Over the past few years, OnePlus has consistently updated the Nord series to have a spot in the ever-saturated midrange market. The line-up even comes with the CE sub-series for those who want an even cheaper alternative. And today, we’re looking at its latest offering, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G.
We’ll see the pros and cons of this device to see if it can survive in this competitive market. Is it the one you should get, or should you pass? Let’s find out in our OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite review.
OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G Specs
- Android 14, OxygenOS 14
- Dual SIM, Dual standby (Hybrid)
- 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~395ppi
- 120Hz refresh rate
- 1200-nits (HBM), 2100-nits peak brightness
- 100% sRGB, 100% P3
- 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor
- Adreno 619 GPU
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
- 16-megapixel front camera
- 50-megapixel (LYT-600, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS) + 2-megapixel (depth sensor) rear cameras, dual-LED flash
- Stereo speakers
- Under-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
- HSPA+, 4G LTE, 5G
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth 5.1
- GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BDS
- NFC
- USB-C
- Dimensions: 162.9 x 75.6 x 8.1mm
- Weight: 191g
- Colors: Ultra Orange, Mega Blue, Super Silver
- 5,500mAh non-removable battery, 80W SUPERVOOC charging
Design and Build Quality
The OnePlus Nord CE Lite series has some of the most vibrant and funky colors in the market, and they continued that tradition with the Nord CE4 Lite. Its hero color, the Mega Blue, looks very eye-catching with its shiny surface and a tone that really stands out.
Sadly, the review unit we got is the Super Silver. It looks less interesting than the former but still has a standout appeal. The gray tone looks inherently more boring than other color options, but the way the rear panel is painted, amplified by the glass-like surface, makes it incredibly gorgeous and elegant to look at. Well, that’s at the cost of being incredibly hard to clean as it’s prone to fingerprint marks, dirt, and lint.
OnePlus used a simpler pill-shaped camera island than its predecessor, making the device look extra sleek and minimalistic. While the camera bump is a bit small, it’s still noticeable.
The frame feels sturdy, even though it’s made of plastic with a metal-like finish. I did a couple of light bend tests, and it felt durable enough without any creaks. The device is also IP54 dust and splash-resistant for extra protection.
Unlike most phones in the market, it didn’t come with a free case in the box. Heck, there’s even no charging adapter in the box. The only accessories are the red USB-C cable and the SIM ejector tool. On the upside, OnePlus usually throws in those accessories as a freebie, so check with the store if the unit they are selling have them.
Still, we’re giving the design and build department high scores due to its elegant and eye-catching design, as well as and robust build. It’s not the thinnest and lightest on paper (191g, 8.1mm), but still feels comfortable to hold, especially with the flat frame adding grip when watching content or playing games.
Let’s take a tour of the hardware, shall we? What we have here is a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. Bezels are thin enough for a device with an AMOLED panel. A clean punch-hole cutout holds the selfie camera, resulting in an impressive 92.2% screen-to-body ratio.
On the left, we have a hybrid SIM tray that can house either two nano SIMs or one SIM and a microSD card for storage expansion.
The physical buttons are located on the right side. Volume controls and the lock/power switch are tactile and clicky. It’s nice that they are flat, but I wish they stuck out higher, so they are easier to press.
On top, we have what appears to be the secondary microphone for noise isolation.
The other microphone is at the bottom, next to the USB-C port, and primary loudspeaker. And yes, that’s a rare 3.5mm headphone jack.
Display and Audio
The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite has a 6.67-inch FHD+ Samsung E4 AMOLED display — the first in the series to be upgraded from an IPS panel. It comes with a 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~394ppi, 2100-nits of peak brightness, 1200-nits under High Brightness Mode, 120Hz refresh rate, and 480Hz Pulse-Width Modulation.
OnePlus lets you adjust the screen color modes and temperature, refresh rate (Auto, 60Hz, 120Hz), as well as customize and schedule Eye Comfort modes. One interesting feature I found is called Adaptive Sleep, which uses the front camera to detect if you’re still looking at the screen to keep it on. While it sounds useful, I’m not comfortable having the front camera always on, so I eventually disabled it.
