OnePlus announces the ‘Nord’, its first under-$500 phone

The much-anticipated OnePlus “affordable smartphone product line” has been announced. The budget-smartphone, which is expected to cost under $500 but still have specifications and features of expensive range phones, will be called the OnePlus Nord, according to sources.

The latest in the OnePlus line, the Nord is expected to come out in July and improve OnePlus’ market position by reaching new users. Despite being the first product under $500 in recent years for OnePlus, the Nord will have triple rear cameras (with a 64-megapixel primary sensor) and dual selfie cameras along with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC, plus a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED display.

Much about the OnePlus Nord remains a secret. But speculators and market watchers have rummaged through any data they could find as well as substantial social media leaks to be able to give tentative details.

The phone’s size is expected to be closer to the OnePlus 7T in terms of height and width, although a little thicker. The rear panel is glass, with curved edges towards the sides, but with the front display being flat overall, using 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. A USB-C port sits at the bottom, but there’s no sign of a 3.5mm headphone socket, otherwise common on more affordable devices. The storage is expected to be around 8/128 GB or 12/256GB, which is highly impressive for the price.

The OnePlus Nord will initially be exclusive to India and Europe. However, OnePlus says select users in the US would also get a chance to experience the new model “through a highly limited beta program after launch.”