Budget smartphones were a big part of OnePlus’s plans in 2020. New developments suggest that trend will continue next year in the form of the launch of the OnePlus Nord SE.
Apart from its numeric flagship series, OnePlus launched a series of mid-range devices under the Nord branding. It started with the OnePlus Nord in July, followed by the Nord N10 and N100 in October. A similar schedule could be followed by the OnePlus 9 series and the OnePlus Nord SE in the first quarter of 2021.
Codenamed “Ebba”, the existence of the OnePlus Nord SE was tipped by Android Central, which has historically been accurate with sharing insider OnePlus information. As the name suggests, it will build upon the first-gen Nord with a few upgrades. The talking point will be the inclusion of Warp Charge 65, the 65W charging tech that debuted on the OnePlus 8T. It should be able to fill the 4,500mAh battery in under 40 minutes. It is also expected to sport an AMOLED display, unlike the Nord N10 and N100. We also expect the Nord SE to have a refresh rate of at least 90Hz.
The exact launch date was not mentioned, but it shouldn’t be too far from that of the OnePlus 9, which is supposedly slated for March. This could mean that OnePlus is looking at following a nine-month refresh cycle for the Nord series.
Pricing info was not tipped. Some other specifications of the OnePlus Nord SE continue to remain unknown such as the chipset — will the Snapdragon 765G make another appearance or will it move to a more recent chip? With the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit scheduled for early December, we could see it get upgraded. 5G capabilities are likely to be maintained. Details around the cameras are also a little unclear currently, as the Nord opted for a 48MP quad-camera system while the Nord N10 got a 64MP primary shooter. There’s no word on the design either.