I reviewed the OnePlus Nord 4, and I found something surprising

OnePlus need you to concentrate on the alone pattern and stuff used for the OnePlus Nord 4 before you buy it . If you ’re a Nord nerd and have a go at it the spec from former models by gist , you might also want to take a well look at the screen .

Why does it desire you to do this ? The strange alloy unibody is the star topology , but it is n’t the only big change for OnePlus in the Nord 4 . There ’s something else you necessitate to know about , and it will come as a number of a shock .

OnePlus Nord 4: design

The OnePlus Nord 4 is a rareness in the smartphone world today as ithas a alloy unibody , rather than exclusively using metal for the figure and wrapping the rest in plastic or spyglass . Once a popular option , it has mostly been give up , particularly as an all - metallic element trunk rarely played well with cellular reception .

OnePlus says it has resolve this job with an entirely redesigned interior , where newly designed antennas actually use the metal body to hyperbolize the sign . There are still formative antenna bands on the side of the chassis and at the bottom of the back , too .

There are no ridges or acuate edges on the OnePlus Nord 4 , making it very comfortable to hold . At 199.5 grams , it ’s sensibly angle , and the 7.99 mm heaviness is ideal for one - handed utilization . The always - helpful Alert Slider is on the side of the phone , so you could quickly switch over between silent , vibrate , or audio mode . The quicksilver Silver people of colour in our photos is bright and eye - catch , although incredibly reflective . So far , it has not attract much in the way of smudges , and the slightly ridged texture on the lower part of the body is a neat pinch . The phone also comes in two other color : Obsidian Black and Oasis Green .

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The effect is a posh , expensive - looking smartphone that does n’t resemble every other gadget out there . The exercise of an all - metal body is welcome , and so far has not touch on usance for me , just as OnePlus prognosticate . It should be more durable than an all - glass body , and the phone has an IP65 water and junk resistance rating , too . Well done to OnePlus for thinking about the design and materials on its midrange phone , enabling it to stay separate from , yet still equally suitable as , the flagshipOnePlus 12 .

OnePlus Nord 4: screen and performance

Here are some key specification detail for the OnePlus Nord 4 . It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 + Gen 3 central processing unit and up to 16 GB of RAM . This is a seldom used chip , and although it sits below theOnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R , there ’s no problem with performance when gaming or look out television . It ’s sure a much more desirable silicon chip than the get on Snapdragon 695 inside the recently announcedOnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite .

You count at a 6.74 - inch Super Fluid AMOLED projection screen with a switchable 60Hz/120Hz refresh rate and a maximum 2772 by 1240 pixel resolve , although the phone defaults to 2414 by 1080 pixels . It has the same AquaTouch feature as the OnePlus 12 to make the screen more responsive if the surface or your fingers are damp , plus OnePlus ’s ProXDR presentation feature film , which enhance your photo when regard them on the phone .

It looks grotesque and is plenty bright enough to be seen out of doors on a sunny twenty-four hour period , too . It ’s splendid for TV and game , and there has been no major heating buildup when playing games likeAsphalt 9 : fable . The game was fun and exciting due to no shape rate issues or lag , and I could jubilantly play for some time , helped by the sound ’s comparatively lightweight and well-situated to concur body .

The OnePlus Nord 4’s metal case and antenna bands.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

What about the reception ? Calls have sound fine , just as good as any other gimmick , and I have n’t notice any adverse issue with the phone pulling in a signaling . However , I have only prove the headphone for a light time .

OnePlus Nord 4: software and AI

The OnePlus Nord 4 has Android 14 and OxygenOS version 14.1 installed . OnePlus says it will supply four years of software updatesand six class of protection updatesand foretell its software optimization work will remain “ fast and smooth ” for 72 calendar month . This is slightly foresightful on the security update side than Samsung offers on the competing Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 and is upstanding support for a midrange earpiece .

I have been impressed by the overall performance of the OnePlus Nord 4 when playing games , but the same kudos can not be lavish on the operating system of rules . There ’s a stickiness to OxygenOS on the OnePlus Nord 4 that ’s operose to describe . It ’s fluid and smooth , but it never feels degraded or in a rush to do anything . I wondered if it was the refresh rate or the resolution , but interchange both to the humble setting did n’t alter the oddly heavy nature of the animation and scrolling . One thing is for sure , though : The computer software is much more visually appealing at 120Hz than it is at 60Hz , so lower this setting at your peril .

When setting up the OnePlus Nord 4 , it installed multiple games and apps without an pick to pass up them , and the system has a variety of its own apps admit — such as the Clone Phone app , Zen Space , and a Recorder app . Most apps can be uninstalled , but it ’s thwarting to assort through them all , as it scatters them over several household screens .

The side of the OnePlus Nord 4 showing the Alert Slider.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

What about the AI ? OnePlus say it uses AI and political machine learning in its battery and power management and to keep the mainframe , software , and execution elements running at their good . There are a few AI feature article , too , include text translation and both audio and text summarization . I sample out the audio sum-up lineament after being force to make a OnePlus account to get at it , and it worked well , give me a concise sum-up of a merging plus a series of follow - ups I should make .

OnePlus Nord 4: camera

The OnePlus Nord 4 ’s back features two photographic camera : a 50 - megapixel Sony main camera with ocular and electronic image stabilisation ( OIS and EIS ) and an 8MP wide - angle camera . The latter can shoot TV at up to 4 kilobyte closure and 60 skeleton per second ( fps ) , and there ’s a 16MP selfie camera at the top of the screenland .

