Update: OnePlus has now officially teased the OnePlus Nord CE 2. No word on any Nord 2T yet though. And the OnePlus Nord 3 has been tipped with some big upgrades.
One (or even two) new OnePlus phones could be about to drop, but it's not the OnePlus 10 Pro. These will allegedly be cheaper Nord series devices, with the OnePlus Nord 2T being the one we know the most about.
Lets start with that one: fairly comprehensive information on this claimed new Nord was published by Digit, working with prolific Twitter leaker OnLeaks. From the stats given in the report, it's a phone that understandably bears a lot of resemblance to the OnePlus Nord 2, but adds upgrades that could turn an already excellent phone into an even better one.
The most exciting improvement from among the leaks is the addition of 80W charging, as announced for the OnePlus 10 Pro. The Nord 2 still offered speedy 65W charging, but this will take it another step further. We don't know how fast the Nord 2T's rumored 4,500 mAh battery would fill with an 80W charger, but for reference, the OnePlus 10 Pro can allegedly fill its 5,000 mAh battery from empty to full in 32 minutes.
Another improvement can be found in the Nord 2T's rumored chipset, which will supposedly be the as yet unannounced Dimensity 1300 chipset, an upgrade from the Dimensity 1200-AI in the Nord 2. This chipset will be coupled with 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB storage, according to Digit's information. We don't normally see 6GB of RAM in modern OnePlus devices, but the company did sell a 6GB RAM Nord 2 in certain markets. If this phone comes to the U.K. or U.S., then perhaps we'd see the RAM options return to the usual 8GB or 12GB choice.
Like the original Nord 2, the Nord 2T will apparently use a 6.43-inch FHD AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and presumably a punch-hole selfie camera like previous Nord handsets. Also returning are the phone's four cameras, consisting of 50MP main, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro camera on the back, and a 32MP selfie camera on the front. The software will be getting an upgrade though, moving to the new Android 12-based OxygenOS 12.
The Digit report suggests a February release date for the Nord 2T, in line with other rumors. Even if this is the case, we have to acknowledge that this phone is possibly only going to be for sale in India. OnePlus often has some unique models for Indian users, since they make up one of its most successful markets. We saw this last year with the OnePlus 9R, a cheaper OnePlus 9 that never made it to the U.K. or U.S.
Since the OnePlus Nord 2 is one of the best cheap phones you can buy right now, it would be a pity if U.K. users were unable to get their hands on the Nord 2T, let alone the U.S. market, which has never been given access to the top-tier Nord handsets. However, there's a rumor of a second upcoming OnePlus Nord phone that may make it to Europe and North America after all.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G also rumored
The Nord 2T isn't all the mid-range OnePlus news we've heard lately. Leaker Max Jambor published an image on Twitter bearing the words "OnePlus Nord CE 2,” with an 11 placed above (and later below for the benefit of American readers) to suggest the date February 11.
In case you don't remember, the OnePlus Nord CE arrived in June 2021 as a pared-down, cheaper version of the original OnePlus Nord. It swapped some of the camera sensors, removed one sensor each from the front and back of the phone and used a less powerful chipset, but offered a larger battery as well as most of the original phone's other highlight features like the 90Hz display or 30W fast charging.
It therefore sounds like we'll be getting something similar for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 only much earlier in the year. There aren't any leaked specs to pass judgement on yet, but in theory giving the OnePlus Nord 2 a make-over to make it more affordable is a good idea. But OnePlus would need to be careful not to strip out too many of the features that set it apart from other budget phones like the iPhone SE, itself tipped to be getting a new version in the form of the iPhone SE 3 in just a few months.
