OnePlus Nord 4 leads a flurry of product launches – brings metal to the mid-range

OnePlus has seen a flurry of launches, as it refreshed its mid-range phone, watch, tablet and earbuds in one gigantic summer launch.

Looking to shake-up mid-range smartphones, OnePlus has returned to a material we've not seen for a long time - metal.

The OnePlus Nord 4 uses a solid aluminium body, milled to create a unibody design, the sort of thing we've not seen for many years. OnePlus says that it has had to overcome a number of technical challenges to achieve this, including creating smaller antennas and customising the motherboard to boost signals and ensure 5G remains connected.

The phone is powered by Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, while there's a big 5,500mAh battery to ensure long life. That battery also supports 100W charging, while there's a 6.74-inch AMOLED display, to boot.

In a phone that's only 7.99mm thick, the weight of 199.5g is a little on the high side, but you'll get some unique finishes and designs, including Mercurial Silver, Oasis Green and Obsidian Midnight.

There will be six years of security updates and four years of Android OS updates, while the phone also offers a range of AI features – AI Speak, AI Summary, AI Writer and AI Recording Summary – which appear to mirror the sort of features we're seeing from other brands.

There's also AI in the camera, including AI Eraser, AI Best Face, AI Clear Face and AI Smart Cutout 2.0, which adequately describe themselves and again, sound like the same sort of AI features we're seeing elsewhere. The camera consists of a 50-megapixel main camera, supported by an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera.

The OnePlus Nord 4 will cost from £429 and it will be available from 8 August.

OnePlus Pad 2 is a powerhouse

While the phone focuses on the mid-range, the new OnePlus Pad 2 finds itself powered by flagship hardware with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 so this is a powerful tablet. There's a big 12.1-inch display with sharp 3K display and a whopping 900 nits brightness.

It packs in a huge battery with 67W charging and it's all in a 6.49mm frame, so it's nice and thin too. It's not quite as thin as the iPad Pro, but it's pretty slim. Pitched as a productivity device, there are also pen and keyboard accessories.

There's a range of clever software to make better use of the display space too, with OnePlus's clever Open Canvas allowing great multitasking. It follows on from the great OnePlus Pad, so could be one of the top Android tablets.

The OnePlus Pad 2 starts at £499, so it's not hugely expensive, looking to challenge the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9. It's available from 1 August.

OnePlus Watch 2R slims down

OnePlus only announced the Watch 2 in February 2024, but we're now seeing it get the R treatment. This is a little like Samsung's FE treatment, where something is stripped away, but leaving the core experience much the same.

The OnePlus Watch 2R, then, is basically the same as the Watch R, but it's lighter because it's made from aluminium rather than stainless steel – while it hangs onto the great battery life. This is a WearOS watch, priced at £249, so it undercuts the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 a little.

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro join the party

There's been something of a drive from brands to launch more headphones in recent years. Following the lead of Apple with its AirPods, just about every brand now has its own true wireless buds – and OnePlus is no exception.

While the market might be dominated by brands like Sony, more affordable buds are everywhere. The OnePlus Nord Buds we previously reviewed offered decent performance, so these £79 buds might be of interest to someone who doesn't want to spend a fortune.

They offer active noise cancellation, claim to deliver great bass performance and use the latest Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. That's backed up with 12 hours of playback - boosted to 44 hours thanks to the charging case, while they also offer an IP55 protection rating.

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are available now.