The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro became official in April, marking the firm’s first phones of 2020. But we’ve also been hearing about a mid-range OnePlus phone for months now, tentatively known at the time as the OnePlus Z. Now, though, we know it will land as the OnePlus Nord.
The company’s last mid-range phone was the OnePlus X back in 2015, so this is clearly a big deal for the budget-conscious fans of the brand. It’s an even bigger deal when we look at the OnePlus 8 series’ pricing.
So is the OnePlus Nord shaping up to be a worthy successor to the OnePlus X? Here’s everything we know (or think we know) about it so far.
When leaks first showed us a mid-range OnePlus phone, we didn’t have a name to go with the renders. Instead, people took to calling it the OnePlus 8 Lite.
XDA Developer‘s Max Weinbach broke the news of a potential official name at the end of March when he claimed that the upcoming phone could actually be called the OnePlus Z. This claim was corroborated by fellow leaker Ishan Agarwal.
However, it appears that didn’t pan out, as rumors started popping up suggesting the phone could be called the OnePlus Nord. Eventually, OnePlus itself confirmed the Nord name.
Interestingly, the Nord moniker is not for one phone but actually a new line of phones at OnePlus. Therefore, this upcoming device is just the first entry in a new series.
Originally, we expected to see the OnePlus Nord launch alongside the OnePlus 8 series on April 14, but that didn’t happen. OnePlus then teased a product announcement at its Chinese launch on April 16, but the phone didn’t appear here either.
Most recently, a string of leaks suggests we could see the OnePlus Nord launch in India on July 10. Strangely, OnePlus already opened pre-orders for the Nord online but limited them to just 100 units. Obviously, they sold out within seconds even without a confirmed release date or price.
The OnePlus 8 series packs some impressive specifications, such as a Snapdragon 865 processor, plenty of RAM, and even wireless charging and an IP68 rating for the Pro model. We can’t expect these features in the OnePlus Nord, given the apparent lower price tag.
Leaker Ishan Agarwal and 91Mobiles gave us an early look at the OnePlus Nord’s potential specs, claiming that it could offer a MediaTek processor and a 90Hz display refresh rate. Previous rumors pointed to a MediaTek Dimensity 800 or Dimensity 1000 chipset, which means this phone could have 5G as well.
However, sometime later, a new rumor popped up suggesting that the OnePlus Nord could instead be powered by a Snapdragon 765. It’s not clear if OnePlus possibly planned on using MediaTek and then switched, if it always planned to stick with Qualcomm, or if the rumors aren’t true and MediaTek is still the plan.
Eventually, OnePlus itself confirmed the processor: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. Unfortunately, the company didn’t confirm any other specs.
At the beginning of June, a screenshot of an alleged survey popped up online that appears to give away a bunch of the specs we might see on the OnePlus Nord:
The survey suggests we could see a 6.55-inch 90Hz Super AMOLED display with an in-display fingerprint scanner, a 64MP + 16MP + 2MP rear camera assembly, a 4,300mAh battery with 30W fast charging, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. If this ends up being true, the OnePlus Nord could be the budget phone to beat in 2020.
Anyhow, part of the above spec sheet is already in dispute. Tipster Max J previously claimed that these specs are inaccurate and contrary to leaked renders shown above, his latest leak suggests that the OnePlus Nord will feature a quad-camera system at the back.
— Max J. (@MaxJmb) June 15, 2020
Max’s tweets are pretty cryptic and he doesn’t confirm any specifics in any of them regarding the OnePlus Nord, so we’re really not sure what to think. Max was one of the first to claim that the phone will be called the OnePlus Nord instead of the OnePlus Z, so we should absolutely pay attention to what he says.
The OnePlus Nord was purportedly certified by TUV Rheinland earlier in June (spotted via MySmartPrice), and the listing may have revealed 30W charging. This is in line with the OnePlus 8 series, suggesting we could see similar charging times. And the OnePlus 8 series indeed tops up in roughly an hour, which could bode well for the cheaper phone.