The new Nord 4 by OnePlus was just released in the mid-range segment. For the price range, this mobile has pretty nice hardware. One of the device’s best features is its design along with a better OS update cycle, a larger battery, and a quick charging time. Therefore, considering the hardware it delivers, this is a rather nice package. However, in terms of experience, does it truly end up being a decent package? Let’s find out in this detailed OnePlus Nord 4 review.

OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Design and Display

The retail box ships the following:

• The phone itself
• A charging brick
• A USB Type-A to USB Type-C Red Cable
• A translucent TPU cover
• Quick Start Guide
• SIM tool

Right off the bat, the OnePlus Nord 4’s design has wowed us. Simply put, the phone’s metal design is gorgeous. It has been a very long time since we have seen or used a metal phone in this price bracket, and now that we have, it feels so nice. It is just a premium mobile handset. 

Alright, so the Nord 4 has an all-metal unibody design, which implies that the back panel and frame are seamlessly integrated into a single piece of aluminium metal. The smartphone is incredibly smooth to the touch and hold. 

The device has a rear panel with a dual-tone design; however, the company offers three distinct designs that they refer to as Nordtones. We were sent the special edition Oasis Green colour variant to review. This striking two-tone colour scheme is sure to draw your attention because of its vivid appearance.

Obsidian Midnight and Mercurial Silver are the other two shades. We thought the latter one, with its dual-pattern design and 2D laser-etched design moulded from more than 28,000 nano-laser cuts, was the most beautiful.

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The green version features bevelled edges in addition to flat sides and a fully flat back surface. With a revised camera arrangement, all three finishes highlight the new design language. OnePlus Nord 4  features two horizontally aligned cameras with LED flash modules positioned on the same plane but at a distance. The camera island has a smooth, glass-like glossy texture, whereas the lower half has a pastel-green appearance.

In addition, the manufacturer added two antenna lines on all four edges of the handset to ensure that the signal is not compromised. Earlier phones, in 3G and 4G brackets, had lower signal requirements; thus, using metal was pointless due to signal loss. Now that 5G is available, there is a greater demand for improved signals.

On the left side of the frame, a three-stage alert slider switch is also present, carrying over from its inclusion in premium (non-CE) Nord smartphones. It offers three modes: ring, silent, and vibrate. The controls for power and volume are located on the right side. A microphone and an infrared (IR) transmitter are positioned at the upper edge of the Nord 4. The phone features a USB Type-C connector and a speaker grille and microphone at the bottom.

Additionally, the buttons on the sides provide excellent tactile feedback. Over that, the bezels are kept very slim. 

A 6.74-inch Super Fluid AMOLED screen with support for Ultra HDR and a pixel resolution of 2,772 x 1,240 pixels is available on the OnePlus Nord 4. The display is incredibly bright for this price range, supporting a peak brightness of 2,150 nits and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. With the help of AquaTouch technology, you can use your phone even if the screen is wet.

Additionally, ProXDR technology (which debuted on the OnePlus 12 Series) is present in the display. Its task is to analyse the photos and videos in your gallery and make the necessary brightness and clarity adjustments to present them in the best possible light in any setting you choose. 

However, the fingerprint scanner situated at the bottom would certainly work better if it were positioned a little higher. The screen has excellent haptic feedback. Additionally, this has really good touch responsiveness. The display appears to be of good quality overall; the colours are vibrant. The multimedia experience seemed rather good, too. The hues are vibrant in 4K videos, so you’ll love watching OTT and YT shows on this one.

The screen looks excellent even in bright daylight. This phone has improved audio quality as well, and we enjoyed watching movies and series on it a lot. But we think there’s still room for audio quality enhancement, especially in the bass and treble departments. But coming to think of it, you won’t likely have many issues if you’re not an audiophile.

Also Read: OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Review: Can it hang with the best in its category?

OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Performance and Cameras

On to the performance. Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 CPU, coupled with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage, powers the OnePlus Nord 4. The phone will come with 256GB or 512GB of storage and 8, 12, or 16GB of RAM.
The mid-range chipset, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, is incredibly potent. In terms of the performance experience, this has been excellent. 

