The OnePlus Nord is only a couple of weeks from launch and now we have new images of the front and the back of this mid-range phone to tide us over until the big July 21 launch.
The renders come courtesy of Evan Blass's subscriber-only Patreon post. You can see the images below, and they show us some strong proof of what other rumors have been telling us about this new OnePlus phone. They also show how OnePlus plans to outgun the iPhone SE.
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The front is mostly just display - which is absolutely fine with us, as we want as much screen space as possible from our phones. But what you can also see are the twin selfie cameras in a lozenge-shaped notch in the top left corner. This is a duet of a 32MP main sensor and an 8MP ultrawide sensor, a rarity for any kind of smartphone, let alone a mid-range device like the Nord purports to be.
Meanwhile, the iPhone SE's front has large bezels, including a big chin that houses the Touch ID button. Apple's phone also makes due with just a single 7MP front camera. So you don't have an ultrawide option for selfies.
The back of the phone is a departure from existing OnePlus handsets like the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. The camera module, which is centralized on the previous two phones, has been scooched to the left side of the phone, with all the sensors still arranged vertically. A previous leak tells us that these sensors will be a combination of 48MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP macro and 2MP depth sensors.
The iPhone SE has only a single rear 12MP camera, though it can do a lot, thanks to the A13 Bionic chip. This includes portraits via computational photography, but it doesn't offer an ultrawide option.
Other than that, we can admire the black color of the phone, hopefully one of several colors users can pick from, and the simple but attractive OnePlus logos in the center and bottom center.
Also visible in this OnePlus Nord render, on the right edge of the phone, is OnePlus' trademark alert slider. It's a very handy way to swap between vibrate and sound profiles that's disappeared from basically every phone except OnePlus' devices and the iPhone line. So it's good to see that OnePlus is keeping its unique features intact for its new cheaper phone.
We know that the Nord will use an AMOLED display, compared to the iPhone SE's LCD panel, as well as a 4,000 mAh battery capable of 30W fast charging. The iPhone SE supports 18W charging, but it requires an optional accessory; you get 5W charging out of the box.
The one drawback of the OnePlus Nord vs the iPhone SE is the Snapdragon 765G chipset. You'll get mid-range performance instead of top-of-the-line speeds. But in exchange the OnePlus Nord will offer 5G connectivity while the iPhone SE is 4G only.
The OnePlus Nord is expected to cost under $500 but we don't have an exact price yet. A $499 price would be more than the iPhone SE (2020) or the predicted $349 price of the Google Pixel 4a, but the Nord looks to offer a whole lot more for the extra $100. That's why we're excited for July 21st, when OnePlus will reveal the Nord in what it calls a world-first AR launch event that users can follow along via an app.
