nord 4 is the corporate’s newest mid-range smartphone to debut in India, and the corporate has touted it as the primary 5G handset with an aluminium unibody design. The smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset with as much as 12GB of RAM. It incorporates a 50-megapixel major rear digicam and a 16-megapixel selfie digicam. The Nord-branded handset sports activities a 6.74-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh price. We have spent the previous few days testing the OnePlus Nord 4 to see the way it fares towards equally priced opponents.

Pricing for the OnePlus Nord 4 in India begins at Rs. 29,999 for the bottom configuration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage. The smartphone can be out there in 8GB+256GB and 12GB + 256GB reminiscence variants priced at Rs. 32,999 and Rs. 35,999, respectively.

• Dimensions: 162.6x75x8mm
• Weight: 199.5g
• Colors: Mercurial Silver, Oasis Inexperienced (on this overview), and Obsidian Midnight

The Nord 4 appears to be like and feels completely different in comparison with most different smartphones out there right this moment, together with its predecessor, the OnePlus Nord 3 (Review). It has been some time since I’ve seen a telephone with a physique that’s primarily made out of steel, and it jogs my memory of the great previous HTC One (M8) (Review). The rear panel has a delicate inexperienced shade and a digicam island with a clean glass-like end on the high, with a darker color background.

OnePlus Nord 4 is supplied with a twin rear digicam setup

On the left facet of the OnePlus Nord 4 is the corporate’s tri-state alert slider that permits you to change amongst three modes — ring, silent, and vibrate — and that is certainly one of my favorite options on the smartphone. The quantity and energy buttons are each situated on the appropriate facet. The corporate has additionally positioned two antenna strains on all 4 edges of the handset.

OnePlus Nord 4 has an IP54 ranking for mud and splash resistance

There’s an infrared (IR) transmitter situated on the high fringe of the Nord 4, together with a microphone. On the underside, the telephone has a USB Sort-C port for charging and knowledge transfers, together with a speaker grille and a microphone. The telephone ships with a charging brick, a USB Sort-A to USB Sort-C and a translucent TPU cowl.

OnePlus Nord 4 Software program: Not so premium

• Software program: OxygenOS 14.1
• Model: Android 14
• Newest safety patch: July 5, 2024

OxygenOS 14.1 ran easily on the OnePlus Nord 4, even when the telephone was put via its paces. In the course of the setup course of, the corporate prompts you to allow sure options, together with one known as Lock Display Journal that randomly updates your lock display picture — it stored changing my lock display photograph, and I could not discover a technique to stop it from showing after I swiped to the left on the lock display.

The telephone affords some software program options which can be powered by synthetic intelligence (AI). One such instance is the AI Eraser choice within the Gallery app that means that you can do away with folks and different objects from pictures after downloading a 90MB plugin. It labored considerably reliably when examined with pictures clicked utilizing the smartphone’s digicam, however solely when the pictures had sufficient element.

The recorder app additionally affords the flexibility to mechanically summarise recordings, however there’s an unspecified minimal size required — I examined it with a 20-minute audio recording in English, and it recognised most phrases spoken with a impartial accent. You may as well use inbuilt options that assist you to extract textual content from pictures or carry out translations, which is useful.

OnePlus Nord 4 helps AI-powered textual content extraction and object eraser options (faucet to increase)

 

In the meantime, the telephone ships with a handful of preinstalled apps and video games, together with Agoda, Bubble Pop, Fitbit, Tile Match, and Phrase Join. These are the identical apps included on the cheaper OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite (Review), and it is a bit of disappointing to see them on a telephone costing round Rs. 30,000.

One other utility (App Picks) mechanically downloaded a sport known as Fireplace at Will, claiming that I had pre-ordered it on Could 23. This various app retailer additionally sends out a few notifications about apps per day — these might be turned off by long-pressing the icon and disabling the app.

On the brilliant facet, OnePlus says that the Nord 4 will obtain 4 Android OS updates and 6 years of safety updates. This implies the handset will obtain the identical variety of Android OS updates because the Samsung Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 (Review), which at the moment provide the longest help window within the midrange section.

OnePlus Nord 4 Efficiency: Meets expectations

• Processor: Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3
• Reminiscence: As much as 12GB (LPDDR5X)
• Storage: As much as 512GB (UFS 4.0)

OnePlus has geared up the Nord 4 with the primary Snapdragon 7-series chip to function on-device AI capabilities, which powers the beforehand talked about AI options on the handset. The corporate despatched us the 8GB+256GB configuration for this overview.

Operating on the top-end chipset within the Snapdragon 7-series, the OnePlus Nord 4 can deal with heavy-duty duties like enhancing a 4K video in InShot and exporting it to the telephone’s inbuilt storage, or easy day-to-day actions like shopping the net on Chrome, scrolling via Instagram and X (previously Twitter).

The telephone can even run graphics-intensive video games like Genshin Impact with no points — the sport defaulted to medium graphics settings on this handset, however it runs fantastic even when taking part in it on a better setting. The aluminium rear panel received barely heat after about 5 minutes of taking part in, however there was no lag or stutter even after the one-hour mark.

OnePlus Nord 4 benchmark check consequence (faucet to increase)

 

The OnePlus Nord 4 achieved decrease CPU benchmark scores than its closest competitor, the Realme GT 6T, additionally geared up with a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. The latter scored practically in addition to the Poco F6, geared up with a extra succesful processor.

