Exclusive: OnePlus Nord CE5 and Buds 4 arrive next week — and these are the key specs

Tom's Guide

3 days ago

OnePlus is launching a host of devices next Tuesday (July 8), including two phones, a tablet, a smartwatch and a pair of earbuds. While we've heard some details about the mid-priced Nord 5 (via TechRadar), OnePlus's budget Nord CE5 model and its new Buds 4 wireless earbuds remain a mystery.
Luckily for us, we've received some exclusive insider info for these two devices courtesy of Celina Shi, OnePlus' chief marketing officer for OnePlus Europe. And we're happy to report that OnePlus still knows how to impress with big specs.
If OnePlus keeps the price for this phone and this pair of 'buds on the low side, as it has in the past, then this could spell big things for the Android phone and wireless earbuds space.
Here's what we know about the OnePlus Nord CE5 and OnePlus Buds 4.
The Nord CE5 is shown in its Black Infinity colorway, an "elegant and simple" option as Shi describes it. The other option is Marble Mist, described by Shi as a "kind of off-white, almost sandy design with marble highlights once the light hits it. It's really something else."
The big hardware news for the Nord CE5 is its MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex chipset. This will apparently offer "significant [performance] improvements compared to other chipsets that sit in the same price category," Shi said.
"The MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex is not just near the top of the category, it is a massive upgrade compared to the previous generation - offering a 79% increase in overall performance and over 50% improvement in graphics performance," Shi added.
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"We know from speaking to our community that performance is a key element, and our philosophy for the OnePlus Nord CE series has always been to make the OnePlus Fast & Smooth experience accessible to more people."
OnePlus' usual focus on battery is easy to see here. There's a 5,200 mAh battery inside the Nord CE5, capable of 80W wired SuperVOOC charging. The battery can go from drained to fully charged in 52 minutes according to OnePlus' testing, though hopefully with such a large capacity, you won't need to test the speedy charging that often.
The Nord CE5 also offers bypass charging. In case you're unfamiliar with this feature, Shi explains it as a charging option that "powers the phone directly from the mains if it is plugged in and fully charged while gaming. This helps extend the lifespan of the battery, and reduces heat generation if the phone is used while plugged in."
Despite being a cheaper-than-average phone, the Nord CE5 still packs OnePlus AI features like its more expensive siblings. "I can't quite reveal all of [the features] yet, but it is a package that puts it on parity with our flagship devices," Shi said. This would suggest that we'll get staple features like text summaries, audio transcription, image editing tools and more, just like OnePlus' other recent devices.
Shi also revealed that the phone's main camera will be a 50MP shooter, using a Sony LYT-600 sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and the ability to capture 4K HDR video at 60fps. Shi promises this camera will deliver "consistently sharp, blur-free shots," using HDR algorithms and color science borrowed from the flagship OnePlus 13.
Let's also talk about the OnePlus Buds 4, available in Zen Green and Storm Grey. While the design is familiar, there's a big change under the surface — swipe volume controls to add more versatility to the usual capacitive ones.
Shi also revealed that the Buds 4 will get a major ANC upgrade, capable of canceling up to 55dB of unwanted noise, compared to 49dB for the OnePlus Buds 3, and a 200% improvement in speech filtering. The effective range has also been increased from 4,000Hz to 5,500Hz, to capture more external sound and cancel it out. The new ear buds should also be more responsive, with the Buds 4 able to make up to 800 adjustments per second to account for whatever's beyond your ears causing a racket.
The ANC is also highly adaptive to sound around you, altering its cancellation level as needed. "The noise cancellation automatically lets in more noise if you are, for example, moving through traffic," Shi said. "It will be turned back to full efficiency if you get on a train, making the experience more seamless, and improving your safety."
Like previous OnePlus Buds, the Buds 4 feature two drivers per earbud — a 6mm tweeter and an 11mm woofer. But interestingly, each driver uses an individual DAC (digital-to-analog converter) to turn audio info from a device into sound. What's the benefit of this? "Unlike other setups, where the two drivers share a DAC, this can cut down on cross-interference between the two elements," Shi said.
OnePlus makes big promises for the Buds 4's battery life. There is apparently 11 hours' worth of capacity in the buds themselves, and 45 hours total including the case. When the tank's empty, you can get 11 hours of playback again after only 10 minutes of charging.
Not even the OnePlus Buds 4 are exempt from the AI feature boom. New to this model is AI translation, available when paired to a OnePlus device.
While we have plenty of details to chew over here, Shi still kept the prices of these two products a secret.:"I can't reveal the exact pricing yet, but our core philosophies are clear.
"For the OnePlus Nord CE series, our goal is to offer the core, OnePlus trusted Fast & Smooth experience at a more accessible price point. In other words, flagship features shouldn't necessarily require flagship prices.
"For the OnePlus Buds 4, these are aimed at bringing many of the features from our flagship OnePlus Buds Pro series into a more accessible price range."
We will wait until after our full testing is finished before we judge if the Nord CE5 is worthy of a spot on our best cheap phones list, or if the Buds 4 deserve to reside among the best earbuds. But these specs have whetted our appetite for the launch event next week, and once we have the full details along with pricing info, hopefully we'll be all the more excited to get our hands on OnePlus' latest gear.