OnePlus Nord 4 review: Reliable performer with elegant design

OnePlus on Tuesday (July 16) launched the new Nord 4 mid-range phone in Milan, Italy.

It is coming to India later this month with prices starting at Rs 29,999. I have been using the device for a week and here are my thoughts on the latest device from the house OnePlus.

Design, build quality and display

With the OnePlus Nord 3, OnePlus is bringing back the aluminium-based all-metal uni-body design after almost a decade. The last Oneplus phone with similar design elements was the OnePlus 3T (2016).

The latest model looks modern and comes with an eye-pleasing dual-tone texture. The top part with the dual-camera module has a glossy finish. And the rest of the back and the frame around the edge of the screen is in a matte finish. It does an excellent job of repelling sweat-induced fingerprint smudges.

Using metal on the sides and the back panel has its challenges, as the company initially faced difficulty in placing the antenna bands to connect with the 5G network. So, OnePlus devised new designs for antennas in the shape of the letter 'U' in all corners of the Nord 4 phone to get stable connectivity with the 5G network.

. The device also comes with a trademark alert slider on the top left side of the frame. Also, it houses an in-display fingerprint sensor, which by the way works smoothly as long as the finger is clean and dry.

Besides Oasis Green, the company also offers the device in two other colour variants-- Obsidian Midnight and Merculiar Silver. In terms of visual appeal, our review unit Oasis Green is the best among the lot.

Also, it comes with an IP65 rating, meaning it can survive accidental water splash and also moderate rain.

. On the front, it flaunts a 6.74-inch 1.5K (2772x1240p) Super Fluid AMOLED display. It supports Ultra HDR content, and offers peak brightness of up to 2,150 nits and a pixel density of 450 ppi (pixels per inch).

Also, it has the thinnest bezel among all OnePlus phones. It measures just 1.82mm in thickness. The device has a screen-to-body ratio of 93.5 per cent.

It is a good phone to binge-watch TV shows or read e-books during long journeys. The screen has the right amount of brightness and safety features to ensure the eyes don't get strained.

Also, the device boasts ProXDR technology, which was first introduced with OnePlus 12 earlier this year. This feature makes the display adjust brightness to show the photos and videos in the Photos app appear clearly and vibrant to the eyes.

It also comes with AquaTouch technology, which ensures the display registers finger-touch inputs even if the screen has water drops on it or the fingers are wet.

Performance

OnePlus Nord 4 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset with Qualcomm AI Engine. It is said to offer 65 per cent improvement in terms of CPU performance and 130 per cent GPU performance compared to the previous iteration.

The company offers the device in three configurations -8GB RAM +128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. Our review unit is the latter.

It runs on Android 14-based OxygenOS 14. It has a familiar user interface. Even for the rookie, it is navigate around the setting to customise the display or change wallpapers/themes with ease.

. Though it comes pre-loaded with several third-party apps, they can be uninstalled and increase the storage of the device.

It supports most of the graphics-rich gaming titles on the Google Play Store. The device remains stable and the back panel do not get hot too quickly, thanks to the large vapour cool chamber lined with high-density graphene for efficient heat dissipation.

It boasts a RAM-Vita feature that works with the phone's Artificial Intelligence system to work smoothly and load apps faster. Also, users can open multiple apps open and run them in the background for up to 72 hours. The app will resume exactly at the point where it was left open. This comes in handy for social media apps such as X (previously Twitter), Facebook and Instagram, to view half-seen reels. Most of the phones relaunch the apps and those videos get lost due to the loading of new reels.

Like all the current crop of phones, the new Nord 4 too supports several generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) features. It comes with AI Speak, and AI Summary to convert long notes to simple bits of information in pointers or short paragraphs.

With AI Recording, it can even transcribe and offer short summaries too. And, with AI-Write, it can help the user compose posts for social media platforms and also write emails with fewer grammatical errors.

