OnePlus May Launch New Phone in September, Price Tipped Under Rs. 18,000

OnePlus Nord was launched last month as an affordable offering from the smartphone company after several years. This smartphone saw a few shavings in specifications to be priced that aggressively, and OnePlus had earlier said that it looks to introduce more such affordable phones in the future. In fact, if a new leak is to be believed, then OnePlus is working on a smartphone that may be priced under Rs. 18,000 in India, and the phone is expected to be launched as soon as next month. This phone is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC.

A Twitter user going by the handle @Boby25846908 has tipped that OnePlus will be launching a new affordable device at the end of September. This phone is reported to be even cheaper than the OnePlus Nord and be priced at around Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 18,000 in India. As mentioned, the tipster expects this smartphone to be powered by the Snapdragon 662 SoC or the Snapdragon 665 SoC. Other details for this rumoured handset were not revealed. The Snapdragon 662 SoC was launched in January this year, and was first seen in the newly launched Moto G9 on Monday. The tipster says that this new upcoming OnePlus smartphone will compete with an Oppo phone that is expected to launch early September. This phone is reported to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC and should be priced under Rs. 20,000 in India.

While OnePlus had confirmed that more OnePlus Nord-like smartphones will be launched in the future, a launch so quick wasn't anticipated. However, if this leak is true, OnePlus is truly looking to diversify its smartphone portfolio, which was earlier only focused a two launch events a year. This ultra-rumoured affordable phone priced under Rs. 18,000 may be aimed to offer more competition to brands like Xiaomi, Realme, and Oppo.

There are little details regarding this OnePlus smartphone as of yet. However, if the launch is rumoured for next month, then more leaks can be anticipated in the future. Also, just like OnePlus Nord, the company should start heavily teasing the smartphone from next month onwards. Of course, all of this is speculation and we recommend you to please take all of this lightly till OnePlus announces something in an official capacity. Earlier this month, a OnePlus model with codename 'clover' showed up on Geekbench sporting the Snapdragon 660 SoC, while separately, OnePlus confirmed that another Nord model will be launched in the US, while some references from OxygenOS tipped it would feature the Snapdragon 690 SoC.

Is Nord the iPhone SE of the OnePlus world? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Tasneem Akolawala Email Tasneem Tasneem Akolawala is a Senior Reporter for Gadgets 360. Her reporting expertise encompasses smartphones, wearables, apps, social media, and the overall tech industry. She reports out of Mumbai, and also writes about the ups and downs in the Indian telecom sector. Tasneem can be reached on Twitter at @MuteRiot, and leads, tips, and releases can be sent to tasneema@ndtv.com. More