The newly-arrived OnePlus Nord 4 wants to take the top spot on our best cheap phones list away from the Google Pixel 8a. But to do that, the Nord will have to top the Pixel when it comes to photography.
The Pixel 8a is an incredible value when it comes to its cameras, which include 64MP main, 13MP ultrawide and 13MP selfie sensors. The Nord offers similar specs, with a 50MP main, 8MP ultrawide and 16MP selfie combo. But Google's well-known for its photography prowess, especially with its image processing and AI editing abilities. OnePlus has historically struggled to match up to the best in the business with its own processing pipeline.
But every new phone is a chance to shake up our assumptions. So with the luxury of a trip to the Franciacorta wine region near Milan, I was able to take some fantastic photos of rural northern Italy with both phones. But which one did it better? Scroll onwards and see.
One thing I'll note before we get to the photos is that taking photos on the OnePlus Nord 4 is much less consistent than it is on the Google Pixel 8a. All my Pixel shots looked similar enough to one another, but the Nord's cameras produced photos in a range of brightness levels, even when capturing the same subject. For each comparison you're about to see, I picked what I felt was the best version of each image, but be aware that sometimes the phone took brighter and darker versions of the same shot, which could impact which photos another person would consider the best.
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Main
Our first image shows us part of the vineyard's hedging, all the way out to the hills beyond. The Nord 4's image is brighter overall, perhaps due to its larger main camera aperture letting in more light. However, the Pixel 8a offers richer colors and better contrast in return, so I can't really pick a favorite
Winner: Draw
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Ultrawide
This ultrawide shot of an imposing wooden door with an eagle crest above, all set into a stone brick wall, looks very different from the two phones since they offer different magnification levels. But we can also see the coloring of the Nord 4's image is quite a bit cooler than the Pixel's, and that the lower resolution camera on the OnePlus has really impacted its ability to capture detail. A straightforward victory for the Google phone thanks to superior specs.
Winner: Google Pixel 8a
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Close-up
I couldn't help but check out this sommelier's sword (used for dramatically opening champagne bottles) when I found it within the vineyard's dining room, and took these close-ups to remember all the fun details.
The Pixel produces higher-res photos with its main camera, but somehow we've got a less-detailed shot from it. While it is not as bright, the Nord's photo does a nicer job at grabbing the details in the chain and leather hilt.
Winner: OnePlus Nord 4
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Dynamic range
At the top of the vineyard's main building was a small enclosed turret with slit windows, through which you can see the surrounding landscape. It's a tricky mix of light and dark that makes a great test of our two phones' dynamic range abilities.
The OnePlus Nord's image is okay, even if the view through the window is a bit washed out. But the Pixel 8a has nailed this image, showing the brightest part of the image in full detail and color while allowing the outer portion of the image to look properly dark.
Winner: Google Pixel 8a
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Colors
Let's now judge these phones' color reproduction abilities with the pink, white and green of this flowerbed within the grounds of the vineyard.
Similar to the main camera comparison above, the OnePlus has focused on brightness over color saturation, and vice versa in the Pixel's case. While I don't think the Nord 4's photo is necessarily bad, as this is a color-focused round, the Pixel is the clear winner.
Winner: Google Pixel 8a
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Zoom
This long line of bottles in the vineyard's cellar fit nicely within these two phones' 2x in-sensor zoom modes, resulting in the shot we have here.
The Nord gives us a darker shot since it can't use all of its big sensor to absorb light. Therefore the red wine bottles end up appearing near-black with minimal detail, something that the Pixel 8a doesn't struggle with.
Winner: Google Pixel 8a
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Low light
A dimmer part of the cellar provided a great place to try the night mode powers of our two phones, overlooking rows and rows of stored bottles.
The OnePlus Nord 4 has produced a darker photo, but doing so has kept the highlights on the bottles in check. The brighter Pixel 8a image overcooks the highlights somewhat, which makes me lean towards the Nord in this instance.
Winner: OnePlus Nord 4
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Selfie
While I didn't dare remove my baseball cap and sunglasses for fear of being sunburnt, I still tried out a portrait selfie picture.
The Nord 4's portrait mode is softer than the Pixel 8a's, but as a result the OnePlus doesn't feature weird artefacts like the halo around my cap. Meanwhile when it comes to color, the Pixel 8a's super-saturated look and the Nord 4's less intense one both overshoot the coloration I was hoping to see. Combined with the minimal detail difference between the two shots, this round has no particular winner.
Winner: Draw
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Bokeh
This close-up of a flower gives us a chance to check out how well these phones create a natural bokeh effect (background blur) without applying an artificial effect.
The Pixel's blurring is more intense, even if the strange color cast of this shot does spoil the overall look. The Nord's got a similar ratio of focus/blur, so while I would pick this shot as the winner on the whole, in terms of bokeh neither phone wins.
Winner: Draw
OnePlus Nord 4 vs. Google Pixel 8a: Verdict
So the Pixel 8a's spot at the top of the cheap phones pile remains safe for now it seems. OnePlus has the hardware to match Google's phone, but a lot of the time the Nord 4 can't quite deliver the goods. It's unfortunate that OnePlus seems unwilling to bring the Hasselblad tuning from its flagship phones to the Nord family, as I suspect that would go a long way in improving things.
But for now, U.S. buyers can sit safe in the knowledge that missing out on Nord 4 sales won't deprive them of a secret budget camera phone champion. Meanwhile in Europe and elsewhere, you can decide whether the Nord 4's other strengths, like its lower price, more interesting design and bigger display and battery, make up for the gap in camera quality with the Pixel 8a.
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