Design and display
The design of both the Nord CE4 and the Nord CE4 Lite is essentially the same with similar-looking dual-camera modules and more or less the same dimensions, weight and display size.
The Nord CE4 is available in Celadon Marble and Dark Chrome colour options, while the Nord CE4 Lite comes in Mega Blue, Super Silver and Ultra Orange options.
With AMOLED coming to the Nord CE4 Lite, now both smartphones offer the same panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate. However, the Nord CE4 Lite is brighter at 2,100 nits of peak brightness over Nord CE4’s 1,100 nits.
Note that the Nord CE4 comes with PWM dimming whereas the Nord CE4 Lite does not but it still gets plenty dim for comfortable viewing in dark environments.
Performance
The OnePlus Nord CE4 runs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset whereas the Nord CE4 Lite is powered by the Snapdragon 695 processor, which also powered last year’s Nord CE3 Lite. Both chips are equally capable in their respective price range.
If you are a light user, then the Nord CE4 Lite will not disappoint you. However, if you are into mid to heavy gaming as well, you might want to go for the Nord CE4 for the more capable chipset or a similarly priced device.
So far, I haven’t faced any issues like lagging or overheating with either of the devices on moderate usage.
Pro tip: If you like good haptic feedback on your smartphone, you might want to go for the Nord CE4. The haptic motors on the Nord CE4 Lite are pretty weak.
Camera
Both devices have the same main camera on the back — the 50MP Sony LYT600 with 2x optical zoom. However, post-processing on the Nord CE4 is better than its younger sibling, courtesy of the more powerful chip. The low-light shots on the Nord CE4 are far better than those on the Nord CE4 Lite.
I have noticed a slight blue tint on the Nord CE4, which isn’t present on the Nord CE4 Lite. If yo are not someone who has to take a lot of photos at night, then the Nord CE4 Lite would be a good option for you. But if you also want an ultrawide camera, then go for the Nord CE4.
Battery
Both smartphones have 5,500mAh batteries and can easily last you over a day. The Nord CE4 comes with 100W SUPERVOOC fast charging and the Nord CE4 Lite has 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging. Both are also super quick in charging if paired with the right adapter. You will not run out of juice in either of those.
User experience and upgrades
The Nord CE4 and the Nord CE4 Lite, both run on Android 14-based Oxygen OS 14. They also get up to two years of major Android updates and three years of security updates, which is quite lower than the industry standard of at least four years.
In terms of UI, both offer a clean experience. There is some bloatware pre-installed but not as much as you would find on other Chinese smartphones.
Other features
Now this will come down to personal preference. The Nord CE4 has an IR remote to control your home appliances like TVs, ACs and more. On the other hand, the Nord CE4 Lite has a 3.5 mm headphone jack. This is the part where I leave your purchase to your good judgment.
Price and availability
The Nord CE4 is priced at ₹24,999 for the 8GB+128GB model and ₹26,999 for the 8GB+256GB model. OnePlus is also offering up to ₹2,000 off to several banks’ users along with up to three months of free YouTube Premium subscription.
The Nord CE4 Lite will go on sale on June 27 at ₹19,999 for 8GB+128GB and ₹22,999 for the 8GB+256GB model. OnePlus is also offering up to ₹1,000 off to ICICI Bank and Onecard users.
Also Read: Xiaomi will launch Redmi 13 5G in India on July 9, building on the success of Redmi 12
