It's been over a month since the OnePlus Nord 4 was launched in India, but it still holds its ground in its segment. With the festive season underway, the phone is being offered with various discounts. For those with a budget of ₹30,000, there may be several questions, such as whether this phone is the best in its price bracket and if it's worth buying during this festive season. All these questions are answered in this review.
Design
Starting with the design, after several years, we finally have a phone with a metal body. Yes, the OnePlus Nord 4 has been designed with a metal body, which has garnered significant attention. The advantage of metal is that despite having a large battery, the phone remains lightweight. The thickness of the phone is just 8 mm, and it weighs 199.5 grams. The company claims that aircraft-grade aluminum has been used, making it quite durable.
| Phone Model | OnePlus Nord 4 | Realme GT 6T | Motorola Edge 50 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thickness (mm) | 8 | 8.6 | 8.2 |
| Weight (grams) | 199 | 191 | 186 |
| IP Rating | IP65 | IP65 | IP68 |
The phone comes in two color options: Obsidian Midnight and Oasis Green. The company has introduced a dual-tone design this time, which looks quite attractive. While Midnight color is common, Oasis Green is a new color, and the back panel features an embossed pattern that gives it a unique look among phones available in the market. The good news is that while last year's Nord 3 had an IP64 rating, this time, you get an IP65 rating, making it resistant to light water splashes and dust.
In terms of appearance, the new OnePlus Nord 4 is quite different from its predecessor. The company has not only used different materials but also changed the design of the back panel and the placement of the camera. The phone has more curves on the sides, making it comfortable to hold. Overall, the design is impressive, and the company has attempted to offer something new, which is currently unique in the market.
As for ports and placement, you'll find the power and volume buttons on the right side. The silent button is on the left. The bottom panel houses the loudspeaker grill, Type-C port, and SIM slot, while the top has an IR blaster, allowing you to control devices like TVs and ACs.
Display
After design, let's talk about the display. The phone features a 6.74-inch punch-hole AMOLED screen. The screen has very thin bezels, making the phone look compact despite its large display. The screen is protected by Panda Glass, which guards against minor scratches. The display features a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The good news is that the phone now supports HDR10+, allowing you to enjoy content in Ultra-HDR. OnePlus Nord 4 also supports Aqua Touch, meaning you can use the phone even if there's some water on the screen or if your hands are wet.
| Phone Model | OnePlus Nord 4 | Realme GT 6T | Motorola Edge 50 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Size (inches) | 6.74 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| Resolution (pixels) | 2772 × 1240 | 2780 × 1264 | 1220 × 2712 |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 120 | 120 | 120 |
| Screen Panel | AMOLED | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Brightness | 2150 nits | 6000 nits | 1600 nits |
The phone offers 2150 nits of brightness. Although the AMOLED display provides a good viewing experience even at this brightness, it can't be considered the best in its class, as the Realme GT 6T offers a peak brightness of 6000 nits. The display is good, but Gorilla Glass Victus protection would have been better, as it's available on many phones in this price range.
Camera
The OnePlus Nord 4 comes with a 50MP main camera using the Sony LYT-600 sensor, with OIS support. The secondary camera is an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and for selfies, there's a 16MP front camera. The camera setup is the same as in the Nord CE 4, but the improved processor leads to noticeably better picture quality.
The phone delivers excellent picture quality. In daylight conditions, compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 4, there's a clear difference in detailing, and the Nord 4 feels more natural. The Motorola Edge 50 Pro also competes in this range, and while we compared the Nord 4's camera with it, Motorola seemed superior, although it tends to boost colors, making greens greener and blues more vibrant. The Nord, on the other hand, was more natural in terms of color.
Yes, Motorola benefits from a telephoto lens and macro mode. In portrait mode, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro offers more options and better picture quality. In low-light conditions, the results were average. The camera struggled a bit in dim lighting. As for selfies, the OnePlus Nord 4 performed well, though it's not the best.
