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UPDATE: OnePlus just launched a new thread on its forums as well, directly confirming that it will launch a “new, more affordable smartphone product line”, clearly saying that its budget offering is coming. That lineup is coming to India and Europe first, said OnePlus.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: OnePlus has just confirmed that a budget smartphone is coming. This confirmation comes from the company’s co-founder, Carl Pei, and he did it in a rather interesting way.
OnePlus has confirmed that a budget smartphone is coming… in an interesting way
He went to Twitter to tweet the ‘OnePlus Lite Z Thing’ name, if that can be called a name. He’s obviously just poking fun at all the rumors, as both ‘Lite’ and ‘Z’ are included in there.
This may actually suggest that the phone will be called ‘Nord’, as that hasn’t been mentioned. In any case, in that tweet, he also linked a new Instagram account.
The name of that Instagram account is “onepluslitezthing”. That account has no posts, but it has that cyan-colored OnePlus logo that the company published the other day.
We’re guessing that the cyan logo means that the upcoming phone will come in a cyan color… at least of its variants. That’s just our guess, of course, it could be anything.
OnePlus is also using the #NewBeginnings hashtag for all tweets related to this launch. This handset is expected to arrive on July 10. That’s just a rumor for now, though.
The phone was originally rumored to arrive as the OnePlus 8 Lite, but that changed a couple of times. Following that, the phone was rumored to arrive as the OnePlus Z. That also changed recently.
It could still be called the OnePlus Nord
A well-known leaker revealed it may be called the OnePlus Nord after all, or Nord by OnePlus. Whatever the case may be, this will be a mid-range smartphone.
The device will be fueled by the Snapdragon 765G 64-bit octa-core processor. It will support 5G, and it will be quite affordable. The phone will be made out of metal and glass, and include a display camera hole, which will be centered.
The device will feature four cameras on its back, and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Thin bezels will also be included, as will 30W fast wired charging, it seems.
Android 10 will come pre-installed on this mid-ranger, along with the company’s OxygenOS skin. It remains to be seen if it will offer water and dust protection, and wireless charging, but chances are it will not.
There you have it. OnePlus has confirmed that its budget smartphone is coming, but we still don’t know its name. The OnePlus Nord is still a possibility, but we’ll see.
If you’d like to know more about this smartphone, feel free to check out our preview article. We’ve rounded up quite a few rumors and leaks in there.