The Photos app supports AI Eraser and AI Best Face

Also, it boasts an AI Linkboost feature to make the phone connect to the 5G network faster. Once hooked to the nearest tower, maintain a steady connection to deliver stable internet connectivity and also cellular connectivity during calls even on WhatsApp.

. OnePlus has confirmed that Nord 4 will get four years of Android updates. Further, it will offer an additional two years of security software support, the longest firmware coverage for any OnePlus to date. This is a welcome move by the company, as it will build loyalty among the fans. It also saves them money, as they don't have to buy a new phone once every two or three years. With each new software update, they can experience new features on the old phone. The only issue that may crop up during the period is the possible need for a change of battery.

The new OnePlus phone supports 1,600 charging cycles, which means. The device can serve the customer for more than four years of usages. [Note: One charging cycle means-- zero to 100 per cent charging).

The Nord 4 houses a 5,500mAh battery. It consistently delivered more than a day of battery life under normal usage. With exteme usage (with Wi-Fi connectivity), it can still be able to last a full day.

However, if you are solely dependent on cellular data all day and spend several hours on social media apps, the device, like all other phones in the market, may need charging. Thanks to super fast 100W SuperVOOC technology. It can charge up from zero to 100 per cent capacity in 28 minutes. With just five minutes of charging, the device will be able to play five hours of TV series on an OTT app (via Wi-Fi).

. Photography performance

It houses a dual-camera module-- main 50MP (with Sony LYTIA sensor, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation and EIS: Electronic Image Stabilisation) and ultra-wide 8MP camera (with Sony sensor: Field of View:112-degree) with LED flash on the back.

. It takes excellent photos in the natural sunlight. As you can see in the camera samples, the details are well captured and also colours are a tad more vibrant than what they appear to our eyes. I can't complain, as they are good and worthy to be shared on social media apps.

. Also, with the portrait mode, the phone's autofocus does an amazing job. It manages to get sharp photos with artfully blurred backgrounds. Even with normal photo mode, the Nord 4 managed to get clear photo of the lotus flower.

. Indoors too, Nord 4 did a fine job of balancing the light and getting crisp and clear photos.

. At night, Nord 4's camera performance drops a level down. But, it does get decent photos with a steady hand.

. With macro close-up shots, the phone rises back to its A-game. It takes fantastic photos of the subjects, in this case the flowers. All the minute details are captured well.

. With ultra-wide angle mode, it does fine job to accommodate a wide area in the frame, without using any tricks of bending structures.

. It also supports 2X optical zoom photos without losing any quality. It can digitally zoom up to 20X. The photos look good up to 10X and beyond that point, it begins to collect noise and become grainy.

. As noted in the performance section, the Nord 4 supports AI Eraser. It can remove any obstructive object or person from the photo. It comes in handy while on a beach or temple with the family. It can easily remove unwanted people from the frame. You need a bit of patience to remove traces of a person, an animal or an object.

. It also supports AI Best Face, which comes in handy during group photos. It can help people get the perfect photo with all the people in the group with eyes open wide and looking at the camera. It can replace close eyes with open eyes and ensure the photo doesn't look artificially altered.

. The primary camera can record 4K videos at 60 and 30 frames per second (fps), full HD 1080p at 60/30 fps, and 720p HD at 60/30 fps. It can also record slow-motion videos in 720p HD at 240 fps and 1080p full HD at 120 fps.

. On the front, it houses a 16MP camera. It takes brilliant selfies in the day light and even indoors too.

. The device's native camera app offers a plethora of tools to make human face photo genic. In addition to skin tone, users can adjust the cheek size, eyes and nose shape as well.

. Final thoughts

OnePlus Nord 4 is an excellent premium mid-range phone, worthy of its asking price.

It has a stunning metal-based unibody design, a bright display panel, a reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset and manages to deliver a long battery life.

. Also, the camera hardware is reliable, on par with most of the rival brands in its price range.

OnePlus Nord 4 comes in three variants-- -8GB RAM +128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 29,999, Rs 32,999 and Rs 35,999, respectively.

OnePlus Nord 4 review: Reliable performer with elegant design

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