OnePlus announced a new launch in India today, and it is the Nord CE 4 5G. The new Nord series smartphone succeeds the OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G from last year and brings some notable upgrades. It is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, supports 100W fast wired charging and more. Is it the smartphone to consider at it’s price or do you have better options? Let’s find out.
OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G: Price, Availability
The new Nord CE 4 5G is priced at Rs 24,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model and Rs 26,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model. It will be available in Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome shades, via OnePlus.in, Amazon.in, OnePlus Experience Stores and retail partner stores. The device will go on sale from April 4, at 12PM noon.
Those who order the handset on April 4 will get OnePlus Nord Buds 2r for free along with an exchange bonus of up to Rs 2,500. From April 5, buyers can avail a discount of Rs 1,500 with select bank cards, with the same exchange bonus of Rs 2,500.
OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G: Specifications
The Nord CE 4 5G will sport a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED Display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera, sRGB, Display P3, 10-bit Color Depth, and HDR10+. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Processor paired with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Moreover, the handset supports expandable storage up to 1TB.
For optics, the device features a 50MP f/1.8 Sony LYT-600 primary camera with OIS paired with an 8MP f/2.2 IMX355 ultra-wide angle sensor. There is a 16MP f/2.4 shooter on the front for selfies. The handset draws power from a 5,500mAh battery with 100W fast wired charging support.
Connectivity options include hybrid Dual-SIM 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.4, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The handset has an in-display optical fingerprint sensor, is IP54 rated and also gets stereo speakers.
OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G Vs. Nothing Phone (2a)
At it’s price, the Nord CE 4 5G has a few competitors to beat, with the strongest one being the Nothing Phone (2a). The Phone (2a) starts at Rs 23,999 for the same base model as Nord and Rs 25,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model which is again cheaper than the Nord. For a thousand bucks more, you get the 12GB RAM model which again offers an advantage over the Nord’s top-end model.
Aside from that, both of them have a similar display while the Nord’s Chipset is slightly more powerful. However, Nothing makes up for it in the software segment, offering a cleaner experience than the Nord CE 4 in our opinion, while also offering 3 years of OS upgrades which is a year longer than what you’d get with the Nord. In real world use, you may not notice a huge difference considering Nothing’s software is already quite smooth, as we noticed during our review.
While the cameras remain similar on-paper and we can’t compare them unless we use them side-by-side, we can say that both of them have practical setup. In terms of battery, OnePlus is the clear winner with a larger battery capacity and faster charging.
To conclude, the choice will remain subjective considering what suits you better. If you want a larger battery and faster charging, the Nord CE 4 5G is a better pick but if you want a cleaner software experience with longer support and a unique design for a cheaper price, the Nothing phone (2a) would fit that criteria the best.
Aside from this, at Rs 26,999, you may also consider the Poco X6 Pro 5G which is one of the most powerful smartphones in the price range with faster RAM and storage as well. However, do note that some users have been reporting heating and throttling issues with the device of late.