Display quality is nice in daily use. Screen brightness can go really high if it’s sunny outside and really dim if you’re scrolling at night before going to sleep.
Widevine L1 support is also here, so you can stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime in HD. Unfortunately, it lacks HDR and Dolby Vision, but the viewing experience was still enjoyable thanks to the vibrant colors and deep contrast of the AMOLED panel.
In addition, there’s the stereo speaker setup that has nice treble and beefy bass that provides audio with depth and clarity, great for action movies and gaming.
Volume is also ample and there’s a 300% Ultra Volume Mode that you can easily enable by maxing out the volume. The audio is so loud it sounds distorted and painful to the ears if you’re listening alone. However, it can be useful if you’re in a loud environment or listening with friends.
Hardware and Performance
The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G is powered by a 2.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor, a very disappointing chipset choice for a device at its price point. It is joined by an Adreno 619 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage.
OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G Benchmark Scores
Benchmark scores are decent, but definitely lag behind most of its competition. The 3DMark score shows it was able to provide good sustained performance, hinting that overheating should not be an issue, albeit with low fps.
Performance on regular, everyday usage has the same issues we’ve had with other Snapdragon 695-powered devices before. While the performance is mostly smooth (when scrolling the interface, social media, taking pictures, etc.) I’ve noticed frequent lags here and there, especially when booting up the device, as well as opening and switching between apps.
Now, let’s head to gaming. By default, Genshin Impact was set to the Lowest settings, to which it performed surprisingly fine with occasional frame drops. No overheating issues even after about 45 minutes of playing.
PUBG Mobile ran with no issues under HD/High. Same goes for Call of Duty Mobile on High/Max settings. Farlight84 was playable under HD/Very High, but there was a substantial lag at the start of the game, so I dialed down the frame rate to High for a more stable experience.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was buttery smooth on High/Ultra, as well as Asphalt Legends Unite with High Quality settings.
The overall gaming experience was actually good, but other competing devices can handle games at higher graphics settings because of their more powerful hardware.
| Game | Graphics Settings |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | • Graphics Quality: High • Frame Rate: Max |
| Farlight84 | • Graphics Quality: HD • Frame Rate: High |
| PUBG Mobile | • Graphics Quality: HD • Frame Rate: High |
| Genshin Impact | • Graphics Quality: Lowest (Default) |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | • Graphics Quality: Ultra • Frame Rate: High • HD Mode: On |
| Asphalt Legends Unite | • Visual Quality: High Quality |
Software and User Interface
The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite ships with Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 interface. The UI looks very similar to OPPO’s ColorOS, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. To keep it short, the interface feels mature with a clean look and a bunch of features.
OnePlus kept the app drawer clean and organized. There are some bloatware preinstalled, but almost all of them can be removed easily.
There are a couple of Always-On Display (AOD) wallpapers included, but I’ve seen more options on other devices. Edge Lighting, which lights up the edges of the screen when you receive messages on idle, can also be enabled. This is useful to get notified if there are notifications that you may have missed.
Split-screen view can be accessed by swiping up three fingers. It’s useful for multitasking if you really need to, despite the small screen. A floating window is also handy if you want to keep an app open while using another.
Quick Launch is a feature that lets you tap and hold the in-display fingerprint scanner and slide to any of the three apps you nominate. Smart Sidebar lets users swipe a window from the edge of the screen and quickly launch an app they want to use.
Both the in-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock worked fast and accurately in our tests, no worries there.
You can also use both biometric systems to lock an app and secure the Private Safe that lets users store sensitive or important files.
Virtual RAM expansion can expand the memory by 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB by borrowing from the storage. The difference in performance is barely noticeable, so I just turned it off.
