DT Tech: OnePlus Nord 4 revives the classic aluminium unibody build

CHENNAI: OnePlus diehards might tell you that the OnePlus Nord line is a throwback to the OnePlus of old. Smartphones that tick the boxes that matter for most of us at a price point that delivers bang for your buck. The OnePlus Nord 4 is more than just that. This is a throwback to the time when all-metal phones fashioned in aluminium dominated the flagship smartphone space. Over the past few years, we’ve seen glass, glasstic (where plastic passes off for glass), stainless steel and titanium in the mix, the Nord 4 goes back to an aircraft-grade aluminium unibody build and it certainly has our attention.

The Nord 4 isn’t just one of the best looking smartphones under Rs 30,000, it’s easily one of the best designed smartphones of 2024; thus far. We dig the dual tone matte and gloss finish on the back panel that plays out particularly well in the Mercurial Silver colour variant that we checked out. The device also comes in two other cool shades - Oasis Green and a sedate Obsidian Midnight. It weighs just under 200 gm despite a massive 5500 mAh battery that should work for most users. OnePlus has also bundled a 100W fast charger that juices up this device in under half an hour.

One of our favourite features of the Nord 4 is the 6.74-inch AMOLED display (2772 x 1240 pixels / 450 PPI). It’s binge proof and features a 120Hz refresh rate and peaks at 2150 nits. It comes with the AquaTouch technology that allows you to use the display when your fingers are wet. At its heart is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. you get a choice of three hardware options - 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB. It aced our gaming and benchmark tests and didn’t heat up despite an all-metal build. The Nord 4 comes with a dual rear cam. While the 50MP primary lens should work for most users and shooting scenarios, the 8MP ultra-wide lens produced a mixed bag of results. It’s still one of the better cameras at this price point.

OnePlus has ‘future-proofed’ this device with four years of Android OS updates and six years of security updates. It’s one of the many features that makes the Nord 4 one of the best buys under Rs 30,000. But most of all this is a smartphone that will appeal to users who appreciate design and aesthetics. (Rs 29,999 onwards)