Rating: 3.5/5
oneplus It seems to have cornered the mid-range segment. Some time ago, the company struggled to capture the mid-range market, but the launch of the Nord series changed OnePlus’ fortunes. Fast forward to 2024, the company is going from strength to strength and Nord smartphones are selling like hotcakes. Why? OnePlus Nord series has made a splash. It gives users everything they ask for in a smartphone and that too at an affordable price. The Nord series has been a game-winner for those who don’t want to spend much but want their phone to remain relevant for at least 2 years. -3 years.
Taking a leaf out of its older generations, OnePlus launched the Nord CE 4 smartphone, which we think is a refined version of its predecessor. It gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC – probably the best one can get at this price range, a big 5,500mAh battery with 100W charging – a first for a Nord smartphone and a bunch of AI features.
OnePlus Nord Nord CE 4 was launched at a starting price of Rs 24,999 for the base model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, while the 8GB+256GB variant is available at Rs 26,999. We used the smartphone for some time and here’s what we think about it.
OnePlus Nord CE 4: Design and display
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G comes in two color options: Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome. We got the Celadon Marble color which offers a different design. When viewed in sufficient light and at the appropriate angle, the shade of seafoam green and white forms a marble-like wave pattern that sparkles to create a 3D effect.
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G has been further updated from the previous model, with a vertical pill-shaped camera housing the circular module. The design has been streamlined a bit as the elements (camera module and flash) are placed one below the other as opposed to more spread out on the previous generation model.
The volume and power buttons reside on the right side, and an IR blaster is also available to control electronics like the AC and TV. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G has a plastic back and flat edges but it feels comfortable to hold due to its thin profile (8.4 mm) and light weight (about 186 grams). Plastic is also less prone to smudges and fingerprints than a glass back. Add the shimmering wave design into the mix, it’s a nice package so to speak.
Talking about the display, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G sports a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1100 nits (900 nits in High Brightness mode). Minimal bezels contribute to the overall design and readability. Since it is an AMOLED display, it offers vivid colors and sharp visuals, making it ideal for watching videos or streaming movies.
Not only this, OnePlus Nord CE 4 has AquaTouch technology, which was launched in the OnePlus 12 series. This technology enables users to unlock their phones even if there is water on the screen or hands are wet. Furthermore, the smartphone gets IP54-rated for dust and water resistance, which essentially means it can withstand water splashes.
OnePlus Nord CE 4: Display and software
The OnePlus Nord CE4 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC, which is a brand new chipset that offers good power efficiency and is a good choice to go with in a mid-range smartphone. The chip is paired with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and offers up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. In layman’s terms, these numbers and specs indicate that the phone is capable of handling day-to-day tasks with ease and lets you do more than just scroll through social media and call/chat.
Although it is not a great smartphone when it comes to handling games, popular games like Call of Duty: Mobile can run smoothly with weak graphics settings. When used with the right settings, the OnePlus Nord CE4 delivers smooth gameplay with minimal heating, but pushing the phone beyond the limits doesn’t give it an edge over the competition. There was a slight lag and the performance score was limited.
While this doesn’t make the smartphone bad, it does provide a perspective on what one can expect from a mid-ranger like it. Unlike other performance-oriented smartphones that allow users to play games at high graphics settings, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 has distributed the chip’s power in other areas such as AI features. So unless you are playing high-end games like Asphalt Legends or popular games at their highest graphics, you are good to go.
Talking about software, the OnePlus Nord CE4 offers OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 out of the box. OnePlus promises 3 years of security updates and 2 years of Android updates. This means that your phone will be upgraded to Android 16 when it is released.
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 comes with relatively clean software with less pre-loaded apps compared to its Chinese counterparts. All these apps can either be uninstalled or disabled. It has lots of customization options and a Samsung-like file dock that allows us to quickly access important or frequently used apps/files.
OnePlus brought two features: Smart Cutout and Auto Pixelate 2.0. Smart Cutout can be used to quickly edit photos by selecting and customizing the cutout content. The AI-powered feature is claimed to provide advanced subject detection for more accurate cutouts.
Auto Pixelate 2.0 aims to automatically block sensitive information like numbers and contact details in screenshots. The user has to take a screenshot and press the ‘pixelate’ button. OnePlus Nord CE 4 will automatically recognize and pixelate important parts, saving you precious minutes before sharing it with others.
OnePlus Nord CE 4: Camera
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G now has a lesser number of cameras compared to its predecessor’s triple rear camera setup. It features a primary 50MP SonyLYT 600 sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS) support and an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor with an ultra wide-angle lens.
While some say it’s a step back from the OnePlus Nord CE 3, we felt it was a part of refining the overall experience as a ‘gimmick addition’ to the camera setup does hinder the experience in some ways. Both cameras are properly tuned to work in all lighting conditions, although they are not the best cameras you can get in a smartphone at this price range.
The primary camera, which we used the most, produces sharp, clear images with vibrant color reproduction when clicked in daylight. Photos in the shade also came out good with acceptable contrast and white balance. In shots taken at night, the sensor captures a good level of detail. However, we cannot appreciate the results that we got when we clicked pictures with too much light.
The 8MP ultra-wide angle is good for its price, but we noticed some color shift while clicking ultra-wide photos. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 doesn’t come with a telephoto lens but it does offer digital zoom (up to 20x), which is fine for documentation. Photos taken with more than 5x zoom were mostly unusable.
OnePlus Nord CE 4: Battery
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G gets a boost in terms of battery capacity and charging speed. The smartphone features a 5,500 mAh battery which is the largest battery ever on a Nord device and features 100W SuperVOOC charging, a first for the series.
We used the phone as our secondary device for about a day and a half and when we used it as our primary phone it lasted about a day.
The company claims that apart from a larger battery, superfast charging support and an efficient SoC, the phone also gets a Battery HealthEngine that keeps the Nord CE4 running by extending the charging cycles to support daily charging up to a maximum capacity of up to four years. Is.
OnePlus Nord CE 4: Verdict
The OnePlus Nord series has always ticked almost all the boxes since its launch in 2020. As of 2024, the OnePlus Nord CE4 is one of our top-rated mid-range phones with clean and practical features. The company has removed some “not useful” features like an extra camera to make the overall experience more streamlined.
A large 5,500mAh battery with 100W fast charging support, a powerful mid-range processor, a bright display, great cameras, and software support make it a good choice for those who want a reliable smartphone. It may seem that the OnePlus Nord CE 4 lacks the power of other performance-focused smartphones, but it makes up for it by offering other features like some AI tools. OnePlus Nord CE 4 competes with Poco X6 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+.
