OnePlus Nord 4 review: An all-round phone with focus on design, performance

OnePlus Nord 4 boasts a premium all metal design reminiscent of its flagship OnePlus 3 models that it launched in 2016. The smartphone, however, is a midrange offering priced at Rs 29,999 onwards

OnePlus Nord 4 is presented by the company as its first smartphone in the 5G era to feature an all-metal unibody design. This is assumed significant because a full metal body generally presents challenges such as network reception issues, heating problems, and performance drops due to thermal throttling. So, do these problems persist with the Nord 4 when used as a daily driver? Let us find out:

Design

The OnePlus Nord 4 in its Oasis Green colour looks premium with a dual-tone finish on the rear side. The smartphone resembles a slab of aluminium with a soft metallic brushed finish, while OnePlus has incorporated a glossy, glass-like top section that houses both the rear cameras and a dual-flash setup. The cameras are uniquely placed, with individual bumps for each sensor positioned next to each other horizontally and aligned to the left. Generally, smartphones with a horizontal layout opt for a centrally aligned setup, but this placement adds a unique touch. On the front, the smartphone features a completely flat display with very thin bezels on all sides, fitting neatly within the aluminium chassis.

 

The metal unibody design with smooth curved edges on the back enhances ergonomics. The Nord 4 feels premium to hold and touch, and the all-metal body gives you the confidence to go case-less. Although it is neither the lightest nor the slimmest smartphone, it feels well-balanced and sleek.

An all-metal design is a key feature of the Nord 4, leading OnePlus to opt for a different antenna setup. While the antenna strips on the frame do not detract much from the aesthetics, the one running along the entire bottom edge does feel odd. However, it is not immediately noticeable as the colour and finish of the chassis do a good job of hiding the antenna.

The aluminium chassis with a brushed finish adds grip and resists fingerprints and dirt marks but can feel slippery when used with wet hands. Conversely, the glossy upper section of the smartphone can attract smudges.

OnePlus Nord 4: All-metal unibody design

 

Display

While the company has focused on marketing the Nord 4 for its design and build, the display stands out as one of the smartphone's most impressive features. The 6.74-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel ranks among the best flat screens available. With thin bezels, the display feels almost edge-to-edge, adding a premium look to the device. The screen shows vibrant colours and sharp, detailed visuals. It is also bright, offering optimum visibility outdoors at all viewing angles.

The 120Hz refresh rate, coupled with smooth animations, makes scrolling a breeze. Additionally, the settings menu allows you to set app-specific refresh rates. You can even force some apps to run at 120Hz, although the default is 60Hz.

The OnePlus Nord 4 comes with a default screen resolution of 2414 x 1080, which you can manually change to 2772 x 1240 in the display settings. The “Adaptive Details Enhancement” feature, which is auto-enabled, intelligently recognises what's on the screen and enhances details for videos and select apps. However, with the highest display resolution, I barely noticed any significant difference while watching YouTube videos. For content consumption, the display supports HDR10+, offering HDR viewing on YouTube videos but not for Netflix, which is a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, UltraHDR support is available for viewing HDR images in the gallery.

OnePlus Nord 4: Display

Camera

The OnePlus Nord 4 sports a 50-megapixel camera sensor (Sony LYTIA) with optical image stabilisation. Images from the primary camera come out clear in both natural and artificial lighting conditions. Even under low light, the camera captures adequate details. The only downside is that colours do not appear punchy under artificial lighting, although the sensor maintains its accuracy. On the shots taken through the 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, colours appear more lifelike, but it softens the details to produce the best pictures possible. This changes under low light, as the sensor produces low-contrast and hazy images in such conditions.

Under natural lighting, the Nord 4 excels in capturing decent portrait shots. However, under artificial lighting, edge detection falls short, especially with a busy background. The 16MP front-facing camera takes decent selfies in well-lit environments with adequate detail, but with low colour saturation.

For videography, the Nord 4 offers recording options in 4K, 1080p, and 720p resolutions, all at 30 and 60 frames per second. It should be noted that EIS and OIS functionality is limited to 1080p recording at 60 fps. Surprisingly, the wide-angle lens is only available when recording 720p video at 30fps, making it practically useless for videography. As for video quality, the recording is clear and crisp, similar to the sensor's performance for imaging. Additionally, with Ultra-steady mode enabled, the recording felt jitter-free while in motion.

Performance

The OnePlus Nord 4 is powered by the Qualcomm 7 Plus Gen 3 chipset and offers ample performance for daily use. Tasks such as web browsing, social media scrolling, and watching high-resolution videos are handled effortlessly by the smartphone. Even when multitasking or running heavy apps in the background, the device remains smooth and responsive.

The Nord 4 also performs well for gaming. While playing demanding games like Real Racing 3, FC Mobile, or Genshin Impact, there was no noticeable lag on medium to high settings. However, the lower side frame section did get slightly warm, and occasional frame rate drops were observed. Although it never became too hot to touch, the minor stutter in gameplay persisted for a while.

Software and AI features

The OnePlus Nord 4 boots OxygenOS 14.1, and it’s the “.1” update that brings new AI features similar to OPPO’s ColorOS 14.1 on its Reno 12 series. While some names have changed, the features and functionality remain the same.

The Nord 4 features the same Smart Sidebar as the Reno 12 Pro, offering a variety of functionalities. When you open an article on the web, you can slide open the sidebar to see two new options: "AI Speak" and "AI Summary" under the “Reading Assistant” section. "AI Speak" reads the text from the webpage aloud, while "AI Summary" generates a bullet-point summary highlighting important information. This worked with all the web browsers I tested, including the privacy-centric Brave.

You also get the AI Writer feature for writing assistance, which appears on the sidebar when you open a text field, such as an email composition page. By tapping on the feature, it scans the screen and opens a floating window where you can input pointers, keywords, or phrases to generate text. You can also choose between tones for the generated content, such as “concise,” “detailed,” and “polite.” While this feature was available on Instagram for writing captions, it did not appear for typing messages, neither on the native message app nor on third-party apps like WhatsApp.

The native voice features also receive AI treatment with functionalities like audio transcription and text summarization of voice recordings. The text summarization feature works well, providing an overview of a voice recording with key information in bullet points. However, the text transcription is not real-time and is only available once the recording is completed and saved.

Interestingly, OnePlus has not incorporated the new AI-powered image editing tools found on the Reno 12. However, the handy AI eraser is still available.

Battery

The battery is a standout feature for the OnePlus Nord 4. With a 5500mAh capacity, the smartphone can last up to two days for conservative users. Even with more frequent use, it easily lasts a full day with some charge left. The impressive battery capacity is further enhanced by 100W fast wired charging support, which takes you from 6 per cent to 55 per cent in just 14 minutes. A full charge from 4 per cent took less than half an hour.

Verdict

The OnePlus Nord 4 offers a unique design reminiscent of mid-2010s smartphones with its all-metal chassis. Additionally, the smartphone offers a dazzling flat display, ample performance, solid battery life, and a few handy AI tools.

Priced from Rs 29,999 onwards, the OnePlus Nord 4 presents itself as a compelling option for those seeking a flagship-grade experience in mid-range segment, even if it means compromising on a few features such as top-notch camera performance and Dolby Vision HDR support.