The Motorola Edge 50 Pro was slightly better, but the Nord 4 outperformed the Realme GT 6T. The front camera of the Nord 4 provided decent detailing, but the colors appeared slightly dull. However, portrait photos showed accurate cutouts. Overall, the camera performs well, though it may not be the best in its segment, but it's not far behind either.
Performance
The OnePlus Nord 4 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 processor. The phone offers up to 12GB of LPPDR5x RAM and up to 256GB of storage. It's worth noting that the company has introduced UFS 4.0 storage technology, though the base model comes with UFS 3.0. During our tests, we ran numerous benchmarks and played several games to get real-world results.
In all tests, the phone performed well. On the AnTuTu benchmark, the phone scored 11,69,622, which is impressive for this segment, though the highest score was achieved by the Poco F6, with over 1.5 million points. On Geekbench, it scored 1,744 in single-core and 4,365 in multi-core. In graphics tests, the GFX Manhattan score was 3,728, and the T-Rex score was 3,369.
In the PC Mark performance test, the OnePlus Nord 4 managed to score 13,218. Overall, the scores were impressive, with only AI and throttle test burnout showing lower results. In the AI test, the phone scored just 147, while in the throttle test burnout, it dropped to 48.80.
| Phone Model | OnePlus Nord 4 | Realme GT 6T | Motorola Edge 50 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu Benchmark | 1169622 | 1450949 | 827231 |
| Geekbench Multi-core | 1744 | 4544 | 3119 |
| GFX Bench Manhattan | 4365 | 3742 | 3705 |
| PC Mark Performance | 13218 | 17346 | 14283 |
| AI Benchmark | 147 | 17346176 | 590 |
| Burnout Test | 48.80% | 58.4% | 69.90% |
There were no performance issues. The higher throttle was due to the metal body, which heats up quickly. However, the advantage of metal is that it cools down quickly, expelling heat faster than a glass body, which retains heat. Thus, while the phone may feel warm in hand, performance is not significantly affected. Regarding gaming performance, our team tested Call of Duty, and BGMI on the device. We played each game for 40 minutes, and the battery dropped by 7-8%, while the temperature rose by 8-9 degrees.
Performance-wise, it was smooth, and the slim design made gaming enjoyable. However, the metal did feel warm to the touch. One thing to note is that during gaming, the phone averaged 55 FPS, which is better than the Motorola Edge 50 Pro and many other phones.
In terms of software, the OnePlus Nord 4 runs on Oxygen OS 14.1, based on Android 14. The phone's UI is very similar to stock Android and is easy to use. It comes with 48 preloaded apps, 6 of which are third-party apps that can be uninstalled. Most notably, the company has promised 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of security updates, which is a significant advantage.
| Phone Model | OnePlus Nord 4 | Realme GT 6T | Motorola Edge 50 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android Version | Oxygen OS 14 (Android 14) | Realme OS 14 (Android 14) | Hello UI (Android 14) |
| Preloaded Apps | 48 | 52 | 41 |
| Third-Party Apps | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Software Updates | 4 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Security Updates | 6 years | 4 years | 4 years |
Battery
After considering everything, let's talk about power backup. The phone is equipped with a 5,500mAh battery, and in terms of battery life, it performs exceptionally well. The company has used a dual-cell battery, which offers better battery life compared to many phones in its segment. It supports 120W fast charging, which is the best in its segment. The company claims the phone charges to 50% in just 13 minutes, and our tests confirmed this claim. Overall, the battery performance is good, and fast charging provides an advantage over other phones.
| Phone Model | OnePlus Nord 4 | Realme GT 6T | Motorola Edge 50 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Capacity | 5500 mAh | 5500 mAh | 5300 mAh |
| Fast Charging | 120 W | 100 W | 68 W |
| 100% Charge Time | 27 minutes | 31 minutes | 58 minutes |
Verdict
The OnePlus Nord 4 performs well in terms of design, display, and performance. Battery life is also good, but the camera could be slightly better. Overall, it's one of the best phones in its price range. If you're planning to buy a phone this festive season, this could be a good choice. The new design is the standout feature, and in this range, it's the first phone with a metal body.
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