We are particularly impressed with OnePlus’s attention to detail. For example, there is soft vibration feedback that generates a unique sensation when you browse through the multitasking tiles. Everything seems to work well, and typing is precise enough.

All of us are aware of how well metal conducts heat. It is therefore reasonable to anticipate a heating problem, even during long gaming sessions like Asphalt. The smartphone, for instance, becomes rather hot after a half hour of gaming, but because of its metal construction, it cools down fast, too. During our tests, all of the games worked fine; the screen warmed up naturally, but there was no throttling while playing. The frame rates were constant as well.

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The phone runs Android 14, topped with OxygenOS 14.1. The Nord 4 will receive four years of Android upgrades and six years of security patch updates, according to OnePlus. Guaranteeing that the phone will be compatible with Android releases up to Android 18. Given that you are gaining almost five years of updates with software on average, this is undoubtedly one of its strongest features. So that’s one good thing.

Except for a few bundled pre-installed apps that should have been avoided, the software experience on this OnePlus Phone continues to be the same. Overall, it is a rather clean experience. Nevertheless, you can tidy up the UI and eliminate these applications by uninstalling them. Aside from that, you have all the usual option playthroughs and animations, which elevate the software experience to a whole new level. 

Overall, the user experience is good. The way apps expand when you open and close them, the quality of the animations, and the fact that there haven’t been any problems with widget scaling thus far, all work for OnePlus.

In addition, the Nord 4 has AI capabilities that we tested, such as AI speak, which you can enable from the sidebar. Assuming you are reading an article, you can instruct AI to read it from start to finish, but there’s a catch: it reads the entire website. The problem is that it reads the entire webpage without knowing which section to focus on. In other words, time is wasted as a result, making it less useful. However, there is a workaround: users may select which specific passage needs to be read on the OnePlus Nord 4. Also, it is able to read in Hindi too.

An AI summary is available in the sidebar below the AI Speak option, and it functions effectively. Similarly, you get a tool called AI Recording Summary inside the voice recording app. Provided you have recorded something, it does more than just translate it—it also summarises it.

Additionally, AI Perfect Shot features like AI Best Face and AI Clear Face are available in Nord 4. The way that these two functions function is that, for instance, if you take a group selfie, your squad’s eyes can be adjusted just after the photo is taken. It will sharpen someone’s blurry face and eliminate blinking and looking off-camera.

With the aid of artificial intelligence, the AI Eraser functions flawlessly and can eliminate undesired objects in any image.

The brand has supplied a dual rear camera arrangement for images and videos, comprising a 50-megapixel Sony LYT 600 primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and electronic image stabilisation (EIS) with f/1.8 aperture, as well as a 112-degree 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens. The primary camera can now record in 4K at both 60 and 30 frames per second. It boasts a 16-megapixel front-facing camera with an aperture of f/2.0. So let’s see how wonderful the camera experience is at this price range.

Looking at the daylight images, you can see that there are a lot of details on offer. The dynamic range is particularly impressive, and the colours are done quite well, despite being slightly deeper in tone but not saturated. They look beautiful, and the sky colours and HDR rendering are quite good. 

However, the shadows are occasionally crushed, which is not a serious worry. Overall, we believe the details and sharpness levels are adequate, even when zoomed in on the image. So, owing to the Sony sensor, the daytime images appear great.

We did not notice any serious problems, and the overall quality appears good even though the primary sensor is less powerful than the previous model.

Now let’s talk about the ultra-wide sensor. The details and sharpness levels are fairly acceptable, and the colours are pretty close to the primary camera, but the shooter is, in our opinion, kind of average. Thus, even though the ultra-wide-angle camera’s sharpness isn’t very great right now, you can still use it occasionally.

Let’s move on to the close-up images. The OnePlus Nord 4 does a great job of capturing details and sharpness levels here, maintaining saturation concerns, and achieving excellent colour reproduction. All things considered, we think the background blur appears accurate and pleasing when shooting up close.

