The midrange smartphone segment in India is full of exciting offerings from OEMs across the board. Earlier this month, we reviewed the Nothing Phone (2a) which impressed us with its unique design and smooth OS. The new Nord CE4 from OnePlus is the closest competitor to the Phone (2a) in this price category. OnePlus has gone back to the drawing board with this one, making key changes to the design, processor, and battery. We used the smartphone as our daily driver for a week to investigate whether these changes were worth shelling out Rs 25,000 for. Here is our in-depth review of the OnePlus Nord CE4.
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In This Article
OnePlus Nord CE4 5G Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the OnePlus Nord CE4 retail box:
- Smartphone
- 100W power adapter
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- Plastic case
- SIM ejector
- Stickers
- Red Cable Club card
- Quick Guide
- Safety Guide
There are 2 colour variants on offer – Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome. The former rocks a marble-like finish on the polycarbonate back panel, something we’ve seen on flagship OnePlus smartphones before. The two cameras are housed inside individual cutouts in a two-step panel. The LED flash gets a cutout of its own and completes the traffic light layout of the array. We can’t help but notice its similarities with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series.
The plastic rails of the Nord CE4 house the volume rocker keys and side button on the right edge. The bottom rail accommodates the hybrid SIM tray, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and the primary speaker grille. Up top lie the secondary speaker, IR blaster, and secondary microphone. The left edge of the frame has been left keyless. As is the case with Nord CE smartphones, there is no alert slider to be found.
Moving on, OnePlus has retained the 6.7-inch Fluid AMOLED display on the Nord CE4. This display has a 120Hz refresh rate and supports HDR10+. It can reach a peak brightness of 1,100 nits while watching HDR content. The HBM brightness is capped at 900 nits. It is not the brightest display in this price range, but it gets the job done under direct sunlight. The touch response is quite satisfactory and the under-display fingerprint scanner is snappy. Being an ‘Aqua Touch’ display, you can use it with moist fingers.
Content-watching experience on the OnePlus Nord CE4 is top-notch as well. We used the smartphone to watch HD content across major OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar. The punchy colours, deep blacks, and balanced contrast elevated the overall experience. The stereo speakers produce a good audio output which doesn’t leave you scrambling to find your headphones every time you play a video.
The Nord CE4 is rated IP54 for dust and water resistance. This is a standard rating for smartphones in this segment. OnePlus also claims that this smartphone can survive a 1.5-metre drop on a marble surface.
OnePlus Nord CE4 5G Review: Performance and Cameras
OnePlus Nord CE4 rocks the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC under its hood. It is available in two storage variants – 128GB and 256GB. Both variants have an 8GB RAM. On the Geekbench 6 app, the smartphone scored 1,125 points in the single-core test and 2,889 points in the multi-core test. In comparison, the Phone (2a) scored 1,121 and 2,589 points respectively.
We were quite happy with the general performance of the OnePlus Nord CE4 during the review period. The device did not stutter once while loading an app and was able to handle multiple background tasks with ease. Being our daily driver, we were reliant on the smartphone for making calls, sending emails, browsing social media, and playing media daily. The lack of jitters and lags ensured a fluid and snappy experience while using the phone.
We played titles like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI on the Nord CE4 and were satisfied with the performance. While it is not a dedicated gaming smartphone, the Nord CE4 manages the internal temperature well and presents a seamless gaming experience at 60fps. However, we did notice the odd frame drop once the phone heated up after an hour of gaming.
Handling the OS duties on the OnePlus Nord CE4 is the Android 14-based Oxygen OS 14. There is some bloatware on this device, although not as much as Xiaomi/Poco and Vivo smartphones in this category. What we like about Oxygen OS is its vibrant aesthetic. The translucent background of the app drawer is another thing that adds to the OS’ unique aesthetic. You can also customise the app icons, quick setting tiles, fingerprint scanner, and other parts of the interface.
OnePlus is one of the few OEMs that offer an IR blaster on its midrange smartphones. The native IR blaster app works ridiculously well and lets you control your household appliances from your smartphone. This is quite an underrated feature and something that will always get brownie points from us. OnePlus is also ahead of the curve when it comes to privacy features like System Cloner, Private Safe, App Lock, and Hidden Folder.
OnePlus has promised only 2 major OS upgrades along with 3 years of security patches on this smartphone. Nothing less than 3 years of major OS support is disappointing even by midrange standards.
One of the biggest highlights of the Nord CE4 is its 5,500 mAh battery. This battery pack can easily power your smartphone for a day and a half. We used the OnePlus Nord CE4 for video calling, media playback, recording videos, browsing social media, and even a bit of gaming during the review period. If you’re more conservative with your usage, you can go two days without charging this phone. Using the 100W charger provided in the box, we were able to fully charge the smartphone in just under 40 minutes.
Let’s talk about the camera performance of the Nord CE4. The rear camera array comprises a 50MP primary shooter and an 8MP ultrawide lens. The IMX890 sensor on the primary camera has been replaced with the LYT-600 sensor. The ultrawide and selfie cameras remain the same. It is also nice to see OnePlus ditching the gimmicky 2MP macro sensor, but there is no option to take macro shots using the primary or ultrawide lens.
If you’re familiar with signature OnePlus shots, then you know what to expect on the Nord CE4. Pictures taken in daylight conditions have balanced colours and flaunt a good dynamic range. We like that the colours aren’t too boosted and the subject isn’t oversharpened. The only minor complaint we have is that the camera could have done a better job of exposing the sky. The Night Mode kicks in automatically in limited lighting conditions and does a good job of brightening the subject and reducing the noise in the images.
Images taken with the ultrawide lens are noticeably softer but it does a good job of replicating the colours produced by the primary shooter. We were satisfied with how this camera performed in limited lighting as well. The images have a fair bit of grain but the Night Mode does a good job of brightening the subject.
Portrait shots taken with the Nord CE4 are well-focussed. The smartphone does a good job of separating the subject from the background but the intensity of the blur effect leaves a lot more to be desired. The front-facing 16MP camera takes good selfies without messing with the skin tone and texture. This selfie camera can record 1080p videos at 30 fps while the primary camera can shoot 4K videos at the same frame rate.
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Verdict
The OnePlus Nord CE4 packs all the essential things you can demand from a smartphone in this price range. It has an attractive design, a gritty processor, a refined OS, decent cameras, and an amazing battery life. The 100W fast charging support is the best you can get in this segment. It is also one of the few smartphones to have an IR blaster. If you’re looking for a reliable smartphone for everyday use, you can’t go wrong with the Nord CE4.
OnePlus Nord CE4: Pros
- Nice design
- Amazing battery life
- 100W fast charging
- Decent cameras
- IR Blaster
OnePlus Nord CE4: Cons
- The front camera does not support 4K recording
- Will get only 2 major OS upgrades
