OnePlus Nord 4 review

Competition

The OnePlus Nord 4, just like the Nord 3, is fairly competitive in its price class. The handset is a solid all-rounder with some standout features such as excellent battery life, charging, performance and design. It also has a relatively bright display and decent speakers.

Let's start with some homegrown competition. The Nord 4 is priced about the same as the recently launched Oppo Reno12, Reno12 Pro and the Realme 12 Pro+. In either case, you will be getting roughly the same user experience from a software standpoint, but the Nord 4 easily outperforms all with its Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 SoC. OnePlus' contender also has a more reliable and sometimes brighter display. However, the Realme 12 Pro+ might appeal to users looking for an above-average camera quality in this price range. It has a bigger man sensor and a potent 3x telephoto camera, but it also has the shortest battery life of the three. The Reno12 Pro is also arguably better in this regard as it has a nice 2x zoom camera and outstanding selfie camera with AF.

Oppo Reno12 • Oppo Reno12 Pro • Realme 12 Pro+ • vivo V30

The vivo V30 is a viable alternative specifically for Indian users, and it's slightly cheaper, too. It has an excellent display and overall better camera experience (nicer ultrawide, bigger main sensor, better selfie with AF), extra long battery life and a charging solution that's almost as fast. However, you will have to settle with a slower chipset and sub-optimal speakers.

Google Pixel 8a • Xiaomi Poco F6 Pro

In case you are in the market for a better camera, the Pixel 8a should also be on your list. It has better overall camera performance than the Nord 4, a brighter display and higher ingress protection, but it drags behind in pretty much every other aspect. The Nord 4 is faster, has longer battery life and offers speedier charging.

Perhaps the Nord 4's biggest competitors is the Poco F6 Pro, which we saved for last. The handset is one of the few, if not the only one, in the same price range to beat the Nord 4 in raw performance. Camera quality is comparable, charging is faster on the Poco and it comes with 256GB storage by default. It fails to impress with battery life, which is perhaps the Nord 4's only measurable advantage over the F6 Pro.

Verdict

All in all, the OnePlus Nord 4 remains competitive in its price range by offering a unique design approach, excellent battery life, speedy charging and great performance thanks to its Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chip. The camera experience is a mixed bag, but we tend to like the photos taken with the main camera in 1x Photo mode. The absence of stabilized 4K video recording is the bigger con in our books, though.

Having 256GB storage by default would have made the Nord 4 a tad more competitive as at least half of the phones in the same price bracket start from 128GB. The promised 4 years of software support will likely draw some users who are already on the fence.

So, do we recommend the Nord 4? For the most part, yes. Once the dust (and pricing) settles, it may even become a bargain, even. But for now, you'd get more competitive camera performance for the money elsewhere.

Pros

• Solid, standout all-metal design.
• One of the best-in-class battery life.
• Excellent chipset performance for the class.
• Main camera produces nice stills day and night.
• Competitive fast charging solution.
• 4 years of major software updates.

Cons

• Selfie and ultrawide cameras are meh, no EIS in 4K.
• Refresh rate control is inconsistent; rarely uses 120Hz.
• No bundled charger (in Europe).