Technology

It is clear that this phone will have strong competition to contend with, and what should help is the Nord 4’s metal build, strong battery life and a familiar software Really is now in its fourth generation, as the name suggests, which makes any attempts to justify its positioning and proposition as irrelevant as pressure washing your car on a rainy day. easy to achieve as the smartphone market still largely hemmed into two major category boxes – mid-range Android phones and premium, flagship Android phones. OnePlus Nord This doesn’t sit in either of those boxes, The 4’s charm offensive begins with an aluminium unibody, which isn’t always the case (in fact, it’s rarely ever the case) with phones priced around ₹29,999 onwards. Competition landscape includes Xiaomi Redmi Note 13, the Vivo V30, Samsung Galaxy A35, for those who find it relevant the Galaxy S23 FE, and for higher spec variants, the Google Pixel 8a. An ode to the OnePlus 3T perhaps? You may remember how far ahead of the curve OnePlus used to be in that era, a foundation that serves it well today. There are three variants to choose from, take your pick. I’d recommend the green, with a stand-out dual tone finish on the back. That said, just an IP65 dust and water resistance rating – don’t complicate with specifics. It is logical that the Nord 4 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 chip. in their hierarchy, sits a notch below the Snapdragon 8 Gen In fact, the Nord 4’s performance competition comes from the Google Pixel 8a and the Tensor G3 chip it shares with the rest of the Pixel 8 series. As far as thermals go on a warm summers day, the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 is a step ahead. It is a fairly consistent chip overall performance sustained multitasking and the overall snappiness when. It is a tad perplexing that the Nord 4 will eventually begin to show signs of a struggle after about 30 minutes of playing Asphalt 9 Legenda. any game specific variables, the same was replicated with a couple of other titles. whether this clocking down of performance is due to heating because of an unfortunate timing with the seasons, or something that can be solved with a software update to change how the process loading is handled. OnePlus’ pitch says the metal body, apart from necessitating changes to antenna design, acts as an amplifier for 5G signals. cannot tell you how true that is and to what extent, since the 4 held signals at the same level as a OnePlus 12 and other accompanying Android phones (the same networks across all). multitasking, are a number of OxygenOS improvements too. That has always been a strong point for OnePlus phones, across its portfolio. In fact, software is one of the reasons why I recommend OnePlus phones over its rivals, to the many who ask. The familiarity with OxygenOS 14.1 remains too, which is great for anyone There’s AI in the mix too now, some genuinely and some good to haves. I’d file audio transcriptions (there are summaries too) and AI Note Summary unexpected bunch of preloaded apps and games that you may not want to keep around. Delete the ones you can, is all I can suggest, as maker has fallen to the lure of preloaded apps as a revenue stream. hold a grudge, the market is such. I must note my partial surprise at the Nord 4’s robust battery stamina. Two hours of continuous video streaming at around 60% display brightness level, and the battery dropped from 100% to 91% Couple that 100-watt fast charging, and battery anxiety may not really figure you use the Nord 4. The numbers and real-world usage are better than expected. We need to talk about the camera. The dual camera setup at the back is led by a 50-megapixel Sony LYTIA sensor, alongside an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor. Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science OnePlus also says the RAW photo algorithms have been taken straight from the flagship OnePlus 12’s book. The predecessor has a 2-megapixel macro shooter but that’s not around anymore. And safe to say, it won’t be missed. Nevertheless, each photo you take will return with positives and elements that aren’t as much. look. They’re well separated, not too vivid and not too dull. Equally, there will be times when the look too subdued, and that often has to do with lesser than optimal lighting. Sharpness is not as much as I’d have liked. I’d recommend sticking to the main camera, this phone needs a couple of camera focused updates before the sort of performance you’d expect from the optical hardware in place. Before tackling anything else, it is good to see that OnePlus has kept the Nord 4’s price very much in check, and in turn, competitive. The 6.7-inch display doesn’t elicit any complaints, does the metal build, battery optimisations and overall performance. eed some work, and nothing tells me OnePlus will ignore that aspect. After all, its competition is the Google Pixel 8a, and the camera performance is significantly better there. The Nord 4 must continue to improve. It just has to.