OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is new budget option: 4 reasons to buy and 1 to skip

When we think of the best Android experience with some fancy-shmancy features, OnePlus emerges as one of the top brands to choose from. The brand has managed to steal one of the top spots in the smartphone market and it is safe to say that the premium OnePlus phones like OnePlus 12 are one of the best you can get. However these premium biggies are not for all users and that is where the OnePlus Nord CE Lite enters. It is a phone series aimed to offer some flagship features but at a very affordable cost. Latest in this series is the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G, a phone designed for those who crave great features without breaking the bank - think under Rs 20,000.

advertisement

With price starting at Rs 19,999, OnePlus pitches the CE4 Lite as a budget phone which can offer true OnePlus experience but at more affordable prices. So, is it the best budget phone you can buy? Well, almost. Sure, the phone does come with some cost-cutting measures to hit a price point below Rs 20,000, but overall, the Nord CE4 Lite promises to give users the things that matter most: long battery life, a bright display, and decent cameras. You can read our review of OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite here. We wrote: "The Nord CE4 Lite has a lot to offer. It has a really good AMOLED display, a big battery with fast charging, good speakers, and even a capable camera." But we also wrote some 1900 other words and if you are running short on time, here is a quick rundown why CE4 Lite can be your next budget phone, and one reason why you may want to skip it.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite: 4 reasons to buy

-- One of the best displays in the segment: Display is one of the top highlights of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite. OnePlus has ditched the LCD display for its CE Lite series and all for good reasons. Because now with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display and 120Hz refresh rate, the CE4 Lite is offering the best display experience in the segment. The display shows vibrant colours and has a peak brightness of 2100 nits, making it perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. While the colours can occasionally appear slightly oversaturated, they are vivid and immersive. In short this is one of the best displays you will find under Rs 20,000.

-- Battery goes on and on: The battery life on the CE4 Lite is another major win of this budget phone. It has a massive 5500mAh battery that easily lasts a day and a half on a charge with regular use (including streaming and gaming). And just when you need to charge back, the 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging gets you from 0 to 100 per cent in about an hour. Plus there is also an option for 5W reverse charging to give your other devices a quick battery boost.

-- Upgraded photography with Sony LYT-600 sensor: The CE4 Lite also got an upgrade in its camera and is now using a primary 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 sensor. The main camera is capable enough to give you those social media worthy photos with ample details and rich colour. The photo samples are well-exposed photos, although details can be a bit inconsistent at times depending on lighting. Still, compared to the CE3 Lite, the camera improvements are visible. The portrait mode also offers good edge detection and background blur and offers good enough shots. When we talk about the front camera, the 16-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies also works well in bright conditions, although it struggles in low light. Bonus, that OnePlus also offers some cool editing features including its new AI Eraser.

-- Audio boost for fairly loud music: Budget phones often skimp on speakers, but not the CE4 Lite. It comes with dual stereo speakers that deliver clear, crisp audio. Also OnePlus just a few days ago released an OTA update that promises 300 per cent audio boost. In my use, I found the Nord CE4 Lite speaker system really good for entertainment including watching videos, movies as well as while casual gaming sessions.

OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite: 1 reason to skip

Dated chipset: While the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite really has a lot to offer, there is one disappointment and that is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset that, although capable, is a dated processor. It's not like the processor cannot manage the workload, but the company used the same processor in the CE2 lite and CE3 LITE. So, with the 4th-gen CE it would have been nice to see a performance upgrade. That said, the Snapdragon 695 isn't bad at all. In our review we found out that the chipset manages to handle day to day stuff with ease, including multitasking and a lot and lot of media consumption, efficiently without noticeable lag.