The OnePlus Nord 4 will go down as one of my favorite phones from 2024. The main reason for that is that it comes with an aluminum unibody and is the only mainstream device on the market with a metal back panel. I’ve always loved metal in phone builds.
However, while you might know incompatibility with wireless charging as one of the major downsides of metal phones, apparently that’s not the only one the Nord 4 has. That metal unibody apparently makes it rather difficult to open up, and hence, difficult to repair. That’s the trade-off.
As Good As It Looks, The Nord 4’s Metal Unibody Earns It A 4/10 Repairability Score
Metal is a material that used to be considering extremely premium when it was used in phones — even in their frames; though metal frames are now standard on flagships. However, with the advent of wireless charging and the need for stronger wireless signals, metal started to be phased out in favor of the very fragile but arguably more premium glass.
The OnePlus Nord 4 is one of the first phones in a very long time to bring back metal in the back panel, and on top of that, it uses a unibody design which means that the frame and back panel are made of a single piece of metal. I used a Google Pixel XL, which had a metal unibody, and trust me when I say that it felt extremely great in the hand.
However, the problem that has arisen from the use of a metal unibody is that it makes the OnePlus Nord 4 quite difficult to get into. Because of that, PBK Reviews who disassembled the OnePlus Nord 4 gave it a 4/10 repairability score. That’s not great at all. Equally bad is the fact that the screen, one of the parts that most people may need to repair during the device’s lifetime got a 0.5/2 score for its ease of repairability.
Should You Care How Repairable A Phone Is Before You Buy It?
I don’t mind shipping over a phone that’s not available in my region if I think that it’s good enough for me. However, relative unavailability in my home country means that such phones would be very hard to get fixed where I live. The thing is, I haven’t ever given that more than a little thought and it makes me wonder whether we should be considering repairability as a valid reason to get a phone or not.
That’s a good question. I don’t, because my phones rarely drop and I’ve never had spontaneous issues like a bad charging port. However, I did have to replace the battery in my Google Pixel XL and the back panel on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ when I wanted to sell both of those devices, but I did it myself.
However, with a phone that might be as tough to repair as this one, I do think it should play some role in your decision-making (even if iFixit self-repair kits are available). Metal is a different beast altogether, so it’d be a good idea to get a more manageable device if you’re looking to self-repair.