For the storage, 15.1GB is reserved for the System and 5.3GB for the Other (cache, logs, etc.). With six heavy games installed and plenty of pictures taken, I was still left with 141GB of the 256GB of storage.
Cameras
Besides the processor used, I was also disappointed by the lack of an ultra-wide camera on this device, which should already be a standard inclusion for its asking price. To make things worse, OnePlus didn’t even include a macro lens. Instead, it only has a 2-megapixel depth sensor aiding the main camera.
On the upside, it does have a fairly impressive 50-megapixel main camera that uses an LYT-600 sensor, which has a 25mm lens equivalent, f/1.8 aperture, and optical image stabilization.
Daylight shots look nice with realistic colors and ample details, but contrast and dynamic range need tuning, though.
The camera app features a 2x mode with a 50mm equivalent. Since there’s no telephoto lens here, it’s just a crop from the main sensor. With good lighting, pictures taken using the 2x mode look surprisingly good with barely noticeable drops in sharpness.
As mentioned earlier, the lack of a proper secondary rear camera is very disappointing. Thankfully, the 2-megapixel depth sensor managed to do its only job right. The portrait mode looks realistic. The edge detection is accurate, even in low light, to create a believable shallow depth-of-field effect.
The daylight shots already set the tone for us, so I’m not surprised by its low-light performance. They are mostly okay and good enough for social media, but I’ve seen better for the price.
Meanwhile, the 16-megapixel selfie camera is nothing impressive, either. Skin tones are off at times and the processing of the contrast and dynamic range are quite bad. Video calls shouldn’t be a problem, though.
Battery Life and Charging
One of the redeeming qualities of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G is the battery. It has a 5,500mAh capacity, which is 10% bigger than the 5,000mAh battery we usually see on most midrange phones today. In addition, it is equipped with a flagship-grade 80W SUPERVOOC charging technology.
Our battery tests yielded impressive scores. In PCMark, it lasted for 18 hours and 20 minutes, which is one of the highest scores I got from this test and higher than the majority of devices in this price range. That test loops synthetic workload until the battery drops to 20%.
In our 1080p YouTube video loop test, it lasted for 21 hours and 3 minutes before the battery dropped to 1% from 100%. That’s one of the highest scores we got this year. Like always, I ran the test with the screen brightness and volume at 50%.
The 80W SUPERVOOC charger was able to fully charge the device in under an hour, with a quick 15-minute charge already providing 30% of juice. See the full charging test result below:
- 15mins: 0-30%
- 30mins: 61%
- 45mins: 88%
- 56mins: FULL
But there’s still a disappointment in this department as OnePlus didn’t include a charging adapter on the box, only the charging cable. OnePlus usually runs a promo where you can get a free charger for every purchase, so make sure you check with the store if they are offering one.
Verdict
So, is the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G the one for you? It can be, if all you’re after is a nice daily driver that lasts long on a single charge, charges incredibly fast, and comes with an eye-catching and elegant design. The vibrant screen and stereo speakers would also appeal to binge-watchers.
But if you’re a gamer or just want the best overall value for money, this may not be it.
Unless OnePlus decides to drop the price way lower than it currently is right now, there’s no sensible reason to settle with its underpowered processor, the lack of a proper secondary rear camera, and the fact that it didn’t come with a charger and a free case in the box.
Overall, I honestly think that the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G will find it very hard to compete in this segment. Hopefully, it will get a price drop soon.
If you really like OnePlus and want something better, I suggest you check out the OnePlus 12R.
OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G pricing and availability in the Philippines
The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is available in a single 8GB/256GB variant for a price of Php17,999. You can get it at Shopee, Lazda, TikTok Shop, OnePlus kiosks, and partner stores nationwide.
Pros
- Sleek design, solid build
- Vibrant, contrasty AMOLED display
- Stereo speakers have depth and clarity
- Long battery life, 80W fast charging
Cons
- Poor chipset choice for the price
- Stingy packaging (no charger, free case)
- No ultra-wide/macro camera
- Image contrast, dynamic range could be better