OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Review: The Nord that goes on and on…

OnePlus’ Nord CE Lite has been the bestseller in its mid-segment Nord series and, in fact, is among the highest-selling 5G phones in India. It has attained this status by ticking basic boxes at an affordable price while retaining the OnePlus aura. So, while you might not get the sort of specs that other Nord devices get, you get the rock-solid basics with a rich OnePlus coating, often at a surprising price. The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite sticks to this template while adding some design and spec flair to what has so far been a winning formula.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Design and Appearance: Seeing this blue won’t make you feel blue!

We got the Mega Blue edition of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite to review, and well, it is one of the most eye-catching colors we have seen on a phone in recent times – a dark shade of blue, very unlike the Nord light blue, but still startlingly bright. OnePlus says it is inspired by Mega Man, a videogame character, and it certainly gives the Nord CE4 Lite an aura of its own, with a shining blue outline around the dual cameras on the back and similar straight blue sides, adding to the effect. At 162.9 mm, this is a tall phone, although it is relatively slim at 8.1 mm and not crazy heavy at 191 grams.

The back and frame of the phone are carbonate, but the Nord CE4 Lite still has a reassuringly solid feel to it – it comes with IP54 splash resistance. The front is the normal, tall display with thin-ish bezels that are the rule these days, but there is no mention of any special glass protection. A close glance will reveal that it has a fingerprint scanner under it, unlike its predecessor. The straight sides give the phone a very contemporary look, and on its base comes a blast from what seems to be becoming our audio past – a 3.5 mm audio jack. All in all, the Mega Blue variant of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is a sight for sore eyes. Some might consider it an eyesore, but everyone will notice it! You also get the phone in Ultra Orange Super Silver versions, but take it from us; the Mega Blue is the one to get if you want to grab some attention, phone-wise.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Tech Specs: Moving up the display, camera, and battery ladder, staying steady on the chip rung!

In spec sheet terms, the Nord CE4 Lite is a step ahead of its predecessor in most departments. The 6.67-inch display in front of the device is slightly smaller than the 6.72-inch one on the Nord CE3 Lite but is an AMOLED one (the Nord CE3 Lite had an LCD). It not only has a FHD+ resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate but also comes with a fingerprint scanner. OnePlus says it uses the same ‘illumination material’ as the flagship OnePlus 11, and it certainly is very impressively bright and colorful. The main camera, too, gets a bump up – it is a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 with OIS (seen for the first time on the Nord CE Lite series) – and the battery gets a boost to 5500 mAh with support for 80W charging. This being a Nord CE Lite, you not only get stereo speakers but also a 3.5 mm audio jack and support for microSD card storage (up to 2 TB) courtesy of a hybrid SIM card slot.

Among this sea of changes, there is an island of stability, or given its importance, we should perhaps call it a continent – the processor. OnePlus has opted to stay with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor for the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite. While a very able processor, especially in terms of power management, it is the same that was seen not just on the Nord CE3 Lite, but even on the Nord CE2 Lite, which makes it definitely on the ancient side in tech terms. This is paired with 8 GB of RAM and storage options of 128 GB and 256 GB. The phone runs on Android 14 out of the box, with OnePlus’ OxygenOS on top of it. It is a decent spec sheet, but that processor does open the door for competition.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite gaming and multimedia: A sight and sound warrior, not a gaming one

Gaming is the biggest casualty of OnePlus’ decision to stick to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor on the Nord CE4 Lite. The phone can handle casual titles quite easily but get into resource-heavy titles, and the lags creep in. You can play Call of Duty and Asphalt on the phone, but you will need to tone down the graphics considerably to get a reasonable experience, and even then, lags will creep in. This is not a phone for those wanting to get into serious gaming, although its bright display and very loud speakers make it a very good device for multimedia.

