OnePlus’ sub-$500 smartphone launches July 21

OnePlus appears to have picked a date for the launch of its midrange smartphone: July 21. Invites for the event were posted early to Amazon India (a major launch country for the device) and first spotted by leaker Ishan Agarwal (the actual tweet has been deleted, but XDA has a backup). Amazon pulled the page down, too, but a Google cache copy still exists.

OnePlus has been slowly dripping out information on its next smartphone, which will see a return to a cheaper price tag. Early rumors called the phone the "OnePlus 8 Lite" or "OnePlus Z," but the company confirmed the phone will go with the odd moniker of "OnePlus Nord," a word that means "north" in several languages. We might not know all the specs, but OnePlus has already confirmed the price will be "under $500."

OnePlus says the phone will come with a Snapdragon 765G and will sport a "flagship camera." Sadly, North America does not seem to be in the first wave of countries for this release, with OnePlus CEO Pete Lau saying, "we are going to start relatively small with this new product line by first introducing it in Europe and India. But don't worry, we're also looking to bring more affordable smartphones to North America in the near future as well."

Other than that, things about the Nord are murky. Before OnePlus started letting official info trickle out, there were consistently rumors about a midrange OnePlus device with a MediaTek 1000 SoC and a 90Hz display, which now we know weren't accurate. In a documentary on the development of the Nord, OnePlus says the phone was whipped up in only six months, which would mean development started after the release of these renders from December 2019. So maybe all previous rumors were for a canceled product. Android Central says the phone will have two selfie cameras in an oval-shaped hole punch, just like a Galaxy S10+, which is another strike against the renders.

We can't go without mentioning that OnePlus' social media teasing of this phone even extends to hyping up the box that it ships in, which the company says has a "sleek, new design" (it's box-shaped) and is "incredibly sturdy." Apparently, two people can stand on the box without crushing it. Our local recycling center will be thrilled.

Listing image by OnePlus