OnePlus Nord CE4 review: Still not good enough

Last year's Nord CE3 was a decent mid-range option, offering a decent 120Hz AMOLED panel, good camera at the back, and 80W charging. OnePlus isn't making too many changes with the Nord CE4; the phone has the same 120Hz screen, but it has a bit more power thanks to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, a larger battery with 100W charging, and a new 50MP camera at the back.

However, the Nord CE4 has inherent limitations; the phone will get just two Android platform updates, there's no alert slider, and the cameras don't do a passable job when it comes to shooting videos. With Nothing setting the bar high in this segment thanks to the Phone 2a, OnePlus had to deliver the best possible device to be able to measure up.

But it hasn't done that. The Chinese manufacturer instead focused on iterative upgrades without addressing key shortcomings of the Nord CE series, and in doing so, it made the CE4 a poor overall choice in this segment.

OnePlus Nord CE4: Pricing and release date

OnePlus unveiled the Nord CE4 in India on April 1, and the phone is now available for sale in the country. The phone is sold in Celadon Marble (the model I'm using) and Dark Chrome color variants, and it retails for ₹24,999 ($300). That's for the variant that has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and if you need more storage, there's an 8GB/256GB version that's available for ₹26,999 ($324).

OnePlus has a few launch incentives that discount the phone by up to ₹1,500 ($18) with select cards, and you can get an additional ₹2,500 ($30) off by exchanging your current phone.

OnePlus Nord CE4: What I like

OnePlus likes to switch up the design of Nord CE phones with every generation, and that's the case with the CE4 as well. The phone doesn't have many similarities to the Nord CE3, with OnePlus now offering an oblong camera housing that looks a lot cleaner.

The choice of color is interesting as well; the Celadon Marble variant has a distinctive pattern at the back that stands out, and while the hue isn't as vibrant, it evokes similarities to the OnePlus 11 Marble Odyssey and even the OnePlus 12. The back has a glossy finish and is prone to picking up smudges, and it has a subtle curve where the back meets the mid-frame.

The back and mid-frame are made out of polycarbonate, and I have no problems with that. The phone has flat sides, but you get beveled edges that make holding and using it a little easier. There's also an IR blaster and MicroSD slot, so if you need to extend storage the old-fashioned way, you can do that with ease.

I think the design looks fresh and elegant — particularly with the Celadon Marble version — and the addition of IP54 ingress protection makes the Nord CE4 that much more resilient to the elements. Another intriguing feature that made its way from the OnePlus 12/12R is the Aqua Touch tech that lets you use the device with wet fingers.

Coming to the panel, the Nord CE4 has the same 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen as last year, and it is serviceable. You can set the refresh rate to 60Hz or 120Hz, and there's an auto mode that changes it on the fly. OnePlus is using a custom Panda Glass solution instead of the standard Gorilla Glass over the screen, and while the manufacturer says the phone is able to withstand a tumble from 1.5 meters, I didn't put that to the test.

As for the hardware, the Nord CE4 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 3; it uses the new Cortex A715 and A510 cores and is built on a 4nm node. You get 8GB of RAM as standard, and the base model has 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage, with the 256GB variant also offering UFS 3.1. The Nord CE3 had 12GB of RAM with the 256GB model, but the CE4 is limited to 8GB across the board. That said, more RAM doesn't really make a difference, and 8GB is adequate in this scenario.

The phone doesn't have noticeable lag in daily use, and it does a decent enough job when it comes to gaming — provided you stick to casual games. I didn't see any issues with overheating or while making calls and in general daily usage situations, and the Nord CE4 proved to be reliable. The device has Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and the usual AptX HD codec.

The biggest change with the Nord CE4 is the battery — the phone now has a 5500mAh battery, and there's 100W charging. It takes just over 30 minutes to fully charge the battery, and there really isn't another device in this segment that comes close to the Nord CE4 in this regard. Battery life is outstanding as well, and I easily got a day and a half between charges.

Cameras continue to be a big differentiator in this category, and the Nord CE4 uses a new 50MP Sony LYT600 sensor with OIS. That's joined by an 8MP wide-angle lens that features the Sony IMX355, and at the front, you get a 16MP module.

