Rumours have abounded that OnePlus has been planning to launch a more affordable line of smartphones for awhile now. We still don’t have confirmation of what the device will be called yet, with multiple names floating around over the past few months or so. Now, OnePlus has confirmed that an affordable smartphone series is coming soon.
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that a “new, more affordable” lineup is arriving, although the new series will still have the “premium, flagship” experience normally associated with OnePlus’ smartphones. While details are still pretty scarce at the time of writing, Lau confirms that the device will be first launched in Europe and India, although subsequent releases in more markets are possible.
In a post on the official OnePlus forums, Lau also links readers to a new Instagram page: OnePlusLiteZThing. Amid a few teasers on the page, there is also a post that has a cryptic message written in morse code—translation: July.
The most logical deduction here is that OnePlus will launch the new affordable series in July, and based on the name of the Instagram account, it could also be called the OnePlus Lite or the OnePlus Z (probably). Again, nothing has been confirmed as per the name, and these are merely educated guesses at this time; previously, other rumoured names included the OnePlus 8 Lite or the OnePlus Nord.
Still, the affordable OnePlus phone will probably still offer a similar experience to their flagship devices such as the OnePlus 8. Oxygen OS is popular with users for its simple, stock-like Android UI, and the next OnePlus is all but certain to run on Oxygen OS.
Additionally, Paul Yu will lead the product team for the new affordable series. Yu, who led product hardware development for many of OnePlus’ flagship devices over the past year or so, has supposedly been working on the upcoming OnePlus device with a team of “young” staff from all over the world.
As for the internals, XDA Developers reports that we’ll be seeing a 6.55″ Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate (they’re calling it the OnePlus Z). The upcoming phone is also rumoured to be powered by a Snapdragon 765 with 5G support, mated to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Warp Charging is also expected along with a triple rear camera setup: 64MP + 16MP + 2MP.
The report is based on a survey conducted in India, and an estimated price of around RM1,411 has been discussed. Depending on local pricing, this could be a very, very interesting mid-range smartphone option, although this pricing was not confirmed by Pete Lau in his official post.
To read the official OnePlus forums, click here.
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