OnePlus Nord’s different from OnePlus 8 series, and that’s why it is important

OnePlus has not seen the kind of hype it’s seen for the OnePlus Nord in a while. The company is going for a whole new branding and a new design language for this ‘affordable smartphone’. All of OnePlus’ launches are big affairs and exciting news for its fans and this year, in the situation where a physical launch is not possible, OnePlus is taking the AR route to do something different.

The OnePlus Nord is launching later today, 7:30PM IST, and you can watch the livestream and you can also watch the launch in augmented reality (AR) - and here are all the details. We will be going live with eh launch and you can follow us here. 

The fact that OnePlus is going for something new is exciting enough as it is, however, there are other reasons as well for the OnePlus Nord being an important milestone for the company.

New design language

For starters, OnePlus has gone for a different design language from what we have seen for the last few iterations of OnePlus’ devices. Except for the OnePlus 7T that had the starkly different circular camera module on the back, all other OnePlus devices right from OnePlus One has seen the camera module placed in the middle of the back.

The OnePlus Nord will have the rear camera stacked on the left side of the phone on the back and a dual selfie camera on the front. This is the first time OnePlus has put dual front cameras on its smartphone.

The OnePlus Nord has none of the sleek you would get from the OnePlus 8 or the OnePlus 8 Pro - but that’s ok.

New branding, new colour scheme

OnePlus so far has been known for the simple logo of the square and the digit one and the little plus sign in the corner. And red has been one of OnePlus’ most dominant shades when it comes to branding. 

With the OnePlus Nord, the company has moved to blacks and teals (fine, blues is you want to keep it simple). The signature red box that houses the device is gone and has been replaced by a black one with blue accents. And then there is the Nord signage that’s pretty much everywhere.

We’ve not seen OnePlus go out this loud ever. But then again, real OnePlus style - it’s still pretty subtle.

Not premium, not this time

One of the biggest USPs of the OnePlus Nord is going to be its price. Initially known for ‘budget’ smartphones that came with excellent specs, OnePlus has been steadily climbing the price ladder further and further up into the premium segment.

When the OnePlus 8 series was launched in India, the OnePlus 8 (6GB+128GB) was priced at ₹41,999, the 8GB+128GB model cost ₹44,999. The more powerful 12GB+256GB variant was priced at ₹49,999. The OnePlus 8 Pro's 8GB+128GB model was priced at ₹54,999 while the 12GB+256GB model cost ₹59,999.

While many in the industry felt that these prices were actually pretty great (they were less than what the devices cost in the US), by no means were these ‘budget’.

With the OnePlus Nord, the company is looking to offer a real budget device. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau had confirmed that the phone would be priced below $500 (that’s ₹37,320 approx). However, rumour has it that it might be much lesser. It won’t be ₹19,999 - that’s a bit much - but speculations have it that it might be less than 25,000.

And that’s a big deal.

For the longest time, most OnePlus fans have been ruing the fact that the phone are just getting more and more expensive. Especially in a time like this when markets across the world and all people are dealing with serious economic blows, a budget phone with good specs is bound to be a hit. Especially if it already has a fan base.

It’s the same as Apple launching the iPhone SE 2nd Gen this year. Not all Apple users will buy the iPhone SE, but that’s a phone that can get new users onto the Apple ecosystem. OnePlus Nord might be that device for OnePlus that brings users over to their side.

It’s important that the OnePlus Nord is nothing like the OnePlus 8 series or the ones before that - it needs to be different to make space for itself in a market that has started considering OnePlus to be too expensive and therefore a brand that might be dropped over cheaper offerings from others.