That AMOLED display makes the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite very good for viewing videos and shows and is bright enough. But for us, audio is the star in the Nord CE4 Lite multimedia show – the two stereo speakers deliver impressive volumes that can be increased even beyond the normal maximum level using a special Ultra Volume mode (added through a recent firmware update). And then there is the 3.5 mm audio jack that lets you connect wired headphones for an even better audio experience. This is a very good device for consuming multimedia content. Just do not take it too deep into gaming waters.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite cameras: Mainly about the main sensor

One of the most notable hardware updates to the Nord CE4 Lite is in the camera department. The phone gets the same 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 sensor with OIS that the more expensive OnePlus Nord CE4 has, although the secondary camera is a very token 2-megapixel mono one, which OnePlus claims aids portrait photography.

We got some very good photographs in daylight conditions and even some brightly colored night snaps. The camera also comes with 2x in-sensor zoom, which lets you get a little closer to the subject without compromising too much on detail. We do not know how much that mono camera contributes to it, but portrait photography on the phone is surprisingly good, and OnePlus lets you use 2x zoom on portraits as well and even lets you tweak aperture levels to adjust the amount of blur. We do recommend turning the beauty mode off in portrait mode, as it tends to saturate colors and smooth skin aggressively and gets switched on by default.

Videos are good enough for social media as long as you stick to decent light conditions. The selfie camera is very social media friendly as well. While it does smoothen skin and make colors brighter than usual, even with beauty effects turned off, we do not see too many people complaining.

OnePlus Nord CE4 General performance: A real battery beast

OnePlus’ decision to stick to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chip might have adversely affected the phone’s gaming ability, but it seems to have paid rich dividends in terms of battery life and general performance. The phone handles day-to-day tasks like web browsing, social networking, mail and messaging without any problems at all and runs multiple applications without too much trouble (unless you are running resource-heavy apps like video and movie editors).

It is in the battery department the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite really shines. It is one of the few phones in the segment that gets through close to almost two days of normal usage on a single charge. Handle it with some care, and you will get close to two and a half days of usage from that large 5500 mAh battery. The phone comes with support for 80W charging and an 80W charger in the box as well. Rather oddly, however, it takes close to an hour to charge after being fully drained, which is almost twice the time taken by the OnePlus Nord CE4, which comes with a similar-sized battery but with 100W charging support.

Call quality is good and although the OxygenOS on the phone comes with some third-party apps, these can be easily uninstalled. The in-display fingerprint scanner works efficiently enough as well. The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is a smooth operator when it comes to general functionality, but its exceptional battery life makes it special. This is a phone that can get through an entire week with just 3-4 charges.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Pricing: Competitive, but up against faster-chipped competition

The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is available in these RAM and storage variants at the following prices:

• 8 GB/ 128 GB: Rs 19,999
• 8 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 22,999

At those prices, it goes up against some very serious competition, most notably from the Poco X6, which comes with a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor at a similar price tag, but its 64-megapixel main camera is a step behind the one on the Nord CE4 Lite, and while it does have a reasonably large 5100 mAh battery, it charges at 67W.

Also priced close to Rs 20,000 is the iQOO Z9, which packs in a Dimensity 7200 chip and comes with a very good 6.67-inch display and a 50-megapixel main sensor with OIS, although it too has a smaller 5000 mAh battery which charges at 44W. Those looking for a more innovative interface might also be tempted by the Nothing Phone 2(a) and the CMF Phone (1), which come with Nothing’s clean Android UI – the Phone (2a) even has Nothing’s famous Glyph UI, which makes LEDs on its back glow in different patterns.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite Review Verdict: Should you go for it?

It faces a fair bit of competition, but the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is the perfect device for those who are looking for a phone for everyday tasks with terrific battery life. The Snapdragon 695 chip might not be a gaming monster, but is a very efficient worker and works very smoothly in combination with OnePlus’ OxygenOS and those 8GB of RAM. Add that to a head-turning design (the blue one), a very good display, good audio, and a good main camera sensor, and you get a phone that is a terrific daily driver. Just do not go driving too far into the game zone on it.

Buy OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite