The OnePlus Nord is the new affordable smartphone from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, as it looks to reach more fans by offering a more price-conscious option alongside its flagship tier.
OnePlus Nord is both the name of the firm’s new product line and the first device in the range – the OnePlus Nord smartphone.
Update: We’ve now got our first look at the OnePlus Nord, with images and video of the handset making their way onto the web.
A number of details have been confirmed about the Nord handset recently, some of them exclusively by TechRadar, and we’ve put all the key information below.
The new OnePlus Nord phone has a lower price tag than the OnePlus 8, addressing the concern some fans had about the firm’s big price hikes in recent years as it moved away from its mid-range pricing.
While there was much speculation over the name – with OnePlus Z, OnePlus 8 Lite and OnePlus Nord all being rumored, the latter has now been officially confirmed as the name for the affordable smartphone.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? An affordable (not cheap) OnePlus smartphone
- When is it out? July, exact date unknown
- How much will it cost? Under $500 (around £410, AU$730)
OnePlus Nord release date
- OnePlus Nord pre-orders: limited pre-orders from July 1
- OnePlus Nord release date: rumored for July 7 or 10
The OnePlus Nord release date is yet to be confirmed, but it’s close. The firm has already held an initial round OnePlus Nord pre-orders – limited to just 100 units – on July 1 which sold out in just a second.
It’s planning two further OnePlus Nord pre-order sessions as well, on July 8 and July 15 via its website – and if the first round is anything to go by, they’ll likely sell out immediately too.
As for when the OnePlus Nord release date will be for general sale, a recent rumor points to July 10. However, with the OnePlus site confirming the third round of pre-orders won’t be until July 15, a July 10 release looks highly unlikely.
The OnePlus Nord will be available in Europe and India first, while “a select number of users in North America will also get a chance to experience the new device through a highly limited beta program after launch”.
We don’t have any more detail on the North America beta program at the moment, but we’ll update this page as soon as we hear.
OnePlus Nord price
- OnePlus Nord price: confirmed to be “below $500”
What we do know is the OnePlus Nord price. OnePlus has confirmed it will be “below $500” (around £410 / AU$730), while CEO and Founder, Pete Lau has confirmed to TechRadar that it will cost €500 in Europe.
That makes the OnePlus Nord comfortably cheaper than the OnePlus 8, which starts at $699 / £599 (about AU$1,100) – which is good, as OnePlus has been teasing the ‘affordable’ handset for a while now.
We wouldn’t be surprised if “below $500” translates to $499, rather than an even lower price tag – but you could always keep your fingers crossed for something cheaper.
OnePlus Nord name
- No longer the OnePlus Z or OnePlus 8 Lite
It is official, the affordable OnePlus smartphone is called the OnePlus Nord.
After several months of rumors surrounding a trio of names – OnePlus 8 Lite, OnePlus Z and, most recently, OnePlus Nord – it was the more bizarre of the three which ended up being the real deal.
We spoke exclusively to Carl Pei, Assistant Head of OnePlus Nord, to find out how the name came about, what it means and why it was ultimately chosen.
OnePlus Nord power and interface
- Exclusive: Nord will feature Snapdragon 765G chipset
- Exclusive: Nord will be a 5G enabled smartphone
OnePlus has exclusively confirmed to TechRadar that the Nord smartphone will come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G chipset.
That’s the same chip which we saw perform well in the LG Velvet, and its inclusion means the OnePlus Nord is also 5G enabled.
While not confirmed, we expect the OnePlus Nord to run Android with the firm’s Oxygen OS interface over the top, which brings with it features and customization options on top of Google’s core operating system.
OnePlus Nord cameras
- Exclusive: OnePlus Nord will have flagship level cameras
- Rumors say three rear facing cameras
- A recent leak suggests two front facing cameras
According to a leak from an ‘OnePlus insider’, the OnePlus Nord will feature two front facing cameras, a 32MP sensor alongside an 8MP offering.
This conflicts with earlier rumors which suggested the handset would only have a single selfie camera – so we’ll have to wait for official confirmation from OnePlus to see which way it goes here.
As for the rear cameras, rumors suggest the OnePlus Nord could have three lenses on the back and a surprise tease of the phone on a talk show suggested it will have three rear cameras, though, so it seems this part of the leaks could be correct.
Meanwhile, another trusted leaker has suggested we may see the OnePlus Nord have four rear cameras.
pic.twitter.com/nvQBMV1pryJune 15, 2020
While we don’t how many cameras the Nord will have, Carl Pei, Assistant Head of OnePlus Nord, exclusively told TechRadar that the handset will have “a flagship-level camera”.
OnePlus Nord design and display
We’ve now got our first look at the OnePlus Nord, with an image showing up on Amazon India, and a couple of videos posted by OnePlus showing us glimpses of the affordable handset.
The image leaked on Amazon (below) shows the rear of the OnePlus Nord, and even though the handset itself is a little blurred, it’s easy to make out the OnePlus logo, volume rocker, power/lock key and large camera bump.
Meanwhile, on Instagran, OnePlus posted a video (below) which gives us a brief look at the front of the OnePlus Nord. It doesn’t really give too much away in terms of spec, but fast forward to around the one minute mark of the video to see for yourself.
OnePlus Nord leaks and rumors
A OnePlus Nord render (below) gave us an idea of the phone, and it actually showed a phone that doesn’t look all that different from the main OnePlus 8 series.
There’s with a ‘punch-hole’ cut-out central to the top of the display, rear cameras in a bump to the left of the device, and seemingly no 3.5mm headphone jack.
We’ve also seen live hands-on pictures of the phone, that generally seem to back that render. The screen is flat, which is a change from the other OnePlus 8 devices, but the picture didn’t show the back of the phone.
Just before the OnePlus 8 announcement a huge leak laid bare all three phones, including a ‘Lite’ device. This leak said the ‘Lite’ handset – which is now called the OnePlus Nord – would have a 6.4-inch screen, 48MP + 16MP + 12MP rear camera combination, 16MP front camera and 4,000mAh battery.
We’re not convinced by any of this, as the same report also said it would have a Mediatek 1000 chipset – which we know for a fact is not true.
One of the latest OnePlus Nord spec leaks points to the now-confirmed Snapdragon 765 chipset, along with 6GB of RAM, a triple-lens rear camera with 64MP, 16MP, and 2MP sensors, a 16MP front-facing camera in a punch-hole, a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, 128GB of storage, an in-screen fingerprint scanner and a 4,300mAh battery with 30W fast charging.
Having said that, another leaker has said these specs are wrong, so we’d take them with a serious side of salt. Indeed, an even more recent leak said the OnePlus Nord will have a dual-lens front-facing camera with a 32MP main sensor and an 8MP wide-angle one, both in a cut-out in the top left corner of the screen.
Finally, a benchmark test listing for what seems to be the OnePlus Nord suggests it could have as much as 12GB RAM, which is a surprising amount for what we imagined to be an affordable phone.
The same listing suggests the phone will have 5G connectivity and a Snapdragon 765G chipset – two aspects which have already been confirmed for the handset.