OnePlus Nord CE 4 Review: Feature-packed mid-ranger that offers excellent value

Rating: 3.5/5

OnePlus seems to have taken hold of the mid-range segment. Not long ago, the company struggled to capture the mid-range market but the launch of the Nord series turned OnePlus’ fortunes. Fast forward to 2024, the company is going strong and Nord smartphones are selling like hotcakes. Why? OnePlus Nord series hits the spot.

It gives users pretty much everything they ask for in a smartphone and that too at an affordable price. The Nord series has been a game-winner for those who don’t want to spend much but want their phones to remain relevant for at least 2-3 years.

Taking the learnings from its older generations, OnePlus launched the Nord CE 4 smartphone which we feel is a refined version of its predecessor. It gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC – probably the best one that can get at this price range, a massive 5,500mAh battery with 100W charging – first for a Nord smartphone and a bunch of AI features.

The OnePlus Nord Nord CE 4 was launched at a starting price of Rs 24,999 for the base model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, while the 8GB+256GB variant is available at Rs 26,999. We used the smartphone for some time and here's what we think of it.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 : Design and display
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G comes in two colour options: Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome. We got the Celadon Marble colour that offers a distinct design. When seen under ample light, and at a suitable angle, the shade of seafoam green and white creates a wave pattern resembling marble that shines to create a 3D effect.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G has further been updated from the previous model, with a vertical pill-shaped camera housing replacing the rounded module. The design is a bit streamlined as elements (camera modules and the flash) are stacked one below the other as opposed to the more spread out on the previous generation model.

The volume and power buttons remain on the right side, and an IR blaster is also available for controlling electronics, like ACs and TVs, among others. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G has a plastic back and flat edges but it feels comfortable to hold due to its slim profile (8.4mm) and lightweight (around 186 grams) build. The plastic is also less prone to smudges and fingerprints compared to glass backs. Add to the mix of shimmering wave design, it’s a good package, so to speak.

Coming to the display, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G sports a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1100 nits (900 nits in High Brightness Mode). The minimal bezels contribute to the overall design and readability. Since it is an AMOLED display, it delivers vivid colours and sharp visuals, making it ideal for watching videos or streaming movies.

Not just that, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 gets AquaTouch technology, which was launched in the OnePlus 12 series. This tech enables users to unlock their phones even if there is water on the screen or they have wet hands. Further, the smartphone gets an IP54-rated for dust and water resistance, which essentially means that it can withstand splashes of water.

OnePlus Nord CE 4: Performance and software
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC, a fairly new chipset that offers good power efficiency and is a good option to go in a mid-range smartphone. The chip is married to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and offers up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. In layman’s words, these numbers and terms suggest that the phone is capable of easily handling day-to-day tasks and lets you do a bit more than just scrolling social media and calling/ chatting.

While it is not a beast of a smartphone when it comes to handling games, popular titles like Call of Duty: Mobile can run flawlessly with watered-down graphics settings. When used with the right settings, The OnePlus Nord CE 4 offers smooth gameplay with minimal heating but pushing the phone over the limits did not translate to a competitive edge. It felt a bit laggy and the performance score was limited.

While this doesn’t make the smartphone bad, it does provide a perspective on what one can expect from a mid-ranger like it. Unlike other performance-oriented smartphones that allow users to game at higher graphics settings, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 has distributed the chip’s prowess in other areas, like AI features. So unless you're playing high-end games like Asphalt Legends or popular ones on their highest graphics, you are good to go.

Coming to software, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 offers OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 out of the box. OnePlus has promised 3 years of security updates and 2 years of Android updates. This means that your phone will be upgraded to Android 16 when released.

The The OnePlus Nord CE 4 comes with relatively cleaner software with less pre-loaded apps as compared to its Chinese counterparts. All of these apps can either be uninstalled or disabled. There are loads of customisation options and a Samsung-like File Dock that allows us to quickly access important or frequently used apps/ files.

OnePlus brought two features: Smart Cutout and Auto Pixelate 2.0. The Smart Cutout can be used to quickly edit photos by selecting and customising the cutout content. The AI-powered feature is claimed to offer enhanced subject recognition for more accurate cutouts.

Auto Pixelate 2.0 is aimed at automatically blocking out sensitive information in screenshots such as numbers and contact details. What the user needs to do is to take a screenshot and hit the ‘Pixelate’ button. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 will automatically recognise and pixelate the important parts, saving you precious minutes before sharing it with others.

OnePlus Nord CE 4: Camera
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G now has less number of cameras as compared to the triple rear camera setup in its predecessor. There is a primary 50MP SonyLYT 600 sensor with support for optical image stabilisation (OIS) and an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor paired with an ultra wide-angle lens.

While some say it is a step back from the OnePlus Nord CE 3, we felt it was a part of refining the overall experience because a ‘gimmicky addition’ to the camera setup hinders the experience in some ways. The two cameras are fine-tuned to work in all lighting conditions though they are not the best cameras you’ll find in a smartphone at this price range.

The primary camera, which is the one we used the most, produced sharp, crisp images with vibrant colour reproduction when clicked in broad daylight. The images in shade also came out well with acceptable contrast and white balance. In shots taken at night, the sensor holds well capturing a decent level of detail. However, we cannot appreciate the results we got when we clicked the photos with too many lights.

The 8MP ultra-wide angle is decent for the price it commands but we did notice some colour-shift when clicking ultra-wide photos. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 does not come with a telephoto lens but it offers digital zoom (up to 20x), which is okay for documentation. Photos taken with zoom beyond 5x were mostly not usable.

OnePlus Nord CE 4: Battery
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G gets a boost in terms of battery capacity and charging speed. The smartphone packs a 5,500 mAh battery which is the biggest-ever battery on a Nord device and 100W SUPERVOOC charging, a first for the series.

We used the phone for about a day and a half as our secondary device and it lasted about a day when we used it for our primary phone.

Apart from a large battery, superfast charging support and an efficient SoC, the phone also gets a Battery HealthEngine that keeps Nord CE4 running by increasing charging cycles to support up to four years of daily charging to peak capacity, the company claims.

OnePlus Nord CE 4: Verdict
OnePlus Nord series has always ticked almost all the boxes since the series launched in 2020. As of 2024, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 is among our top-rated mid-range phones with neat and practical additions. The company has done away with some “not-so-useful” features, like an extra camera to make the overall experience more streamlined.

A big 5,500mAh battery with support for 100W fast charging, a powerful mid-range processor, a bright display, fine cameras and software support make it a good option for those who want a reliable smartphone. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 may appear to lack the prowess of other performance-centric smartphones, but it makes up for it by providing other features, such as a few AI tools. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 competes with the likes of Poco X6 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+.