The OnePlus Nord 4 is currently up for pre-order, with sales starting on August 16 (Friday of next week). The phone sports a metal unibody design that was once the pinnacle of high-end design and is now practically nonexistent.
This mid-range phone is equipped with a 6.74-inch (1240 x 2772 px) flat OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and 10-bit colors (HDR10 +). The phone has an IP65 dust and water resistance rating. The metal back blocks wireless charging, but the large 5500 mAh battery can rely on 100W wired charging (100% in 28 minutes). The camera system has a 50 MP (1 / 1.95 “) main camera, OIS) and an 8 MP (112 °) ultra-wide camera on the back, the selfie camera has a 16 MP 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 6.7-inch (1220 x 2712 pixels) curved OLED display with 10-bit color (HDR10+) and a 144Hz refresh rate. This model is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which sounds similar but is actually significantly slower than the 7+. Motorola promises 3 OS updates and 4 years of security patches.
The Edge 50 Pro’s faux leather back allows for fast wireless charging (50W), and wired charging is even faster (125W), but the battery is relatively small and has a capacity of 4500 mAh. Nord 4 has a clear advantage in active use results – 14:41h vs. 11:59h. Moto has a telephoto lens, a 3x 10 MP module, in addition to the main 50 MP (1 / 1.55 “, OIS) and 13 MP ultra-wide-angle. It also stands out with a 50 MP selfie camera with a wide 21 mm lens. It also has better water resistance with an IP68 class.
Looking at the cheaper members of the Nord family, Amazon has both the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite and CE 4 Lite. Both use the aging Snapdragon 695 chipset with UFS 2.2 storage. However, the older model has a 6.72-inch IPS LCD (FHD+, 120Hz) screen with Gorilla Glass.
The newer Nord CE 4 Lite switches to a 6.67″ OLED panel (FHD+, 120Hz, significantly higher peak brightness) with no mention of tempered glass. It does, however, have an IP54 dust and water resistance rating. It should be noted that the old CE 3 Lite had a 108MP main camera (non-OIS) with a 1/1.67″ sensor, while the newer model switches to a 50MP camera with a 1/1.95″ sensor but gains OIS.
The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which is pretty slow, but still beats the SD 695 by a clear margin. Storage is still UFS 2.2, and unlike the Nord, there’s no microSD expansion slot.
Either way, this model sports a curved 6.7-inch 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 charge at up to 68W. The camera has a 50MP main sensor (1.0µm pixels vs. 0.8µm on the CE 4 Lite) and a 13MP ultra-wide (120°). The 32MP selfie camera on the front can shoot 4K video at 30fps, while the Nord maxes out at 1080p.
There’s also the Samsung Galaxy A35 with a flat 6.6-inch OLED (FHD+, 120Hz). This one has 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).
On the back, you’ll find a 50MP (1/1.96”) main camera, an OIS camera, and an 8MP (123°) ultra-wide-angle camera, along with a 13MP selfie camera (which can shoot 4K video at 30fps). The 5,000mAh battery offers decent endurance (active use score of 12:26 h), but the 25W charging feels glacial (it took us almost an hour and a half to fully charge).
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