According to a newly released YouTube announcement, the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is here to provide UK users, as well as others around the world, with an authentic OnePlus experience for just £299.

If you are not fluent in OnePlus-speak, CE stands for Core Edition, which means it is a cheaper (but well-equipped) model in the mid-priced Nord series OnePlus has last year's model, the Nord CE3 Lite released as the OnePlus Nord N30.

We expect that the Nord CE4 Lite will at least inherit our best budget smartphone guide, which currently belongs to the Nord N30, and take the fight to the current champion of cheapness, the Google Pixel 8a. But until we have the full verdict to give you, read on for the full specs and feature analysis and see what you make of it.

The Nord CE4 Lite's display is a 120Hz 6.67-inch OLED panel with FHD resolution, which is usually much larger than a phone of this price. Using the same screen technology as last year's flagship OnePlus 11, OnePlus promises a peak brightness of 2,100 nits for this phone, and if this is accurate, the display will shine four times brighter than the previous model and about twice as bright as the Pixel 8a.

The Nord CE4 Lite's display can be set at either a 120Hz or 60Hz refresh rate, like the screens on flagship phones. While it cannot be dynamically scaled, it does offer the flexibility to adjust the smoothness of scrolling and battery life.

OnePlus has included several other special features on this screen. First, there is 480Hz PWM dimming, similar to Honor phones like the Magic6 Pro and 200 Pro, which theoretically reduces eye strain. The second is Aqua Touch, first used in the OnePlus 12, which makes the screen easier to use when the screen or hands are wet.

As for audio, OnePlus has retained the Nord CE3 Lite's 300% "Ultra Volume" mode in the CE4 Lite, which allows music and video sounds to play at ultra-loud volumes through stereo speakers. Fortunately for introverted users, a headphone jack is also provided without the hassle of Bluetooth connectivity.

OnePlus again offers two color options, Super Silver and Mega Blue. The silver model I am testing looks great until I get finger marks on it, but the blue version apparently has a higher tolerance for such smudges.

OnePlus has replaced the Nord N30/CE3 Lite's 108MP camera with a new 50MP main camera. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera, as there was last year.

Again, the lack of an ultra-wide camera reduces the photo range a bit compared to other budget phones, but this is unfortunately the kind of sacrifice that must be made to keep the price down.

The OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite improves on the already impressive power and charging specs of the Nord N30/CE3 Lite. It does not include a power brick in the box, but it is now capable of 80W of charging. Meanwhile, there is a 5,110 mAh battery, which OnePlus claims takes 50 minutes to charge to 100% and lasts more than two days with standard use.

One unfortunate fact is that the phone's battery is 5,500 mAh, which is larger in other markets, but is limited in Europe due to battery density laws.

Since you won't need all those milliamps in a day, if you feel generous, you can use Nord's 5W reverse wired charging to power accessories and other people's devices. OnePlus also promises that the battery will maintain 80% of its capacity even after four years of regular charging.

OnePlus used the Snapdragon 695 to power the Nord CE4 Lite. This is a 5G-enabled chip, but it is the exact same chip used in the Nord N30/CE3 Lite. At least this chip has 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. A lower memory variant is also being made, but this is the only one available in Europe.

OnePlus has not yet said anything about software updates, but OnePlus usually offers updates for up to four years, a figure it claims balances user value and the functionality of aging devices. If OnePlus decides to back down on this and offer a full seven years of updates to rival Google, we'd be happy, but as long as OnePlus sticks to its four-year plan, we won't be taking up the pitchfork.

Testing of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is still ongoing, so we're not yet ready to say if this is one of the best budget phones or if the Google Pixel 8a should start worrying yet. But there is already a lot to like about it.

As in previous years, the Nord CE4 Lite is cheaper than the typical budget phone, so it sacrifices some features, such as an ultrawide camera and the latest chipset. But with its large 120Hz OLED display, chunky battery, and fast charging, it may make sense for users who want a phone priced for long streaming sessions and hectic days away from a charger. onePlus Nord We'll let you know soon how well the CE4 fits this application.