The OnePlus Nord 4 is currently on pre-order, sales will begin on August 16 (Friday next week). This phone features a metal unibody, which was once the pinnacle of high-end design and is now all but nonexistent.
This mid-ranger is equipped with a flat 6.74” OLED display (1,240 x 2,772px) with 120Hz refresh rate and 10-bit colors (HDR10+). The phone is rated IP65 for dust and water resistance. Its metal back blocks wireless charging, but the large 5,500mAh battery can rely on 100W wired charging (100% in 28 minutes). The camera system has a 50MP main (1/1.95”, OIS) and 8MP ultra wide (112°) on the back, the selfie camera has a 16MP sensor.
The Nord 4 is powered by the fast Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. OnePlus promises a fairly long support window – 4 major OS updates and 6 years of security patches.
Alternatively, you can grab the Motorola Edge 50 Pro. It has a curved 6.7” OLED display (1,220 x 2,712px) with 10-bit colors (HDR10+) and 144Hz refresh rate. This one is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which sounds close, but is actually a lot slower than the 7+. Motorola promises 3 OS updates and 4 years of security patches.
The faux-leather back of the Edge 50 Pro lets through fast wireless charging (50W) and there is even faster wired charging (125W), but the battery is relatively small at 4,500mAh. The Nord 4 has a decisive lead in Active use score – 14:41h vs. 11:59h. The Moto has a tele lens, a 3x 10MP module, in addition to the 50MP main (1/1.55”, OIS) and 13MP ultra wide. It also stands out with a 50MP selfie camera with a wide 21mm lens. And it has better water resistance with an IP68 rating.
Looking at cheaper members of the Nord family, Amazon has both the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and the CE 4 Lite. Both use the aging Snapdragon 695 chipset with UFS 2.2 storage. However, the old model has a 6.72” IPS LCD (FHD+, 120Hz) with Gorilla Glass.
The newer Nord CE 4 Lite switches over to a 6.67” OLED panel (FHD+, 120Hz, much higher peak brightness) with no mention of toughened glass. It does have a dust and water resistance rating, though, IP54. Note that the old CE 3 Lite featured a 108MP main camera (no OIS) with a 1/1.67” sensor, while the newer model drops down to a 50MP camera with a 1/1.95” sensor, but it does gain OIS.
The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion features a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which is fairly slow, but it still beats the SD 695 by a handy margin. Storage is still UFS 2.2, though, and unlike the Nords, there is no microSD expansion slot.
Anyway, this model has a curved 6.7” OLED (FHD+, 120Hz) with Gorilla Glass 5 and full IP68 protection. It doesn’t have wireless charging like the Pro, but the 5,000mAh battery can be filled up at up to 68W. The camera features a 50MP main sensor (1.0µm pixels vs. 0.8µm on the CE 4 Lite) and a 13MP ultra wide (120°). The 32MP selfie on the front can record 4K @ 30fps video, while the Nords top out at 1080p.
There’s also the Samsung Galaxy A35 with a flat 6.6” OLED (FHD+, 120Hz). This one sports the newer Gorilla Glass Victus+ and almost as good water resistance (IP67). Storage is expandable and you get the familiar One UI (which is expected to gain AI features like the S-series phones).
There’s a 50MP (1/1.96”, OIS) main and 8MP ultra wide (123°) cameras on the back, plus a 13MP selfie (which can capture 4K @ 30fps videos). The 5,000mAh battery offers decent endurance (12:26h Active use score), but the 25W charging feels glacial (it took us nearly an hour and a half to get a full charge).
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