OnePlus Nord 4 – Midrange smartphone turns out to be a gaming champion

At this point, midrange smartphones have a lot of capabilities and are often a valid alternative to high-end devices. Once again, the OnePlus Nord 4 proves this point and it already does it at first glance: The case is milled from a single block of aluminum, which makes it very robust and high-quality. The other case elements fit so precisely that you wouldn't get any idea that this is a smartphone that costs less than 500 Euros (~$554) in the smaller storage configuration.

With three color versions, there should be something for everyone: Those who like classic looks can choose the dark gray version with a matte back. If you like to attract more looks, you can pick the metallic version with a rippled back. And those who like more color can get the green version that we also got for our testing.

The AMOLED display is surrounded by very slim bezels and offers a fairly high resolution. With a maximum of more than 1,100 cd/m² with a pure white display, its brightness is also impressive and makes it suitable for HDR content.

The processor of the OnePlus Nord 4 is a novelty, although the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen3 is unable to convince us in all regards. While the processor unit performs at class level, it is unable to stand out. There is also some heavy throttling under longer loads, similar to many previous OnePlus devices that also showed some problems with their cooling system in the past.

On the other hand, what is really impressive is the graphics unit that delivers a lot of gaming power: We reached high frame rates in all the games we tested. When we reduced the details, we even got almost 90 fps in PUBG Mobile. Smooth 58 fps are also possible in Genshin Impact, and even with high details we still measured around 40 fps.

So does that mean that everything is great? Well, in terms of the equipment, you have to accept some gaps with the OnePlus Nord 4, such as the lack of wireless charging or eSIM support. The maximum possible WLAN standard supported by the SoC is also not activated and you have to make do with WiFi 6. The slow USB-2.0 port is another annoyance.

However, we also found a few other positive aspects of the OnePlus Nord 4, resulting in us being able to give a clear recommendation overall for the midrange smartphone. Find out what they are in our detailed review of the OnePlus Nord 4.