OnePlus Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Which Is the Better Performer?

When the Nothing Phone 2a had just come out, one of the first phones I compared it to was the POCO X6 Pro. It was then that I realized how powerful the POCO X6 Pro actually is. Not only that, it had quite a few good things going for it. Now, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 has landed and starts at just Rs. 1,000 less than the POCO X6 Pro’s Rs. 25,999 price tag. So, is that extra thousand rupees worth it, or should you just save it and get the Nord CE 4 instead? This comparison came into existence to answer that very question. So, which is the better phone? Let’s find out.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Specs at a Glance

For a more detailed comparison, visit Beebom Gadgets.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Box Contents

The unboxing experience of both devices is very rich, and you get to see all that you need right in the box. The respective fast charging adapters and their cables? Check. A solid silicone case to protect your device? Check. Other things like a SIM ejector tool and a couple of papers are there too.

Another thing to note is that both the phones come with a pre-applied screen protector out of the box. So, unless you want to get tempered glass for additional protection, the in-box contents of these two phones will keep you mostly sorted.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Design and Build

I have with me the Nord CE 4’s Celadon Marble variant which is a splash of light green and white hues all around. As for the POCO X6 Pro, I have the Spectre Black color option with me.

Right off the bat, there’s no doubt that the Nord CE 4’s marbly color variant stands out easily. Now, there’s an important thing to note here. While I have the jet black color of the POCO X6 Pro, there’s also a bright yellow vegan leather variant, which looks and feels a lot more premium. In terms of the in-hand feel and look of that vegan leather variant, the Nord CE 4 doesn’t stand much of a chance to stand out.

Moreover, it is priced similarly to the regular plastic back options for the phone. Thanks to the vegan leather, you will also get a great grip on the phone. You also won’t have to worry about scratches appearing on the back.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the Nord CE 4, it comes with no such variant and while this color option is pretty, it’s still plastic. When I was penning down my detailed Nord CE 4 review, I also noticed how much of a scratch magnet this color option was. So, you will anyway have to slap a back cover on to protect it.

The Nord CE 4 is also pretty slippery and if you get the vegan leather variant of the POCO X6 Pro, you won’t have to worry about it. As for the plastic-back variant we have, that’s slippery too. Then comes the weight distribution, where the POCO X6 Pro emerges as the superior device as well.

For your reference, the Nord CE 4 weighs around 186 grams, and the POCO X6 Pro, roughly 190 grams. So, there’s not much of a difference there. But, when placing the devices on a flat surface, the Nord CE 4 wobbles aggressively. On the other hand, the POCO X6 Pro is not nearly as unsteady, thanks to a more practically placed camera module.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Display

Talking about the display, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 comes with a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. On the other hand, the POCO X6 Pro features a 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED display. However, both these displays offer up to 120Hz fast refresh rates. The bezels are also narrower on the POCO X6 Pro, making it look sleeker at the front.

When using these two displays, I could instantly tell that the POCO X6 Pro’s display output was a bit better detailed, thanks to the 1.5K panel. However, the Nord CE 4’s display is not that far behind and offers decent colors.

However, do note that both displays are also backed by DCI-P3 coverage. Due to this, you get to see rich colors on both devices. But, when I played a couple of videos side by side, the POCO X6 Pro appeared a lot richer in comparison.

Moving on to the brightness levels of the two displays, the POCO X6 Pro was definitely brighter, hovering around 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness. In comparison, the Nord CE 4’s 1100 nits of peak HDR brightness fell far behind. However, the normal brightness levels weren’t too off, with the POCO X6 Pro coming in at around 950 nits, and the Nord CE 4 at 920 nits.

I also took the two phones outside in Noida’s scorching heat and the POCO X6 Pro offered slightly better visibility there. However, the Nord CE 4’s display was also bright enough and didn’t make me squint my eyes.

All in all, the POCO X6 Pro has better display specs and, as a result, a richer and brighter HDR output during multimedia consumption.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Speaker Output

Now, while the POCO X6 Pro may take the win as the better display, the Nord CE 4 is the clear winner in terms of audio output. I chose specific tracks that can be pretty challenging to accurately play, like Illenium’s Fractures and those bass-heavy John Wick 4 soundtracks.

When playing Fractures, I noticed that the POCO X6 Pro’s speakers couldn’t retain the clarity of the vocals. Oftentimes, the vocals were overpowered by all the instrumentalization around it.

