OnePlus Nord 4 vs Samsung A35: Which is best for gaming?
The OnePlus Nord 4 was recently announced on July 16, 2024, and is designed to shake up the mid-range market with a new metallic unibody design. No other brand is making such metallic phones anymore, so it is quite a refreshing change, I must admit.
On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy A35 was released earlier this year and is also quite popular in the mid-range market.
It will be interesting to see how the Samsung smartphone compares to the new OnePlus Nord 4. Therefore, in this article, I will be doing an in-depth review of the two phones to see which is the best for gaming.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
OnePlus Nord 4 vs Samsung A35
This comparison of the OnePlus Nord 4 and Samsung A35 is divided into multiple sections to better judge their gaming performance and the experience they provide. Let's start with the specs first.
Specs comparison
Here are the specs of OnePlus Nord 4 and Samsung A35:
Design and display
The design is where you will find a stark contrast between the two devices. The OnePlus Nord 4 features an aluminum unibody design with a small hint of glass around the camera. It's a refreshing new design that looks surprisingly good.
On the contrary, the Samsung Galaxy A35 features a plastic body with a glass rear panel. This makes the OnePlus Nord 4 a winner in the design department. However, keep in mind that design is subjective, and opinions can differ from person to person.
Furthermore, both smartphones seem to have similar display quality and features, but the brightness of the OnePlus's display is higher than the one in the Samsung. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A35's strengths lie in better dust and water resistance and display protection.
Performance and cooling
When it comes to performance, the OnePlus Nord 4 blows the Samsung Galaxy A35 out of the water. That's because the former features the powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset, which provides a lot more performance than the Exynos 1380 inside the Samsung.
Here's a benchmark comparison of the two chipsets to give you an idea of how much of a performance difference we are talking about:
In CPU-related single-core and multi-core benchmarks, the Snapdragon processor is about 85 - 90% faster than the Exynos chipset. Likewise, in the 3D Mark Extreme graphical test, the Snapdragon, which is about three times faster, decimates the latter.
Therefore, the OnePlus Nord 4 is better for gaming. Games like Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, and others will run much better on this phone.
It also has a large vapor chamber cooling inside, and when combined with the metallic design of the smartphone, will lead to better heat dissipation outside and cooler temperature inside. The Samsung A35 also has a vapor chamber cooling inside, but it won't be as effective as the one in the OnePlus smartphone.
Memory and storage
You can buy both smartphones with enough RAM and storage capacity, but the OnePlus phone provides more configuration options for users to choose from. In fact, you can buy a 16GB RAM version of the OnePlus Nord 4, which you can't with the Samsung Galaxy A35.
Camera performance
Even though both the OnePlus Nord 4 and Samsung A35 have similar camera hardware, the Samsung phone will outperform the other due to its superior image processing algorithms. The same should also apply to the selfie camera, giving Samsung the win in this category.
Battery and charging
The OnePlus Nord 4 and Samsung A35 have similar battery capacities, so they should have identical battery life. However, the former features a 100W super fast charging, which helps it charge a lot faster than the latter. In fact, the OnePlus phone can fully charge its battery in under 30 minutes.
Pricing comparison
In terms of pricing, the OnePlus Nord 4 is a lot costlier than the Samsung A35. It costs around $545, which is 82% more than the latter ($299).
Final verdict of OnePlus Nord 4 vs Samsung A35
The OnePlus Nord 4 is better for gaming. It has a better chipset, thermal system, faster charging, better build quality, and more. However, it also costs a lot more than the Samsung Galaxy A35.