OnePlus Nord 4 Review: Testing mettle with metal

Four years of Android updates and an additional two years of security updates add up to six whole years of support by OnePlus, which means the company believes that the Nord 4 can survive as your daily smartphone for that long. While software support is critical for smartphone survival, can the hardware inside hold up its end of the bargain? Let's find out.

OnePlus Nord 4 Design

As soon as I unboxed my OnePlus Nord 4, I was smitten by the design. It's an all-metal construction, which is a rarity these days. The last OnePlus phone with a metal back was the OnePlus 5T, which launched in 2017. Metal phones lost ground to glass because metal couldn't transmit cellular signals as well. And in the 5G era, no smartphone maker could risk poor cellular connectivity. But OnePlus has challenged the status quo, and it's come out victorious in terms of looks.

It's also a dual-tone back finish, with a reflective top part, and a brushed aluminium finish on the bottom. As amazing as it looks, the top part of the back is a massive fingerprint magnet, and I had to constantly wipe it clean. Putting a case on this phone felt almost criminal, but I eventually had to resort to one. I assume that's how most people would also treat their Nord 4 devices. But nevertheless, the design feels like a massive plus. It doesn't have any sharp edges, so holding the phone feels comfortable. It doesn't even weigh much; just under 200g. There's even an alert slider, albeit a OnePlus staple at this point, but always nice to see it there.

OnePlus Nord 4 Display

The phone sports a big 6.74-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, boasting a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2150 nits. The Nord 4 also inherits the ProXDR technology from the flagship OnePlus 12 smartphone that adjusts the screen's brightness and clarity to show content in the best way possible. Once again, a commendable attempt on paper, but I wasn't impressed by the display quality. While the AMOLED panel peaks at 2150 nits, it rarely manages to reach those numbers, and if you're venturing outdoors on a bright sunny day, the Nord 4 will, at times, struggle to show you what's on the screen. 

OnePlus says that the Nord 4 has stolen yet another flagship feature - AquaTouch technology, which is supposed to make your phone screen usable even in rain. Thankfully, I had no problems testing this out in the Mumbai rains, and the feature works well. Rarely did I witness the screen registering ghost touches. However, the OnePlus Nord 4 only has an IP65 rating, which makes me skeptical about its ability to handle the intense Mumbai rains on a regular basis.

OnePlus Nord 4 Cameras

There are 2 rear cameras on the OnePlus Nord 4, a 50MP primary Sony LYT-600 sensor, as well as a secondary 8MP ultrawide camera with a 112-degree field of view. There's also a 16MP selfie shooter on the front. 

Overall, the camera performance is decent. The primary lens portrays colours well, but nothing screams premium. There were multiple cases when the camera just overexposed simple shots, and I had to click it again for the phone to settle down and take a more usable shot. There is a new AI Groupfie feature, which is supposed to click multiple shots and stitch them together to make sure all the faces are looking into the camera, similar to the Pixel Best Take. But this feature will come to users as a software update later. 

Check out OnePlus Nord 4 camera samples here.

OnePlus Nord 4 Performance & Software

Performance has always been an area of strength for OnePlus, and the Nord 4 is no different. It ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset, and while chipset naming schemes are getting out of hand, the performance is stable and impressive. You can choose from 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM options. I have the 12GB RAM variant and the phone has been flying through everything I've thrown at it. No problems opening multiple apps in a row, switching between the camera and Google Maps, or even playing BGMI. Because of its metal construction, I was worried that the phone might get too hot to handle, but it ran surprisingly cool throughout my testing process. 

While six years of survival might be a really long shot, the OnePlus Nord 4 in my opinion could easily make it through three years of rough use without losing much performance. It's only a matter of how well OnePlus supports it through software.

Speaking of which, OnePlus Nord 4 runs on OxygenOS 14.1 based on Android 14. While OxygenOS is one of the more cleaner Android skins, there is a considerable amount of pre-installed apps and bloatware on the phone. There was no option to unselect these pre-installed apps during the initial setup either, so it seems like your best bet is to manually uninstall them if you don't want them occupying storage.

OnePlus Nord 4 Battery

Yet another stronghold for OnePlus is the battery and charging. The Nord 4 comes with a big 5500mAh cell, which has now become the norm for OnePlus. Despite my best attempts to drain a fully charged phone, it didn't quit on me and survived my testing. It further ships with a 100W adapter in the box that tops up the phone in under 30 minutes. 

Should you buy OnePlus Nord 4?

OnePlus Nord 4 has a starting price of ₹29,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant. At this price, a smartphone needs to do everything right to be an outright winner. OnePlus Nord 4 does most things right, stellar design, good screen, solid battery life and the promise of a long-term future. But there is work to be done in the optics department, especially since cameras are becoming a huge decision-maker for buyers. This is a phone that's almost there, but just needs some support to get to the top.