Meanwhile, the Nord CE 4 offers a very well-balanced audio output and from the vocals to each individual note, everything was crystal clear. Even the bass drop was better captured by the Nord CE 4’s speakers. The POCO X6 Pro’s speakers fell a bit flat in that regard.

Overall, the Nord CE 4 definitely has the better speakers.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Software Experience

If you hate bloatware, I’m afraid the POCO X6 Pro is definitely not for you. The excruciatingly intrusive ads and bloatware in its HyperOS are rather painful to browse through. See, you can uninstall most of this bloatware and restrict such ads. But, you will have to put in that additional effort.

Meanwhile, the Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 on the Nord CE 4 is much cleaner, with only a handful of bloatware apps like Netflix, ORelax, and ZenSpace, that most people still actively use. So, right out of the box, the Nord CE 4 is definitely more user-friendly and usable in that regard.

However, the Android 14-based HyperOS on the POCO X6 Pro is more lightweight and takes up fewer system resources than the OxygenOS 14. On the other hand, as I also noted in my Nord CE 4 review, the animations on the Nord CE 4 are not well-optimized.

There are inconsistencies throughout the UI, and that does give the HyperOS some leverage. The HyperOS animations, meanwhile, are solid and features like the Super Wallpapers definitely add to the software’s aesthetics.

Meanwhile, existing OnePlus users will feel right at home with the Nord CE 4 and its OxygenOS 14 features like auto pixelate, file dock, smart cutout for images, and more.

The haptics of the POCO X6 Pro felt slightly better though, for the Nord CE 3 haptics came a little too strong for my taste.

Most importantly, the Nord CE 4 will get only 2 OS updates and 3 years of security patches. On the contrary, the POCO X6 Pro comes with 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches. So, while the OxygenOS is cleaner, you will be more future-proof with the POCO X6 Pro in the long run.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Performance

While the OnePlus Nord CE 4 is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, the POCO X6 Pro comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra under the hood. The Nord CE 4’s SoC is backed by up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Meanwhile, the POCO X6 Pro’s chipset is backed by up to a whopping 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. If we compare the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 vs Dimensity 8300 Ultra, the latter outperforms easily. Here’s how these details bring differences between the two phones:

Day-to-day usage

When it comes to the daily usage of these two phones, I had no issues as such. However, as I had also noticed in my review, the Nord CE 4 has these micro stutters in the UI. When swiping up to exit an app and getting to the home screen, or just casually browsing through the device, at times these stutters would appear.

Even the RAM management is better on the POCO X6 Pro. Most of the 15 apps I had kept running in the background resumed from where I had left it. However, the Nord CE 4 could not keep up with that, and after a while, most of the apps reloaded when you revisited them.

Moreover, the POCO X6 Pro is a lot more fluid as well. App opening and closing are snappy, and there are no lags or stutters to be found. However, both phones handle multitasking well and I did not have a problem shuffling between apps. I had 20 different apps open in the background and could easily jump from one app to the other without encountering any lags.

Benchmarks

As for benchmarks, the Dimensity 8300 Ultra on the POCO X6 Pro takes a major lead here. You get to see a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 equivalent processor in this segment, and that is a big win in itself. While the 7 Gen 3 on the Nord CE 4 is a very capable performer, it can’t match the power levels of the Dimensity 8300 Ultra. The latter is way too powerful and handles anything and everything without breaking a sweat. You can clearly see the difference in these benchmarks:

The POCO X6 Pro turned out to be too powerful for the standard Wild Life test and even had the Solar Bay tests unlocked, which none of the phones in the segment can run. It’s powerful, alright.

Gaming

The benchmarks are literal proof of the phenomenal performance that the POCO X6 Pro is capable of bringing to the table. When playing games, not only do you get to utilize higher graphical settings, but you also get to see more consistent frames on the POCO X6 Pro. I tried playing CoD Mobile, Warzone Mobile, BGMI, and Genshin Impact on the two devices. Here’s a quick rundown of it all:

While the POCO X6 Pro can get a bit warm and hit around 43-44 degrees when gaming on it for hours, the Nord CE 4 stays cooler. I rarely saw the device go beyond 40 degrees. But, thermal throttling is a far cry on both devices, so you won’t have to worry about that.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Cameras

Talking about the OnePlus Nord CE 4 first, it features a dual rear camera setup of a 50MP Sony LYT600 primary sensor and an 8MP Sony IMX355 ultra-wide-angle sensor. At the front, there’s a 16MP selfie shooter. Whereas, the POCO X6 Pro has a triple rear camera setup led by a 64 MP OmniVision OV64B sensor. The other two sensors include an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor as well as a 2MP macro sensor. Here’s how these setups fare against each other:

Daytime

During the day, the Nord CE 4 takes good pictures through the primary sensor. However, while the details are maintained well, the shots often look washed out. Meanwhile, its ultra-wide-angle sensor also has a big problem with details and fails to maintain accurate color temperatures. As a result, sometimes, the shots appear either too warm or too cool.

