The OnePlus Nord 4 sits in the middle of the brand’s smartphone portfolio. It continues the legacy of the company’s flagship killer days.
The Nord number series is all about offering a flagship-like experience on a budget. The fourth-gen product comes with a new design and spec upgrades.
The device starts at ₹29,999 in India. Since it was released only recently, there isn’t any discount apart from standard bank offers during the festive season sale.
However, despite that, I believe the handset makes sense for most people in the country. Here’s why I say so after using the phone for weeks.
Disclosure: The opinion shared in this article is based on the author’s first-hand experience with a OnePlus Nord 4 review unit loaned by the brand. The company had no editorial input or early look.
Should You Buy OnePlus Nord 4?
1. Will Age Better
The OnePlus Nord 4 is one of the fastest smartphones in its segment. It houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 chipset paired with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage (UFS 3.1 for 128GB variant).
Though the chip sounds like a mid-range model, it is almost as powerful as the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 found inside the more expensive OnePlus 12R, OnePlus 11, and OnePlus Open.
The device can easily handle anything you throw at it. Its performance is good enough for years to come and it actually needs this.
Because OnePlus promises 4 Android updates and 6 years of security updates. With the amount of power, the handset possesses, it should work just fine throughout its lifetime.
Unsurprisingly, the phone is also great at gaming. It can play all the titles at the maximum graphics and frame rates possible. But what it doesn’t support is ray tracing, which could become mainstream in the coming years.
Also, the smartphone is backed by a large 5,500mAh battery. It easily lasts a day and a half on normal usage. Even with gaming sessions, the product can reach the end of the day. Thus, the battery may deteriorate slower without needing a replacement for a longer duration.
Thanks to 100W charging support, the device also charges fully under half an hour.
2. Nails the Basics
The OnePlus Nord 4 sports a 6.74-inch centered punch-hole 10-bit HDR10+ enabled AMOLED display. This screen offers a resolution of 2772 x 1240 pixels (1.5K), 450 PPI, and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The panel supports up to 2160Hz PWM dimming and 2150 nits peak brightness (HDR). Even in HBM (High Brightness Mode), the screen can hit up to 1100 nits.
The phone’s display is as good as its specs sound. It is sharp, fast, and bright. You can change the picture profile to output accurate colors. This screen should be adequate for years to come.
The display is further complemented by dual stereo speakers. They are loud and sound good even at higher volume levels, except for high frequency.
The handset comes with all the essential connectivity options, such as dual SIM, 5G, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, GNSS, and NFC. All of them work properly as intended without any issues.
For biometrics, the product uses an in-screen fingerprint sensor which is fast. There’s also an IR blaster to control household devices and an alert slider to switch between sound proifles.
3. Brand Experience
OnePlus is a premium brand in the eyes of consumers in India. And the company delivers on that front too.
Unlike the giants Apple and Samsung, the brand includes the required fast charger and cable inside the box of its smartphones. It also bundles a case and some stickers alongside documentation.
Further, the pricing of products is the same across all channels. Even the offers are almost identical with some differences at times.
Further, unlike other brands, OnePlus is the only one that has publicly acknowledged the recent display and motherboard issues. The company is also providing solutions for the affected consumers (they may not be the best but still).
4. Some Flaws
Like any other product, the OnePlus Nord 4 is not perfect. There’s one major con that could be a deciding factor for some.
The phone’s camera is average. The 50MP Sony LYT-600 primary sensor is fine under good lighting conditions. It also performs well with Night Mode in dark environments.
However, the overall performance is not the best in the price range. This is truer for the 8MP Sony IMX355 ultrawide and 16MP Sony IMX471 selfie cameras.
Further, another thing I experienced was something that I did not expect. The OnePlus Nord 4 is touted as the only metal unibody 5G smartphone in the market.
Metal is for sure better than glass in terms of durability. However, the handset’s good-looking design has a flaw.
The upper camera part of the device is made of glass, just like the first two Google Pixels. This part of my unit got a few cracks with an accidental drop from just 3 feet.
So I personally don’t buy the better durability of Nord 4. Everyone uses a protective case anyway, and therefore, this is not a dealbreaker.