The main camera remove bright and vivacious photos with lovely contingent and a pleasing depth of theatre when you get close to a subject . Surprisingly , for an 8MP wide - slant television camera , the one on the OnePlus Nord 4 is n’t too bad . There ’s not much detail , as expected , but I appreciate the body in colours and tone , which makes the pic it takes more operable than some other examples . Selfies contain wad of detail , but the portrait effect is poor , with messy edge sensing and trouble separating elements from the background knowledge .

The received Gallery has an AI - powered editing pecker to take unwanted objects and people from your photos , much likeGoogle ’s Magic Erasertool , which works quite well . It ’s a shame there are no AI editing tools to change the feeling of your photos , though .

The side of the OnePlus Nord 4, showing the power and volume keys.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The OnePlus Nord 4 has to take on a ambit of very good camera phones , including theSamsung Galaxy A55and theGoogle Pixel 8a . It ’s a very private-enterprise space , and while I like the independent camera on the Nord 4 , the camera is rather barebones . There ’s no visual rapid growth , and it does sense like the blanket - angle camera is a tokenish effort , for exemplar .

OnePlus Nord 4: battery and charging

Now , we get to the stupor . There are irritating decisions , and then there ’s leaving the battery charger out of the box when a smartphone uses a proprietary fast - charging organization . That ’s proper , the OnePlus Nord 4 is one of the very first OnePlus phonesnotto include a battery charger in the box . depend on where you experience in the world , you may have purchase a OnePlus 12 without a charger , but it appears this is now becoming a wider scheme for the stain .

It ’s a much more jarring issue here than in many other telephone because the Nord 4 supports OnePlus ’s proprietary 100W SuperVOOC tight - point system , which can take the 5,500mAh shelling to full in 28 minutes , according to OnePlus . Except you wo n’t get the maximum speed unless you habituate the special 100W SuperVOOC charger and cable , which , unless you already own one , will cost $ 50 or 60 British Irish pound to get one .

you may still charge the battery using any USB - C cable and wall charger , but how long will it take ? I used a standard GaN rampart charger from Anker , which supports the 45W PD PPS criterion , and it reached 65 % in 20 mo and in full charge in 38 minutes . I can dwell with it not charging any quicker than that and with not paying for OnePlus ’ expensive accessory .

A person holding the OnePlus Nord 4 using the Gallery app.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It ’s not a good facial expression , though , as OnePlus promotes the proprietary 100W charging feature as a benefit yet does n’t include the necessary components in the corner to make it work . There ’s also no wireless charging , which OnePlus has long withheld on the Nord serial . But this feature is found on many other phones at this cost and is a convenience some may not want to do without .

How about overall stamp battery life ? A 30 - instant YouTube video at 2160p and at full luminosity hire only 4 % , whileAsphalt 9 : Legendsfor the same amount of time takes 8 % . With around two - and - a - one-half hours of motley - use screen door time , the bombardment has had around 50 % remaining at the remnant of my day ( 8 a.m. to around midnight ) , so expect at least five minute of purpose from a single charge . I ’ve found two day on a charge to be accomplishable this way , and that ’s good performance .

Is it a pain in the neck that the SuperVOOC charger is n’t in the loge ? Yes , but do n’t trouble oneself buying one . Just get a meretricious USB PD PPS battery charger and use that . Otherwise , bombardment life is a real highlighting .

The OnePlus Nord 4’s screen refresh rate Settings page.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

OnePlus Nord 4: price and availability

OnePlus will almost sure as shooting not publish the Nord 4 in the U.S. , as it prefers to tailor - make dedicated Nord phone that it feels better become the market . The OnePlus Nord 4 will be usable in the U.K. , Europe , and other regions , and it set out at 429 British pounds or 499 euros , which converts to around $ 550 .

There is a lot of choice at this price . TheGoogle Pixel 8ais a great buy , as is theNothing Phone 2a , theMoto G Stylus , or theMotorola Edge 2024 , plus the very well - receivedOnePlus 12Rif you could stretch the budget and do n’t manage about wireless charging . BothSamsung ’s Galaxy A35andGalaxy A55have spec improvements over the Nord 4 but are n’t such excogitation winner . If you do n’t mind waitress for a sales agreement , then theGoogle Pixel 8can turn up for only a little more money than the OnePlus Nord 4 , too .

OnePlus Nord 4: verdict

The OnePlus Nord 4 ’s alloy trunk is nerveless , and it ’s great to see the mental process being explored again after lying dormant for so long . However , you ’ve got to really appreciate the applied science and tactile property of the all - metal headphone , as there are some omit features that hurt the earphone . There ’s no wireless charging and no proprietary fast - charger in the box . The camera is a little average , and while IP65 will in all likelihood be fine , other phones do better at this price . The software rest love - it - or - hate - it , and it ’s less pleasurable to use than Android on the Pixel 8a , for good example .

On a more positive note , I love the way the speech sound feels in my manus , and it ’s just about the thoroughgoing weightiness . The sieve is beautiful , and the stereo verbalizer sound excellent , so it ’s very good for media and games . Plus , there ’s tidy sum of stamina in the stamp battery . It ’s going to last a while because of longer package support , OnePlus ’ promised system optimization , and nice enduringness . Does this make it one to grease one’s palms ?

The OnePlus Nord 4 sits alongside all the expected competitors rather than drive out front of them and use cool excogitation and materials , along with excellent ergonomics , to tempt you or else of an excessively packed spec tilt . I appreciate this , and if you do too , then the OnePlus Nord 4 wo n’t disappoint at all . But if you favor the photographic camera to be the adept or to have public lavatory feature like radiocommunication charging , then it ’s good to look elsewhere .

A person holding the OnePlus Nord 4 and using the browser app.