Meanwhile, the POCO X6 Pro’s shots don’t have this issue. There’s also not much color disparity between the primary and ultra-wide-angle sensors. The detailing is much better on the POCO X6 Pro and you can also see some spot-on dynamic range with the highlights and shadows being maintained well.

Since the Nord CE 4 washes out most things, even the dynamic range takes a hit and there’s no clear distinction between the highlights and shadows. As a result, the shots appear more bland on the Nord CE 4.

The same goes for the human subjects. While the POCO X6 Pro tries to maintain those natural colors and succeeds most of the time, the Nord CE 4 always has some sort of discrepancy. Sometimes, it boosts the color tones, while other times, they look duller. It also has trouble keeping the images bright enough even in direct sunlight. Meanwhile, the POCO X6 Pro has no problems as such and the edge detection is also slightly better, and the depth mapping is more aesthetic.

Night time

At night, the POCO X6 Pro takes better shots, yet again. Where the Nord CE 4’s shots look noisy and lack intricate details as you zoom in, the POCO X6 Pro has all these things going for it. I also really like how the POCO X6 Pro manages light sources well and never lets them blow out of proportion. While the Nord CE 4 manages light sources well too, it’s not that greatly done on it.

Selfies

When talking about selfies, again, the POCO X6 Pro emerges superior in this regard. The Nord CE 4 does some over-sharpening and over-brightening and I’m not too fond of it. Whereas, the POCO X6 Pro retains the natural skin tones well and doesn’t go overboard with the processing. There’s some, but not too much.

Videos

As for videos, the primary setup of both phones lets you capture up to 4K 30FPS videos. However, the POCO X6 Pro takes the lead with its front shooter being capable of capturing 1080p 60FPS videos. On the other hand, the Nord CE 4 limits you to only 1080p 30FPS.

Nord CE 4 vs POCO X6 Pro: Battery and Charging

Talking about the technical battery specifications of the two devices first, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 comes with a massive 5,500mAh unit. On the other hand, the POCO X6 Pro is fueled by a 5,000mAh unit. You also get to see a whopping 100W fast charging support with the Nord CE 4. Meanwhile, the POCO X6 Pro’s battery capacity is backed by 67W fast charging support.

In real life as well, the Nord CE 4 brings more juice to the table. During my testing, I got around 6.5 to 7 hours of screen-on time. In comparison, the POCO X6 Pro delivered just around 5 hours of screen-on time.

For your reference, these results are based on me watching YouTube videos, playing games, and running benchmarks for hours.

Final Verdict

While the OnePlus Nord CE 4 is a great device and everything, for just Rs. 1,000 more, it is impossible to not recommend the POCO X6 Pro instead. It is not just miles ahead in performance but mops the floor with the Nord CE 4 in almost every aspect. From better cameras to a more premium design with its vegan leather variant, and even a better display, you get your money’s worth.

One could argue that the bloatware-ridden HyperOS is a mess, but it’s hard to recommend the Nord CE 4 on the basis of just that. Yes, there is a very big battery and even a significantly faster 100W fast charger support. But, the POCO X6 Pro’s 5000mAh battery and 67W fast charging support is not a disappointment either.

Even the front shooter of the Nord CE 4 is limited to 1080p 30FPS. In 2024, that is a bit of a disappointment. With that, you can forget about vlogging, and the micro stutters I encountered only make it worse.

Then comes the better software update policy that the POCO X6 Pro is secured by. The standard 3 years of OS updates on the POCO X6 Pro vs a measly 2 years of OS updates on the Nord CE 4; you already know which is better. Not to mention that even the POCO X6 Pro comes with Android 14 right out of the box.

By the end of the day, you want a future-proof device that you don’t have to think about changing anytime soon. Ticking all the boxes and going beyond, the POCO X6 Pro is a very clear winner here.