OnePlus Nord 4 vs Realme GT 6T: Which Should You Buy?

Jul. 16, 2024

OnePlus has finally launched its Nord 4 in India, but there’s a twist. After the OnePlus 5T, the brand is going back to itsmetalroots with the Nord 4. The design is also very different from its Chinese counterpart. However, the specifications and pricing of the phone make it directly go against theRealme GT 6Tin the segment. So, if you’re in the market for a powerful mid-ranger, should you get the GT 6T orsettlefor the latest Nord? I spent almost a week with the two, and here’s my detailed comparison of the OnePlus Nord 4 and Realme GT 6T.

OnePlus Nord 4 vs Realme GT 6T Specs

When it comes to box contents, both the Nord 4 and GT 6T keep you heavily sorted on that front. Alongside the units themselves, you get the following things in the retail box of the two phones:

Talking about the phones, I have with me the Nord 4’s Obsidian Midnight and GT 6T’s Fluid Silver color variants. Now, I was a bit disappointed to see the Nord 4 arrive with a transparent case in the box. I wish it had a color-matching case instead, like other OnePlus phones.

I have always had a soft spot for phones with anall-metal build. So, the Nord 4’s clever mixture of glass and metal certainly and instantly stands out in comparison to the GT 6T. The metal frame extends into the back panel in a more durable unibody fashion. Meanwhile, the individual camera sensors are placed on asuper-reflective glassthat doubles down as a mini mirror.

On the other hand, theRealme GT 6Tinstantly feltslightly lighter and sleekerin hand. It’s gripper too, thanks to the curvier design. However, the in-hand feel takes a hit due to the all-plastic build.I don’t like the dual-tone designof the 6T. At least the Realme GT 6 (Review) had better build quality going for it, thereby negating this design choice by a bit.

Thanks to the metal body of theNord 4, the back panel isnot a fingerprint magnet. But, the GT 6T’s glass-mimicking plastic panel certainly is, and since I was using it without a case, I found myself constantly wiping off the smudges.

I was particularly impressed by the overall weight balance and smart design choices of theNord 4. Despite being a glass and metal phone, it didn’t feel all that hefty in comparison. Moreover, when placed flat on a desk, itdoesn’t wobblefrom any angle. A very aggressive tapping test concluded it.

Whereas, theGT 6T has poor weight balance, with the camera module side pulling it down a bit. There’s also terrible wobbling. I’m not fond of the one-sided button placement on the two phones either. However, theNord 4’s metal buttons certainly felt more durablewith no rattling whatsoever. TheGT 6T’s buttons felt cheaperto the touch, although tactile enough.

The Nord 4 also has thealert slideradvantage, retaining the OG left-side placement of it. The silver variant also has this orange accent on it, like iPhones do, which I’m sad the other variants don’t sport.

Moving on to the display, I instantly noticed that theRealme GT 6T’s 6.78-inch display is significantly brighterthan the Nord 4’s 6.74-inch panel. So, I had to do a quick test using the Lux Meter at the office, and the GT 6T reached2,700 nitsof its local 6,000 nits peak brightness. On the other hand, the Nord 4 hit around2,000 nitsof its claimed 2,150 nits peak brightness.

Overall, both indoors and outdoors, the GT 6T appears way brighter. However, the Nord 4 is plenty bright and while it fades away in comparison, itdoesn’t cause any visibility issues. While the viewing angles are good on both, the extra brightness on the GT 6T does help. The GT 6T also softens incoming light sources, thereby appearingless reflectivethan the Nord 4.

While both the panels are120Hz AMOLEDpanels, the GT 6T is backed byLTPOtech. That is certainly a big advantage, especially in terms of power efficiency, which we’ll talk about later. In terms of color reproduction, theblacks look deepertoo on the GT 6T. While both panels are backed by100% DCI-P3, there is a certain richness in the GT 6T’s colors, making the Nord look paler in comparison.

Most importantly, the GT 6T’scurved displaymakes viewing content an absolute pleasure.Bezels are sleeker on the GT 6Tas well. There’s alsoGorilla Glass Victus 2protection on top of the GT 6T, while the Nord 4 usesPanda Glass. I’d definitely not lose sleep over dropping the GT 6T a couple of times.

However, the speakers are where the Nord 4 takes the crown. While both are stereo speakers with a dedicated grille for the second speaker, theNord 4’s audio output is louder and richer. Meanwhile, the GT 6T’s speakers are loud enough but flat, with scrambled mids and lows.

When it comes to performance, both phones are powered by the 4nm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3. The processor is paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage on the Nord 4, while the GT 6T offers a 512GB variant as well with the same RAM and storage types. With that out of the way, here’s a quick rundown of how the phones fared in daily usage, benchmarks, and gaming performance:

Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 coupled with top-of-the-line RAM and storage type basically means that you will barely see any lag on either of the devices. On top of that, both Realme UI and OxygenOS are seamless and often top-tier software experiences as well (more on this later).

From having 30 different apps running in the background to who knows how many tabs open in Chrome, I tried pushing the devices to their limits. However, they didn’t break and consistently performed well throughout.RAM management is also stellaron the two, with most apps conveniently resuming from where I had left them.

Next up, I ran a series of tests, from AnTuTu and Geekbench to CPU throttling and 3DMark. Take a look:

The best thing is thatneither of the two phones went over 38 degreeswhen running these benchmarks in an AC environment, which is very impressive.