Both 1x and 2x zoom are available for taking portraits; the 2x zoom is simply the in-sensor zoom and is not telephoto. The two photographs appear excellent; the skin tones are executed quite skilfully, the dynamic range is appealing, and the edge detection is pleasing. We found the portrait images to be very appealing. Regarding the portraits, what are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments below.

You can see that the OnePlus Nord 4 performs a fantastic job with OIS available in low light. Both the dynamic range and the details are nicely rendered. There is a good deal of detail, even in very low light, and the sky colours are done fairly nicely. Noise reduction is done fairly effectively, and there is very little noise in the low-light photos. When it comes to selfies, the 16-megapixel camera can produce some great shots. Both the skin tones and the colour scheme are done very proficiently. Although there is sometimes a reddish tone to the skin, this is not a serious issue. The self-portraits turned out pretty well. Edge detection is still well implemented, despite its imperfections. The selfies taken in low light also ended up being really good.

The phone can capture videos at 60 frames per second in 4K. It appears good and maintains the dynamic range and details. Additionally, the colours are done fairly well. You don’t have to be concerned about unsteady videos because there is an OIS and EIS combo. The 4K 30 frames per second video footage has excellent clarity and comparable details. The results from the 1080p, 30 and 60 frames per second footage are almost identical. For those seeking a phone in this budget range with a decent camera for capturing videos, the OnePlus Nord 4 is unquestionably a worthy option.

With its ultra-wide-angle camera, the device can capture videos in 1080p resolution, which is quite average and has decent detail. Moreover, 1080p selfie videos with stabilisation enabled can be captured.

Also Read: OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Review: Can it hang with the best in its category?

Thus, this is the OnePlus Nord 4’s detailed camera performance.

Finally coming to endurance. As per the firm, the OnePlus Nord 4 can charge from 1% to 100% in just 28 minutes with its 5,500mAh battery that supports 100W SUPERVOOC fast charging.

The device’s battery life was good during our testing, and it took about 30 minutes to charge fully. The Nord 4 offers excellent battery life, with over 8 to 9 hours of (continuous) screen time. On average daily use, it should last you a or slightly more.

Verdict

With its mid-range Nord series in India, OnePlus has been able to strike a balance between design and functionality. To keep the phone at a competitive price, the firm has always scaled back on design and cameras; however, the most recent Nord 4 model has jarred this balance.

Due to its all-metal body, this phone’s design has proven to be its most notable feature. We haven’t seen a metal body in this price range for a very long time. Even in high-end flagship smartphones, glass finishes are the norm; nevertheless, this is a nice shift as the chassis is made entirely of metal. It has a dual-tone finish and a fairly attractive appearance, with curved corners. The rear panel is also quite nice.

It boasts one of the best displays available at this price. Therefore, we have no issues regarding the display, even with regular usage and media consumption.

How good is the camera on the Nord 4?

Particularly with the 16-megapixel selfie camera and the primary 50-megapixel Sony sensor, we think this is a rather impressive camera. Both sensors performed wonderfully, particularly in terms of taking pictures in low light and during the day. Additionally, the video recording performed fairly well. Actually, this is one of the better cameras in this price range, with respectable recording quality. However, the 8-megapixel camera is mediocre at best.

In a group shot with three or more people, you can use the AI Best Face and AI Clear Face to instantly fix any blinking.
Its user interface is quite tidy, except for a few pre-installed apps. Since we’ve been using this phone for around three to four weeks, there haven’t been any glitches, problems, or crashes, and the performance has also been rather good. This is an excellent deal because it can be your partner for a very long time thanks to the four-year software upgrade.

With a price tag under Rs 30,000 and excellent overall performance, it is highly recommended. We were quite fond of this phone, particularly its metal construction. This is what we think. What are your thoughts, guys?

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OnePlus Nord 4 Pros

• Flawless design and metal build
• Snappy
• Quick charging
• Getting a fast charger in the box
• Four years of software upgrades
• Excellent cameras

OnePlus Nord 4 Cons

• Bloatware
• ultra-wide-angle camera is not the best