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OnePlus has launched its Nord CE4 Lite in India. In this article, we will discuss its specs, price and why it deserves criticism.
OnePlus is a popular smartphone brand that entered the market by launching flagship killer smartphones and gave tough competition to the other popular brands. They later launched their CE and CE Lite series which targets the midrange segment. They launched the CE4 nearly a month ago and now, they have launched the CE4 Lite too. CE4 provides great value for its price and that’s the reason I gave it the first spot in the best phone under 25000 list. While the CE4 is praised for being a value-for-money phone, it’s the opposite with the CE4 Lite.
Read: Best Phone Under 25000 in June 2024: Top 5 Picks
The Nord CE4 Lite has got some upgrades but it still lacks in many things. Let’s find out why I said so.
Specifications of OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite
Here are the detailed specifications of the Nord CE4 Lite smartphone –
Design and Build
The Nord CE4 Lite has a plastic back with a plastic frame. Although the phone looks premium despite having a plastic back panel. The edges are flat and the back panel has a bit glossy finish which attracts fingerprint smudges.
Display: The biggest upgrade?
This time, OnePlus has upgraded the display from IPS to AMOLED. The Nord CE4 Lite features a 6.67-inch 120Hz Flat-AMOLED display with 2100 nits of peak brightness and an in-display fingerprint sensor.
2100 nits feels like a big number but here’s a cache. The display of any smartphone reaches the peak brightness nits only while watching HDR content whereas this phone can’t play HDR content due to its hardware limitations. It has a peak brightness of 1200 nits in HBM (High Brightness Mode) which is good for the price and the display will be usable in direct sunlight.
Brands often play these marketing tactics but as a smart consumer, you should be aware.
Performance: The User Deserves Better!
Here comes the biggest drawback of the phone, its processor. The Nord CE4 Lite has a Snapdragon 695 chip which is based on 6nm architecture. It seems like OnePlus bought this chip in bulk. They have used the same chipset in the last 3 phones of the CE Lite series. OnePlus should have used a more powerful processor.
Here’s why I feel so – The Snapdragon 695 is an old chip now and many new phones with much better performance are available in this price range. If we compare the Snapdragon 695 with the chipsets that the competition offers, it’s left far behind be it the performance part, ISP or features. This chip doesn’t support HDR playback and can’t even record 4K videos and because it is an old chip that has a weaker ISP, pulls back the camera performance of the phone.
Also, according to some reviewers, this phone has a slower internet speed which is also because of the older chip.
Cameras
Rear Camera
The Nord CE4 Lite has a 50MP (LYT 600) main + 2MP depth dual rear camera setup. The main camera captures some decent shots for the price but not having an ultrawide lens is a big con. In this price range where every phone has atleast an 8Mp ultrawide camera, OnePlus decided to skip that. If you are someone who often captures ultrawide photos then, this phone is not for you.
Front Camera
The Front Camera of the Nord CE4 Lite is a 16MP lens that also captures decent shots for its price.
Battery and Charging: The Best Part?
The best part of this device is its battery. It has a large 5500mAh battery which supports 80W fast charging. This is the biggest battery in any phone in this price range. This phone will easily last you one day in medium to heavy usage and can even last 1.5-2 days according to your usage.
Software: Not Your Old OxygenOS!
The Nord CE4 Lite comes with OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 and it will get 2 years of major Android updates and 3 years of software patches.
OxygenOS was always known for an ad and bloatware-free experience but OnePlus has included some bloatware apps in the Nord CE4 Lite. However, it’s still pretty clean as compared to the other UI’s and you can disable most of the bloatware apps but I still believe that OnePlus shouldn’t have done this.
Recently in our best phone under 25000 list, we talked about the app opening animation issue on the Nord CE4. The same issue is present in the Nord CE4 Lite too. This smartphone also lacks the proper app opening animation. It only has the app closing animation.
Audio and Haptics
It has a dual stereo speaker setup and it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack which is rare in this price range. The dual speaker setup is enough loud and won’t disappoint you.
Talking about the haptics, it has a good-quality haptic motor which is implemented well in the UI.
RAM and Storage
The Nord CE4 Lite has LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 storage.
Additional Features
The Nord CE4 Lite has 9 5G bands, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5.0 and Dual 4G Volte but NFC is missing on this smartphone.
Availability and Price
The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite will be available in three different colors – Mega Blue, Super Silver and Ultra Orange.
It will be sold in two different variants. The 8GB + 128GB variant is priced at Rs 19,999 and the 8GB + 256GB variant is priced at Rs 21,999. A discount of Rs 1000 is available on ICICI bank credit/debit cards.
This device will be sold online through Amazon.
Reason for Criticism
You might be thinking why I am criticising this phone? Don’t worry! Let me clear your confusion. OnePlus is a brand that was known for launching value-for-money devices that targeted performance the most but that’s not the case with this smartphone. They are using the same old chipset from 3 generations of the CE Lite series and this chipset is way behind in power as compared to the other smartphones at this price.
Nowadays, this chipset is being used in Rs 10000 worth of phones like the Motorola G34. I think OnePlus is now just taking benefit of its brand value. Rand value of a smartphone is important but it’s not so important that we ignore the much better options available in the market.
Do remember, OnePlus made its brand value by launching value-for-money phones but now they are behaving opposite of what they were known for. This phone not only lacks the performance part, the processor tries to pull it back in everything. It can’t even capture 4K videos which even a 15K worth phone can do. The brand is promoting the 2100 nits brightness very much but what would you do with this high brightness when the phone will never reach that brightness nits level. The Snapdragon 695 can’t even play HDR videos.
Talking about the cameras, It’s lacking an ultrawide lens which is a basic need at the current time and every phone has it. The main camera could also perform better if there was a newer and more powerful processor with a better ISP.
I think it’s the time when we look above the brand value thing and choose a better overall product.
A wise man once said – “Be a fan of the product, not the brand”
If not the Nord then what?
Many of you might have a question in your mind – If not OnePlus then what?
There are many better options available in the market that you can go with instead of buying the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite.
The first phone is the iQOO Z9 which is a performance beast in this price range. It features a Dimensity 7200 chip which is a far better chipset than the Snapdragon 695. iQOO Z9 is sold through Amazon and the same phone is sold as vivo T3 on Flipkart. You can buy its 8GB + 128GB variant for 19,999 and 8GB + 256GB variant for 21,999.
If you don’t want to go with the iQOO or vivo or you want the best camera, you can consider the realme Narzo 70 Pro which comes with a very good main camera sensor which was used in the OnePlus previous year’s flagship device – The OnePlus 11. However, you won’t get the same camera performance as the OnePlus 11 because of a weaker ISP but it will still be one of the best for its price range.
The Narzo 70 pro smartphone is sold in two variants – 8GB + 128GB for Rs 19,999 and 8GB + 256GB for Rs 21,999. Also, an unconditional 4K and 5K discount is available on both variants respectively.
Wrapping Up
This was all about the newly launched OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite smartphone. Tell us in the comment below what you guys think about this smartphone. Did OnePlus do right or do they need to correct their mistakes in the next generation? Do you believe this phone will also sell like crazy like its predecessor or it will be a flop smartphone?
We are soon bringing an article about the best phones under 20000. Till then, keep reading GizmoGeek Hub.
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