Ahead of its summer launch event, OnePlus is offering a sneak peek at the four products it will unveil on July 16. Much of the information in the teaser concerns the upcoming Nord 4, a smartphone that breaks new ground for the company in several areas.
First off, the device has a unibody build made entirely out of aluminum. Kinder Liu, president and COO of OnePlus, told DigitalTrends that the metallic form factor allows for “durability, beauty, permanence, and strength.” Part of its eye-catching appearance can be attributed to the company’s “Nordtones” color scheme. It’s basically a two-tone paint job where the top is brushed metal while the bottom has a matte coating.
There are three colorways in total: Obsidian Midnight (aka black), Oasis Green, and Mercurial Silver, which sport a ridged texture that runs across the back.
OnePlus reveals that the Nord 4 will be the slimmest model in the lineup, measuring 7.99mm thick. The company claims that because of the aluminum unibody build, it had to move some components around to maintain a lightweight smartphone. As a result, the camera lenses have been shifted so that they sit horizontally rather than vertically. This also allowed OnePlus to fit a smaller motherboard and give the battery more room.
Powered by AI
Under the hood lies a Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 chipset, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a maximum storage space of 512GB. The hardware is backed by a wide range of AI features, chief among them being Trinity Engine. This component allows the Nord 4 to fine-tune its performance with various tools. For example, CPU-Vita can provide the processor with a power boost when the situation requires it or reduce power when the device is idle.
Many of the AI features are reminiscent of tools seen on other smartphones like the Pixel 8. You have AI Audio Summary for transcribing audio files, Note Summary for summarizing emails, and Text Translate for translating other languages. There will be a cool feature called AI Linkboost. It allows the Nord 4 to quickly reconnect to cellular networks once you leave an area with no service.
Other notable features of the OnePlus Nord 4 include a 6.74-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, a 50MP Sony LYT-600 camera, and AquaTouch that lets you interact with the display even when it's wet.
Accompanying hardware
OnePlus didn't share too much information about the other three devices. Presumably, the company wants to save them for the event, but it did drop a few hints. The OnePlus Pad 2 features a 12.1-inch touchscreen, as well as its own set of AI tools, such as Eraser 2.0 for image editing and Scan Document.
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are claimed to be a “significant leap forward from their predecessor” when it comes to how they handle low- and high-frequency sounds. The 12.4mm drivers cover a frequency range of up to 4,000Hz, plus they can cancel out up to 49dB of noise. As for the OnePlus Watch 2R, very little is known about the wearable other than that it has a 100-hour battery life and dual-frequency GPS.
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long for more information, as OnePlus’ summer launch event kicks off on July 16 at 6am PST / 9am EST / 2pm BST. Be sure to stay tuned for our coverage.
In the meantime, check out TechRadar's list of the best OnePlus phones for 2024.
