5 reasons the OnePlus Nord 4 should be your next phone

Did you know we at ShortList have a crystal ball that can tell what your next phone will be? All signs point to the OnePlus Nord 4 according to its predictive powers.

OK, full disclosure. We’re about to put a finger on the scale for this one, as we think the OnePlus Nord 4 is one of the best buys of 2024 for regular folk.

Why? It’s that classic OnePlus formula, of bringing top-tier design and features at a price so reasonable it’s borderline unreasonable — for the competition, anyway. The OnePlus Nord 4 starts at £429, for the version with 256GB storage and 12GB RAM.

Power users can upgrade to 512GB and 16GB RAM for a mere £50 extra. And you can save that amount — or much more — when you trade in your old blower while buying direct from OnePlus.com.

We’re not here to talk about the checkout nitty-gritty, though. Let’s get on with the five reasons the OnePlus Nord 4 needs to be on your consideration list, including why the OnePlus Nord 4 represents an engineering breakthrough by itself. More on that in just a moment.

1. It has a classic flagship phone design

We’ve been phone fans since before the modern smartphone was a thing. The OnePlus Nord 4 has what used to be the most popular design style before glass took over and made the rear of every phone a smash hazard.

It has an aluminium back, with aluminium sidewalls too. No plastic in sight, which is what we (and our picky palms) like. Part of the reason this style went out of favour with manufacturers is metal makes signal an engineering headache.

OnePlus has such a knack for picking great-looking colour tones for its phones.

You can’t put those mobile antennas behind a metal wall. But OnePlus has cracked it — and not like the glass back of our last phone. 5G will work like a dream, despite the almost all-metal casing. The Nord 4 is also a supremely trim, palm-friendly 7.9mm thick.

You can pick from three colours, each of which has an alluring two-tone finish. There’s a satin matt look for most of the body, with just a small scratch-resistant glass window around the camera array.

Those three colours? Obsidian Midnight black, Mercurial Silver and Oasis Green. While we love the funky waved effect applied to the silver version, our eyes are immediately drawn to the green. OnePlus has such a knack for picking great-looking colour tones for its phones.

2. It’s ready for the elements

Making a mid-range phone that looks and feels nice is one thing. But the OnePlus Nord 4 also has a solid water resistance rating, and that’s next-level stuff considering the price.

The OnePlus Nord 4 is rated at IP65, meaning it’s dust-proof and can take on water jets from any angle, to use the technical parlance. What it means in reality is you don’t have to worry about taking your phone out during a rainstorm. The display also features AquaTouch, meaning that it’ll work like a breeze if your fingers - or the display - is wet. No more fiddling with a taxi app when you’re stuck in the rain.

Sure, you shouldn’t drop it in a pint. But why would you do that anyway?

3. Nord 4 is primed for AI

Whether you are already an AI devotee or are yet to be persuaded, the OnePlus Nord 4 is primed for what’s up ahead. It’s all thanks to its brains, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3.

This chipset has a neural proceeding unit (NPU) made just for AI tasks, letting it perform minor AI miracles on-device. Qualcomm says this generation’s AI Engine brings up to 60% improved efficiency too. Power isn’t just about how well a phone can play Fortnite these days.

The OnePlus Nord 4 already has some useful AI features built-in. For example, AI writer will prep emails and messages based on a brief prompt, meaning you only need to do the tweaking. AI Summary gives you a potted version of documents, or audio recordings. But, yes, it is rude not to listen to your friend’s 15-second voice notes.

Whether you are already an AI devotee or are yet to be persuaded, the OnePlus Nord 4 is primed for what’s up ahead.

There are AI tweaks for your photos too. AI Eraser lets you zap unwanted objects from pics, for when that magic moment almost — but didn’t quite — come together. And there’s AI Best Face, which helps you fix the seemingly unavoidable issue that someone is always going to have their eyes closed in a group photo*.

4. OnePlus Nord 4: Made for the long-haul

We’ve already suggested the OnePlus Nord 4 will be more forgiving of drops than some phones, thanks to having less glass on show. And it’s prepped for future AI features. It is also made to last in other ways.

First up, there’s OnePlus’s Battery Health Engine. This helps the issue that even if you treat your phone like a princess, in the end the battery is going to start losing stamina.

With a Nord 4 you’ll get four years of major Android updates and six years of security updates.

The Nord 4 will push this way off into the distance, by optimising how it charges and how the battery drains. OnePlus says this lets it hit up to 1600 charging cycles before losing 80% of battery health, where you may start to notice a bit of stamina loss.

That’s well over four years of solid use, and miles better than the 600-800 cycles of some of the competition.

5. It will stay sharp and current for years

OnePlus promises to keep the software on-point that entire time, and beyond. With a Nord 4 you’ll get four years of major Android updates and six years of security updates.

The phone has also been independently assessed by TÜV SÜD as a handset that will remain “Fast & Smooth” for 72 months. No calculator needed: that matches the six years the Nord 4 will receive security updates for.

We could carry on talking about the 50MP camera tech, the gorgeous Fluid AMOLED screen or how much we love the ultra-fast 100W charging. But, well, we’ve got to leave something for you to discover when you open the box.

You can order a OnePlus Nord 4 direct from Oneplus.com today for £429.

*AI Best Face (rear and front camera) will be coming soon in a software update later in the year.