OnePlus is a brand which provides value smartphones, meaning the prices don’t hit hard on your wallets. It has been doing for the past couple of years and has been recognized for the same. In 2019. OnePlus expanded into the full premium segment a introducing a Pro variant of the OnePlus 7. Curved displays with 2K resolutions were key takeaways. Ofcourse this also market the arrival of 90Hz refresh rate on AMOLEDs. This year it looks like OnePlus is expanding even to the mid-range segment in the form of OnePlus Nord mobile or OnePlus 8 Lite whatever the name may be amongst the two but the specifications remain the same.
Key Specs of OnePlus Nord mobile
SoC of OnePlus Nord mobile –
As OnePlus Nord mobile will clearly not be a flagship phone from OnePlus so the specs will be toned down. The major difference between this and all existing OnePlus phones is that for the first time in OnePlus’ history, it will NOT have a Snapdragon 800 series mobile processor. Previously it was heavily rumoured that this mid-range OnePlus mobile will have the Mediatek’s flagship SoC Dimensity 1000. But turns out it’ll be equipped with a Snapdragon SoC, i.e. SD765G.
To give you a prespective, the SD765G is very closely related to the 2 year old SD845. SD765G has the Adreno 620 whereas the SD845 has the Adreno 630 respectively. Clearly, the 2 year old latter will perform better graphic intensive tasks like faster game rendering but the SD765G is no slouch either. In a nutshell, the SD765G is better then the current mid-range champ i.e. SD730G but falls behind the Snapdragon 800 series.
Display
OnePlus will definitely cut the corners here which can be clearly seen physically that it won’t be having a curved edge screen as the latest OnePlus 8 & 8 Pro. On the bright side, this also has its own perks as No accidental touches. It will have 6.55″ Full HD screen with support upto 90Hz refresh rate. OnePlus may have dealt some downgrades like no 800 or 1000 nits of brightness like the OnePlus 8 series. Surprisingly, it will have a punch-hole display which is completely different from the OnePlus 8 series. This also gives away the fact that it won’t be the OnePlus 8 Lite rather will be a brand new series.
Guess what?! Seems like #OnePlus is about to launch a more affordable device!
— Steve H.McFly (@OnLeaks) December 7, 2019
Here comes your very first look at that yet unknown and nameless OnePlus mid-ranger!
360° video + gorgeous 5K renders + dimensions, on behalf of my Friends over @91mobiles -> https://t.co/x5nY3PsbqJ pic.twitter.com/YDubTx7td0
OnePlus Nord’s first ever rendered leak was on 7 Dec, 2019 by leakster @OnLeaks. Since then it hasn’t been announced nor teased even during the OnePlus 8 series launch event.
Camera
OnePlus Nord mobile will be equipped with the tradition 3 camera setup. The rumored camera specs are:-
- 64 MP, f/2.0, 26mm, 1/1.72″, 0.8µm, PDAF – Main camera (strange since even the highest end OnePlus 8 Pro has 48MP. But again this 64MP can most likely be the Samsung GW1 and less optimized then the flagship counterparts)
- 16 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 116˚ – Ultrawide
- 2MP – Either Macro or depth. Telephoto lens is very unlikely because OnePlus omitted in OnePlus 8. Dumb move OnePlus!
The camera can be judged only when the camera results and comparisons are out. Till then we shouldn’t keep our hopes high. Importantly will it be able to be beat the POCO X2 in photography? That would be an interesting topic for another day. OnePlus Nord should have a telephoto to have an edge over other mid-rangers though.
Battery
The OnePlus Nord is said to have 4300mAh battery. The OnePlus 8 too has the same battery size and even the same screen size. Seems like both the phones will have similar battery life but will also depend on the processors. You could achieve around 6hrs of SOT with average using including mid gaming on 90Hz refresh rate option. On 60Hz the story would be completely different and a difference of 1 hour or so will be there between 90Hz and 60Hz.
Price
The price shown on the screenshot is Rs. 24,990. If that has to be believed then it seems pretty good deal. Along with the OnePlus Nord, OnePlus will also announce the OnePlus Buds which are OnePlus’s first ever TWS earphones. Checkout detailed renders of the OnePlus Buds below.
UPDATE: Launch confirmed (July)
OnePlus has announced that they are buckling up for something new and running the campaigns with “New Beginning”. This clearly indicates the OnePlus mid-range phone. A new Instagram handle was also created @onepluslitezthing in order for this new lineup. Later a morse code post was uploaded, when decoded it says ‘July’. This new lineup will be coming to India and Europe and sometime later in the future in the North America.
The event will take place on July 22 and then only we’ll get to know the price. The price will be not high and that’s for sure.
The Gadgets Hub take/ Opinion on the OnePluz Z
The OnePlus Nord certainly looks like a promising phone. Remember the OnePlus X? It was a premium mid-range phone but later OnePlus scrapped the idea therefore we couldn’t see a OnePlus X2. OnePlus seems to enter the mid-range market again but with less emphasize on the processor rather making it a value all-rounder package. The closest competitor to the OnePlus Z would be POCO X2 if the price of Rs. 25,000 is to be believed. It’ll make survival of Samsung phones like Galaxy A31, A51, A70 & A71 a hardship though those who want a Tier 1 brand will go with Samsung. All in all for a couple of bucks extra then the POCO X2 it offers an AMOLED display with a cleaner software experience and ofcourse a slightly better processor.
Interested in the high end OnePlus 8 Pro? Check out our article on the same
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