OnePlus Nord CE 4 Review: Best Mid-range Phone In India?
Priced at under Rs 30,000, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 offers a lucrative package of features including Aqua touch, 120Hz display and a 5,500mAh battery.
By Deep Majumdar
Mid-range smartphones are a rage at the moment. Great build quality, top-notch features and just the perfect mix of aesthetics and utility, all this combined result in a product that is by far the most perfect fit for a consumer market like India. Bridging the gap between extremely affordable and premium segments, the mid-range smartphone has always been the true face of the Indian smartphone industry.
The Nord series from OnePlus has been consistent with its offerings in the segment with products that have been accepted by consumers with open arms. There are three categories within the Nord series. Firstly, we have the Nord CE Lite series representing the ultra-affordable line of 5G smartphones. Following this, we have the Nord CE line of mid-range devices, offering a great combination of function and looks. Lastly, representing the premium mid-range segment, we have the Nord series from OnePlus.
In this review, we will be discussing the Nord CE 4 in detail and finding out whether you should buy it.
We received the device in the Celadon Blue colour variant and we must say that this is by far the best OnePlus Nord smartphone we have seen. The build quality is astute, as expected and so is the design. The stone-esque texture at the back offers something different from the vegan leather parade we have been witnessing lately from other Chinese smartphone companies. OnePlus embraced sanity for all our sakes and has finally reduced the camera module to a proportionate size. The phone has a USB type C port, volume rockers and a power button.
The box comes with a 100W SUPERVOOC travel adapter, a Type A to Type C USB cable, a sim tool, a TPU case and some paperwork.
Speaking of design, the Nord CE 4 embraces the fundamentals of minimalism and puts it in top gear. The camera module, the clean edges and the design on the back of the phone, quite simply put, make this the best-looking Nord smartphone to date.
The 120Hz fluid AMOLED display also adds a lot to the overall design. The display has a peak brightness of 1,100 nits and supports HDR10+. Needless to say, the contrast ratio is fabulous and the picture quality is way better than any other phone in this segment.
The Nord CE 4 is a much more refined version of its predecessor. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 system SoC, a 5,500mAh battery to support it and a some interesting AI features, the Nord CE 4 is truly an impressive piece of engineering. Then chipset is optimised which results in a seamless experience. The 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and the UFS 3.1 256GB ROM make sure of that. Day-to-day tasks are a piece of cake for the Nord CE 4.
In terms of benchmark scores, the Nord CE 4 clocks scores of over 2,900 and 1,100 for multi-core and single-core benchmarks in Geekbench 6. In AnTuTu, the phone manages to churn out a score of almost 8,50,000, which is higher than phones like the Nothing Phone 2a (Dimensity 7200 Pro).
When it comes to gaming, the Nord CE 4 isn’t half bad. Games like BGMI, Call of Duty: War Zone and Genshin Impact run well on lower graphics settings. You should not expect this phone to run these games on high graphics settings in the first place. This is a mid-range smartphone and it delivers exactly what it promises. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC is capable enough to hold its own. Games such as BGMI and Genshin Impact can be played without any worry in low to medium graphics.
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 runs on the Android 14-based Oxygen OS. With 2 years of software updates and 3 years of security updates, we feel that OnePlus dropped the ball here in comparison to competitors such as Nothing which are offering 3 and 4 years of software and security upgrades, respectively. The software itself is clean and highly intuitive. There is bloatware but in moderation. The Samsung-inspired flip dock allows users to access frequently used apps with one touch.
One AI feature that impressed us was the Auto Pixelate 2.0. Users can use this to automatically hide sensitive information in screenshots. The Pixelation automatic and is done by the on-device AI. Users can also opt to do it manually. The phone also allows users a few features that resemble Google’s magic photo editor. Users can choose to remove objects from images or save them as separate images. However, this is where the Nord CE 4’s AI capabilities come to an end.
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 has arguably one of the better cameras in the price segment. The smartphone dons a dual camera setup, unlike the triple camera setup seen on its predecessor, the Nord CE 3. The difference is in the absence of the macro lens in the former. We cannot emphasise enough how sensible this move is from OnePlus. Macro lenses in mid-range smartphones are gimmicks that do not serve any purpose whatsoever.
The primary shooter in this phone is a 50MP camera using a Sony LYT600 sensor while the secondary shooter is an 8MP camera using a Sony IMX335 sensor. The photography performance is better than we expected. Images are sharp, have good colour science, balance the exposure well and have good dynamic range. Discussing video capabilities in affordable midrange phones is of no use, so we’ll just say that the camera takes decent videos with the top configuration being 4K at 30 FPS. One feature that truly impresses is the optical image stabilisation which makes shooting video more fun.
The Nord CE 4 comes with a 5,500mAh battery which offers a run time of a full work day. We used the device throughout the day for consuming content on social media, for postings on social media and for chatting. The experience was flawless and there was no abrupt power drainage.
We have stated this before and we’ll state this again that the decision to buy a phone or not should completely rely on whether the device serves its purpose. As far as the OnePlus Nord CE 4 goes, it does solve its purpose and then some more. With features such as the UFS 3.1 memory, the Aqua Touch feature, 100W SUPERVOOC charging and the inclusion of the IR blaster, the smartphone creates a lot of value for the user. The device is packed with features and comes at an extremely tempting price tag. All this combined together has delivered a product that treads the line between affordability and premiumisation of the mid-range smartphone segment.
Priced at Rs 24,999 (base model, 8GB/128GB) and Rs 26,999 (8GB/256GB), the Nord CE 4 is a good option for those who want a more premium-looking device without compromising on the mid-range price tag.
