oneplus nord first look rear
Update, July 14, 2020 (04:00 PM ET): The slow-drip rollout of official OnePlus Nord information continues, with a confirmed battery size, some new images, and other info. We also have some pre-order news (even though the price of the phone isn’t official).
Original article: The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro became official in April, marking the firm’s first phones of 2020. But we’ve also been hearing about a mid-range OnePlus phone for months now, tentatively known at the time as the OnePlus Z. Now, though, we know it will land as the OnePlus Nord, with “Nord” referring to the concept of true north. You can read all about the name choice here.
The company’s last mid-range phone was the OnePlus X back in 2015, so this is clearly a big deal for the budget-conscious fans of the brand. It’s an even bigger deal when we look at the OnePlus 8 series’ pricing.
So is the OnePlus Nord shaping up to be a worthy successor to the OnePlus X (spoiler alert: no)? Here’s everything we know (or think we know) about it so far.
Name and release date
When leaks first showed us a mid-range OnePlus phone, we didn’t have a name to go with the renders. Instead, people took to calling it the OnePlus 8 Lite.
XDA Developer‘s Max Weinbach broke the news of a potential official name at the end of March when he claimed that the upcoming phone could actually be called the OnePlus Z. This claim was corroborated by fellow leaker Ishan Agarwal.
However, it appears that didn’t pan out, as rumors started popping up suggesting the phone could be called the OnePlus Nord. Eventually, OnePlus itself confirmed the Nord name and even took the time to explain what that means.
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Interestingly, the Nord moniker is not for one phone but actually a new line of phones and other products at OnePlus. Therefore, this upcoming device is just the first entry in a new series.
Originally, we expected to see the OnePlus Nord launch alongside the OnePlus 8 series on April 14, but that didn’t happen. OnePlus then teased a product announcement at its Chinese launch on April 16, but the phone didn’t appear here either.
Strangely, OnePlus already opened pre-orders for the Nord online but kept supply very limited. It then re-opened pre-orders in several countries, even though it hasn’t confirmed a price. You can read all about how pre-orders work for the Nord here.
OnePlus Nord design
Prior to the small announcements OnePlus has recently made related to the OnePlus Nord, we saw a whole lot of different renders and leaked images for the device. We now know that nearly all of these images were wrong.
It’s possible OnePlus originally did intend to release a phone that looked like this, though. According to an interview with OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, the company scrapped its plans for the OnePlus Nord fairly late in the game. As such, the design we see here was only finalized a few months before the launch of the OnePlus 8 series.
Whatever the case, we removed all the previously leaked images from this hub once we found out for certain what the OnePlus Nord will actually look like.
Below, you’ll find a series of still images we got directly from OnePlus as contained within a video teaser for the phone. You’ll also find the teaser video mirrored below:
The videos show the OnePlus Nord is a large phone with a blue-gray colorway. It has a dual-lens selfie camera housed within a display cutout on the front and a quad-camera array housed in a left-aligned module on the rear. OnePlus took the time to confirm both of these design elements on its Instagram.
There is no fingerprint sensor on the front or back of the phone, which leads us to believe it will have an in-display fingerprint sensor. That lines up with the confirmation that the phone will have an OLED display, which is essential for in-display fingerprint sensors (at least at the moment).
You’ll also find the familiar alert slider on the top right side of the phone. Being that this is one of OnePlus’ most popular features, it’s great to see it included with the OnePlus Nord.
Later, in the previously mentioned interview with Carl Pei, the company divulged more official imagery of the Nord:
Credit: Marques Brownlee / YouTube
Outside of the official images you saw above, we also have some recently-leaked images courtesy of Evan Blass. You can see those below:
Although these leaked images give us a better look at the phone as compared to the official images supplied by OnePlus in its teaser video, there aren’t any surprises: Blass’ leaked photos tell us exactly the same design elements. However, it is cool to see these new cases which will add some colorful flair to your phone.
Unfortunately, every single image we’ve seen so far suggests the OnePlus Nord will not come with a 3.5mm headphone port.
Specs and features
The OnePlus 8 series packs some impressive specifications, such as a Snapdragon 865 processor, plenty of RAM, and even wireless charging and an IP68 rating for the Pro model. We can’t expect these features in the OnePlus Nord, given the apparent lower price tag.
OnePlus itself confirmed the processor that will come with the OnePlus Nord: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t confirmed many of the other specs yet.
Thankfully, frequent leaker Evan Blass found a spec sheet that allegedly came from a Nord training presentation. The sheet shows a generic smartphone as the image but lists out specs that line up with rumors related to the OnePlus Nord and make perfect sense to us. In other words, these aren’t official, but we can expect them to be accurate.
According to the slide, OnePlus’ first Nord phone could feature 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage to start with an upgraded model featuring 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It might have a 6.44-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a 4,115mAh battery with 30W wired charging speeds, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.1.
While those specs should all be taken as rumor still, OnePlus did confirm the 4,115mAh battery rumor through the official “see-through” case. The case clearly displays the battery capacity and, since it lines up so nicely with the leaked slide above, we can only assume all those other specs are correct.
As far as cameras go, the handset is confirmed to feature a dual-lens selfie module with a primary lens paired with an ultra-wide with a 105-degree FOV. The slide above suggests the main lens could be a 32MP sensor with an f/2.45 speed. The ultra-wide lens might have an 8MP sensor with an f/2.45 speed.
On the back, we know for certain that there will be four cameras. This slide suggests we’ll see a 48MP primary (the Sony IMX 586), an 8MP ultra-wide, a 5MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens.
OnePlus also confirmed via Instagram in early July that the phone would pack optical image stabilization (OIS). This technology reduces hand-induced blur and judder in photos and videos. It also allows the camera shutter to stay open for longer, theoretically enabling better low-light images.
OnePlus Nord price and availability
We already know what the OnePlus Nord won’t cost, which is $500. This comes directly from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, who dished the info during a documentary clip on the upcoming smartphone.
Now, that could mean a whole lot of things. It could be that the phone will cost $499, which would technically fit Pei’s statement. It could also be that Pei is saying “under $500” so that we’ll expect $499 and then be happy when it lands for $449 or even $399. We don’t know the plan yet, but at least you can rest assured that you won’t pay over $500 for the phone.
However, it’s strange that the company used the “$500” number since you won’t buy the phone in US currency. OnePlus confirmed that the following countries in Europe will see the OnePlus Nord:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Latvia
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
In addition to the countries above, we also know for certain the device will land in India. OnePlus confirmed to us that the OnePlus Nord will not land in North America. However, there will be some sort of beta program that will allow a select group of users to get the phone. The company did say that future devices in the Nord line will see North American launches, though.
OnePlus has already opened pre-orders for the OnePlus Nord (even without an official price confirmation). The final pre-order stage will happen on July 15.
As a side note, OnePlus also confirmed it would launch OnePlus Buds alongside the Nord. These are expected to be the company’s first true wireless earbuds, although the company didn’t confirm anything other than the name and the launch date.
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