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The camera takes good photos in most situations, and I don't have any problems in this regard. Daylight photos have good detail rendition and dynamic range, and the device is able to lock in on a subject with ease, and maintain focus. The camera does a decent job in low-light scenarios as well, and while there is some noise, you get good details and colors.

On the software side of things, you get the same ColorOS 14 interface based on Android 14 as other OnePlus phones, and there isn't much to talk about. The UI is modern and has a few Material You-based options that allow you to customize accent colors to your preferences, and there is no shortage of customizability.

OnePlus Nord CE4: What I don't like

While the design is good, the Nord CE4 doesn't quite have the same in-hand feel as other devices in this segment; the edges tend to dig into the palm, and that makes using the phone without a case mildly annoying. Then there's the fact that you miss out on the alert slider — even OPPO phones now have the slider, so I don't understand why OnePlus can't be bothered to add the feature to its devices.

There are issues with the screen as well; colors have a distinct cooler tone that is evident when streaming videos on the device. Switching to the Natural mode makes a difference, but even then the color balance isn't dialed in, and I had to adjust the slider all the way to the warm end of the scale to get realistic colors. I didn't see issues with brightness, but the phone doesn't get as bright as its rivals — the Phone 2a was much better in outdoor use.

All games are locked to 60fps, and this is a limitation within ColorOS, so regardless of what OnePlus device you're using, you won't be able to play high refresh rate titles. So even though you get playable framerates in casual titles, the Adreno 720 isn't able to handle demanding games, and there is noticeable jitter.

The Phone 2a does a much better job in this area, and even though it doesn't have hardware that's significantly more powerful than what you're getting here, Nothing's optimization makes all the difference. And on the subject of hardware, you don't get NFC; I still don't get why phone manufacturers omit the feature on their devices, but if you need the radio, you'll need to get the Nord 3.

It's good to see OnePlus not bothering with useless sensors like the 2MP macro lens that was a mainstay on its devices, but the downside is that it doesn't offer a way to shoot macro photos at all. Most brands let you use the main camera or the wide-angle lens to shoot macro shots, but OnePlus hasn't bothered to do so here.

On that note, the wide-angle lens isn't anywhere as good as the main camera, and it barely delivers passable shots in low-light situations. Video recording is similarly hobbled, and videos taken in daylight are grainy and don't have much in the way of detail.

But the biggest limitation with the Nord CE4 is the software. OnePlus guarantees just two platform updates with the phone, and that is not enough in 2024. The best OnePlus phones get four updates as standard, and other devices in this segment now offer three Android OS updates, and that puts the Nord CE4 on the backfoot.

OnePlus Nord CE4: The competition

If you want the best phone that this segment has to offer, you need to get the Nothing Phone 2a. The device has a much more interesting design with LED lights at the back, the software is clean, uncluttered, fluid, and doesn't have any bloatware. You also get more software updates, the hardware is optimized like no other budget phone, and there are two usable cameras at the back.

The POCO X6 Pro is a great choice if you want the best hardware. I like the design of the X6 Pro — particularly in yellow — the panel gets brighter, you get UFS 4.0 storage, NFC, and the Dimensity 8300 Ultra is great at playing demanding games. The software isn't uncluttered, but it is fluid, and you get three platform updates.

OnePlus Nord CE4: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You want a phone with 100W charging
• You need a MicroSD card slot
• You want a good camera at the back

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You want a budget phone with the best hardware
• You need clean software
• You want long-term software updates
• You need usable auxiliary cameras

The Nord CE4 has a few things going for it; the phone has the best battery life of any budget phone I tested this year, and the camera holds its own against its rivals. But the rest of the package is lackluster to say the least. OnePlus should have put in more effort to differentiate the phone, because as it stands, I don't see any reason to recommend it.

The hardware isn't the best in this segment, the lack of NFC is irksome, the wide-angle camera doesn't measure up to the main lens, and there's no alert slider. But it's the update policy that ultimately hinders the Nord CE4 — two platform updates are just not good enough anymore, particularly when immediate rivals like the Phone 2a and X6 Pro guarantee three updates as standard.

OnePlus says the Nord CE series is all about delivering the core essentials that users need, and if that is indeed the case, the company should have thought of adding features that its customers actually care about, like long-term updates and optimized hardware.