OnePlus Nord Lite leak reveals a disappointing downgrade

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The OnePlus Nord Lite could be on its way to build out the Nord phone lineup, but it may disappoint when it comes to charging speed.

A new certification for the OnePlus Nord Lite was spotted by MySmartPrice on the TUV Rheinland website, which manages certification for various companies. And it reveals that the next Nord phone will come with an 18W fast charger.

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This certification would suggest the OnePlus Nord Lite isn’t too far away from launching, even though the full-fat Nord handset only launched in July. When we spoke to OnePlus about the Nord product line, the company said we can expect more Nord phones, so a Lite version wouldn't be too surprising.

But while an 18W charger is now a fairly standard inclusion in the box of most budget to mid-range phones, superfast charging has been one of OnePlus’ calling cards. The OnePlus Nord and the flagship OnePlus 8 Pro both come with 30W Warp Charge 30T charging.

So for the Nord Lite to not have a key feature of recent OnePlus phones seems a little odd. We expect OnePlus to cut a few corners to keep the price of the so-called Nord Lite down, but we’d expect it to opt for a lower-end Snapdragon 690 chip or reduce the number of rear cameras. We’d not expect it to abandon Warp Charge 30T.

If we are being cynical, the Nord Lite could support Warp Carge 30T but come with an 18W charger in the box, meaning people who want faster charging would have to buy a separate accessory. However, while Apple often pulls such moves, it would not be in keeping with the OnePlus brand.

From other leaks, the OnePlus Nord Lite is expected to have 6GB of RAM rather than the 8GB and 12GB options of its more powerful sibling. Dropping the RAM amount would certainly help OnePlus keep the Nord Lite’s price down; we’d not be surprised to see it come in at around the £300 mark in the U.K. — the current Nord costs £379.

As it stands, there's not a lot of other information around the Nord Lite, if it does indeed exist. But the new certification would suggest it’s real and could arrive sooner than later.

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.