Years after OnePlus released its first smartphone, it started the Nord line, filled with phones that had the OnePlus DNA but at a much more affordable price point. They didn't need to be flagship killers. Well, the Nord series has come a very long way since then. The Nord CE 4 has just been unveiled, and it looks very, very good.
The Budget-Friendly Nord CE 4 Is Official And Blows Its Predecessor Out Of The Water
OnePlus showed us their mainline phones for the year in January, and they were pretty solid all around. Now, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 has been launched, and I have to say, it's a very impressive device, especially at the low price it comes at (spoiler: just three Benjamins?).
The Design
Let's talk about the design of the OnePlus Nord CE 4 first. Unsurprisingly, the front is all-screen with a cutout for the selfie camera. The back panel and frame are made of plastic, which matches the price point, but OnePlus at least tries to make the phone exciting with the glossy Dark Chrome color and the marble-patterned Celadon Marble color.
In the upper left corner of the back panel, a vertically oriented oval contains two stacked cameras and a third similarly sized module that houses the flash. The power button and volume rocker are on the right side of the frame, and the alert slider is nowhere to be seen on this OnePlus device. It is also IP54 certified.
The Hardware
The display is a large 6.7-inch AMOLED unit with a 120Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution. The display is also HDR10+ capable. It also has a 2,160Hz PWM dimming and a 240Hz touch sampling rate.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 powers the phone, which is a good boost over the Snapdragon 782G that was in the Nord CE 3. You get UFS 3.1 storage and the option of 128GB or 256GB, each paired with 8GB of RAM. There's also a microSD slot just in case that's not enough storage for you.
The battery is 5,500 mAh and comes with very impressive 100W wired charging. For a mid-ranger like this, that's unexpected and very commendable. Plus, both specs are a major improvement over the OnePlus Nord CE 3 which had a 5,000 mAh battery and 80W wired charging. Plus, the charger and cable come in the box, which in 2024, is something to be glad about.
The Cameras
The cameras don't change much from its predecessor (though they certainly change). The selfie camera is a 16MP sensor, and the main camera is a 50MP unit with OIS with an 8MP ultrawide as a sidekick. This year drops the 2MP macro lens, which for the most part, shouldn't be missed too much. You'll be able to shoot at 4K/30 with the main sensor.
The Software
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 runs on Android 14 skinned with Oxygen OS 14, and they say you'll get two years of major OS updates and three years of security updates. You'll also get Bluetooth 5.4, up from Bluetooth 5.2.
You'll get the company's Battery Health Engine, which should supposedly help keep a battery that performs well even after four years of charging cycles. It also comes with Aqua Touch (which debuted on the OnePlus 12), which OnePlus says should help your phone detect your touches better when the phone is wet.
The Pricing
The OnePlus Nord CE 4 is very affordable in my opinion. If you're going for the 128GB variant of the phone, you'll only need to part with about $300 and add a little extra to double the storage and get the 256GB variant at $325.
With a bigger battery, better charging, a faster chipset, and water resistance, the Nord CE 4 stacks nicely against its predecessor and I'd definitely say it's worth its price tag.
