OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has officially confirmed the company is working on a “new, more affordable smartphone product line” that he claims will still bring a “premium flagship experience”.
Rumours have been going for ages about this, and the first phone in the series is thought to be called the OnePlus Z or OnePlus Nord, though the latter could prove to be the product line. The Z is rumoured to be under £400 and pack in a 90Hz display and Snapdragon 765G chip.
Either way, OnePlus’ announcement reveals absolutely nothing other than the product line will first launch in Europe and India – leaving out the US.
In a blog post, Lau said that OnePlus is “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.”
He points to a private Instagram account called OnePlusLiteZThing, a cheeky reference to the rumoured names of the line of devices. You can request to follow the page.
In our view, OnePlus was once the master of smartphone hype but the drawn out launch of this new line is getting longwinded. Perhaps it was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, but today’s announcement was another stop gap as the company tries to drum up interest. We’ll of course take notice when the product drops, but for now these teases are beginning to drag.
