OnePlus released the first part of its documentary today on its new Instagram account. Which shows us quite a few things about the upcoming affordable smartphone from the company and a few other products that may be in the works. But most importantly, this video confirmed the name, OnePlus Nord.
That name had been in rumors and leaks in the recent weeks, so it was no surprise that this was what OnePlus decided to call this new affordable line of smartphones.
Confirming aspects of the phone ahead of the launch, is typical OnePlus marketing
OnePlus is different from other smartphone companies. It doesn’t have a huge marketing budget, so you won’t see ads for their phones in Times Square like you would from Samsung, Apple or Google. Instead, it relies on word-of-mouth advertising from its users. Which has worked well over the years.
OnePlus is also really good at drumming up hype ahead of a launch event. Usually by confirming different aspects of the device, like the processor, RAM, colors, and such. That’s exactly what the company is doing with the OnePlus Nord.
We already know quite a bit about this phone. We know that it is going to run the Snapdragon 765G. And also have dual front-facing cameras – 32-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors.
And where this is only the first part of the documentary from OnePlus (there’s supposedly going to be four parts), expect to see more information coming out before the device is announced on July 10.
OnePlus Nord is destined for India and Europe first
For an affordable phone, it makes loads of sense for OnePlus to target India with this phone. That’s really going to help OnePlus grow its market share in India – which is already its biggest market.
But unfortunately it’s not coming to the US, at least not in the aspect you’d expect. OnePlus did say that the Nord will come to the US in a “limited beta”. Likely looking to test the waters here, seeing as the US is more into premium flagship smartphones than cheaper ones.
The OnePlus Nord is rumored to be priced at around $299. Which would undercut the iPhone SE (2020) by about $100, and possibly the Pixel 4a (if that ever gets announced) by $50. It could do well in the US, but OnePlus’ name is still not big here. Nor does the US really buy unlocked phones, which is how the OnePlus Nord would have to be sold.