The OnePlus Nord debuts in a week, but you don’t have to wait that long to get a decent look at the phone. An informative YouTube video gives us a look at the upcoming devices in advance of the July 21 AR-centric reveal event for the OnePlus Nord.
The video comes from tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who shows off a finalized version of the OnePlus Nord. OnePlus provided Brownlee with an early look as part of an effort to be more transparent about smartphone pricing and planning, as Brownlee discusses with OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei himself.
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In the lengthy video, it's easy to see the Nord's strong resemblance to the OnePlus 8, which came out earlier this spring. In fact, OnePlus’ flagship is nearly identical to its upcoming budget phone, with rounded edges, a vertical camera strip at the top left of the phone instead of the center, and a glossy finish.
It looks like there are two colors, at least in this video: a navy blue and light blue. The light blue is a gorgeous color that isn't seen often in today's black-and-silver smartphone world. You can also spot a USB-C charging port as well as an area for the SIM at the bottom of the OnePlus Nord.
When the phone is flipped over, you can see a dual selfie camera with a cutout in the upper left corner of the display, with side-by-side lenses. The phone also appears to have some decently-sized bezels as well, which are slightly visible in the up-close images Brownlee supplies in the video.
Interestingly enough, the Nord actually had a drastic overhaul at a fairly late stage in its life cycle — "really late in the process," according to Pei. That required the phone to be delayed by a month in an effort to give it a look more consistent with the rest of the OnePlus lineup. Pei noted that originally, the OnePlus would have had the cameras arranged in a different manner (an L-shape, perhaps) as well as altered looks for the exterior.
Later in the video, Pei wore matching OnePlus Buds in the same teal hue as the Nord itself, though there wasn't any additional information given about those wireless earbuds. OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus Buds earlier today (July 14), though we'll likely hear more about those either during the official Nord AR reveal next week. We expect the OnePlus Buds to go toe-to-toe with Apple’s AirPods, though the price of the new earbuds is unknown at this point.
The full OnePlus Nord unveiling is set for July 21. The phone is set to retail for less than $500 and should include full 5G support, an OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 765G processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4,300mAh battery. It’s going to be an impressive buy for those looking to use 5G connectivity on the cheap, for sure.