The Nord 4 did not lag in graphics benchmark assessments, nevertheless. It is also value maintaining in thoughts that artificial benchmark assessments will not be a transparent indicator of real-world efficiency, which additionally relies on software program optimisation. The benchmark scores within the desk beneath present how the Nord 4 fared towards different equally priced smartphones.

There is a 6.74-inch Full-HD+ (1,240 x 2,772 pixels) AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh price and 450ppi pixel density on the OnePlus Nord 4, and the corporate claims that the telephone helps a peak brightness of two,150 nits. In day-to-day use, the show is brilliant sufficient for outside use and will get fairly dim at evening.

The show on the OnePlus Nord 4 is brilliant sufficient for outside use when automated brightness is enabled

 

Just like the flagship OnePlus 12 and different handsets just like the Realme GT 6 (Review), the Nord 4 has a “ProXDR” function that mechanically adjusts the brightness and distinction ranges when viewing pictures on the telephone. The function might be deceptive, because the telephone shares the unique footage through Fast Share or when importing them to social media — what you see in your telephone might seem completely different to others on-line. Fortunately, there is a technique to fully disable it through the Pictures app.

OnePlus Nord 4 Cameras: Principally dependable

• Important digicam: 50-megapixel (OIS, EIS), as much as 4K/ 60fps video
• Extremely-wide angle digicam: 8-megapixel, as much as 1080p/30fps video
• Selfie digicam: 16-megapixel, as much as 1080p/30fps video

When capturing pictures in the course of the daytime utilizing the first digicam on the OnePlus Nord 4, you get clear pictures with a whole lot of element, even while you zoom in on pictures in your gallery. The first Sony LYT-600 sensor affords 2x in-sensor zoom help, and pictures captured at this focal size are additionally clear and detailed.

The first digicam on the OnePlus Nord 4 captures detailed pictures in the course of the day (faucet to increase)

The ultra-wide angle digicam on the Nord 4 does not provide the identical color accuracy (faucet to increase)

 

The ultra-wide angle digicam on the Nord 4 has a lower-resolution sensor, which delivers usable pictures in the course of the day, however they don’t provide the identical color accuracy as the first digicam, and there is additionally a little bit of distortion across the edges.

In low-light situations, the first and secondary cameras each do a great job lighting up darkish situations. Nevertheless, there is a huge hole in picture high quality between the 2 — the first digicam delivers sharper pictures, whereas there’s a whole lot of smoothening in pictures captured with the ultra-wide angle digicam. The digicam app mechanically takes a protracted publicity shot when it is darkish outdoors, and it takes 2-3 seconds to seize a picture — there isn’t any technique to disable this.

In low-light situations, the first digicam captures extra element with much less softening (faucet to increase)

 

The selfie digicam can seize clear pictures while you’re outside in the course of the day and in well-lit areas indoors. It struggles a bit of in dimly lit areas however nonetheless captures sufficient element. In the meantime, the display is used as a flash in very darkish situations with first rate outcomes should you keep nonetheless for sufficient time.

You possibly can file video at as much as 4K/60fps utilizing the first digicam, however it’s value noting that picture stabilisation for movies is just supported at 1080p/ 60fps — you possibly can’t even choose 1080p/30fps or a decrease decision. There is not any stabilisation help on the ultra-wide angle digicam or the selfie digicam, which each file movies at as much as 1080p/ 30fps.

OnePlus Nord 4 Battery: Reliable

• Battery Capability: 5,500mAh (Twin-cell)
• Wired Charging: 100W SuperVOOC
• Charger: 100W (Included)

Powering the OnePlus Nord 4 is a 5,500mAh battery, which affords dependable day-to-day use and a gradual standby drain. I received about six and a half hours of display time on a single cost, and the telephone lasted a few day and a half earlier than it needed to be charged once more. In a single day battery drain can be fairly low, with the telephone’s battery degree dropping by 2 p.c over an eight-hour interval.

OnePlus Nord 4 provided greater than a day of battery backup on a single cost with average utilization

 

In our HD video battery loop check, the telephone lasted for 18 hours and quarter-hour. The included 100W charging brick took 33 minutes to totally cost the dual-cell battery on the OnePlus Nord 4, which didn’t get too scorching in the course of the charging course of.

Realme GT 6 Evaluation: Verdict

Regardless of just a few drawbacks, the Oneplus Nord 4 affords a whole lot of worth for a smartphone priced underneath Rs. 30,000. It delivers dependable day-to-day efficiency, quick battery charging, a great major digicam, and a perfect software program help window. The marginally much less spectacular ultra-wide angle digicam and undesirable software program on the smartphone are the one issues holding it again, and a type of might be resolved by uninstalling or disabling the apps in query.

Whereas the Nord 4 is certainly value your consideration, different telephones in the identical value section that additionally provide good worth embrace the Realme GT 6T and the Poco F6 (Review). Each these telephones provide efficiency that’s on par with the OnePlus Nord 4, however the latter’s digicam efficiency leaves a bit of to be desired, as we present in our overview of the handset.

You may as well take into account the Samsung Galaxy A35 (Review), which is not as quick in artificial benchmarks however affords good day-to-day efficiency and will get 4 Android OS updates. In case your focus is totally on digicam efficiency, it’s also possible to take into account the older Pixel 7a (Review) from Google that sometimes drops to the Rs.30,000 mark on Flipkart.