I was particularly impressed with the Nord 4 since it sports an all-metal body and I sure did expect it to get warmer. The heat dissipation is also rather quick on the Nord 4, while the GT 6T takes its sweet time to cool down.

Don’t let the lower benchmark scores of the Nord 4 throw you off, as it doesn’t falter in games. From BGMI and CoD Mobile to the more graphic-intensive Genshin Impact and Warzone Mobile, I ran a wide variety of titles on both phones. Here’s a quick rundown of the settings in games you get out of them:GamesFPS and SettingsGenshin ImpactHighest + 60FPS (Got around 59 FPS and 55FPS in high action scenarios)CoD MobileMax Graphics = Very High + MaxMax Framerate = Low + 90FPSBGMIMax Graphics: Ultra HDR + UltraMax Framerate: Smooth + Extreme+ (90FPS)Warzone MobileMedium + Uncapped + High (Stable 60FPS)

In terms of software, the Nord 4’s Android 14-based OxygenOS is very similar to that of the GT 6T’s Realme UI running on the same Android version. From the app icons to the settings panel, everything looks and feels the same. But….

There’s a big problem with the Nord 4 – it has a lot of bloatware. We are talking about 11 preloaded apps to be specific. This is more than even the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite’s (Review) 9 bloatware apps. I don’t understand why OnePlus went ahead and finalized this choice. On the other hand, the Realme GT 6T has just 4 bloatware apps.

But, OnePlus gets a major one-up by providing a whopping 6 years of software update support (4 years of OS updates, and 6 years of security patches). On the other hand, the Realme GT 6T provides you with 3 years of major OS updates and 4 years of security patches.

The Nord 4 also brings a good number of useful AI features like AI Note Summary, AI Audio Summary, AI Writer, AI Linkboost, and AI Best Face (much like Google’sBest Take). All of these features are not available on the GT 6T as of now. However, you do get the AI Eraser on both phones.

The haptic feedback on the two phones is also similar, and I could barely tell them apart. UI animations looked slightly better on the Nord 4 though, thanks to the latest OxygenOS 14.1 changes. And, that wraps up the software department, pretty much!

The camera setup of the two phones is also very similar. Both mid-rangers sport a 50MP Sony LYT 600 at the helm, coupled with an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. At the front, however, the GT 6T features a 32MP sensor, while the Nord 4 brings a 16MP shooter. Keeping these on-paper details aside, I took the two setups out on a real-world test, and here’s a rundown:

During the day, there’s anodd yellow tingein the GT 6T’s shots, while theNord 4 captures more natural colors. TheGT 6Talso has sometrouble handling light sourceswell, causing pictures to turn up darker in comparison to the Nord 4’s shots. The dynamic range is okay on both phones, although not the best. There’s also not much of a color disparity between the primary sensor and the ultra-wide of the two phones.

At night as well, the Nord 4 captures slightly better photos, thanks to its good lighting control. The GT 6T doesn’t just boost the colors, but also overly brightens light sources at night, making shots look unnaturally bright.

While it may appeal to some aesthetically, I like the more earthy tones of the Nord 4. Shadows are also better captured by the Nord 4. Details are maintained well by both phones though, and there’s very little noise.

Both the Nord 4 and GT 6T capture good selfies, but again, the Nord 4 captures more natural skin tones. And, yet again, the GT 6T can be seen boosting each and every color unnecessarily. Detail retention is more or less the same on both phones.

As for videos, both phones let you capture at up to4K 60FPSthrough the primary setup. Meanwhile, the front sensor is limited to4K 30FPS. I liked the Nord 4’s video quality better, thanks to slightly more stabilization and natural colors.

Lately, we’ve been seeing a lot of 5,500mAh battery units in phones, and both the Nord 4 and GT 6T pack the same capacity as well. The Nord 4 is backed by 100W fast charging support, while the GT 6T offers 120W.

As for SoT (Screen-on-Time), while theNord 4delivers around6 hoursof battery backup, theGT 6Toffers around7 hoursof battery backup. The LTPO panel certainly does extend the screen-on-time by quite a bit.

Now, theGT 6Ttakes around26 minutesto charge fully from 1% to 100%, while theNord 4took around35 minutesto do the same.

While both are excellent choices in the Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 segment, I would personally choose the Nord 4. The all-metal body’s premium look and feel stand out in a sea of plastic phones. The alert slider makes things very convenient as well. What impressed me more is that, despite the metal body, there is no throttling or overheating of sorts, keeping me from nitpicking.

If you want a better multimedia experience, the Realme GT 6T’s stunning display makes it the more practical option. The battery life is also better, thanks to the LTPO tech this display brings. But, keep those things aside and the Nord 4 just feels like a better phone throughout.

Besides, with the phones carrying the same processor under the hood, you get identical performance. The software experience is also pretty much the same, minus the additional bloatware you get on the Nord 4. However, the Nord 4’s 6 years of software updates is a big advantage, making it more future-proof.

The Nord 4’s better camera performance makes it an ideal phone for budding shutterbugs as well. All things considered, the Nord 4 is emerging victorious as the more well-balanced device. Check out our completereview of the OnePlus Nord 4for in-depth information about the latest mid-ranger.

Now, if you have any other queries, do take to the comments down below and I’ll get back to you in a jiffy!

Sagnik is a tech aficionado who can never say “no” to dipping his toes into unknown waters of tech or reviewing the latest gadgets. He is also a hardcore gamer, having played everything from Snake Xenzia to Dead Space Remake.