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Leak: OnePlus is readying a new rival to budget kingpins

A big battery and a capable chipset star, although that triple camera is disappointing on paper.
By
February 1, 2022
OnePlus Nord CE rear cameras
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL;DR
  • OnePlus is reportedly readying the Nord CE 2 Lite.
  • Leaked specs point to a Snapdragon 695 SoC and a 5,000mAh battery.
  • It looks like you should also expect a disappointing triple rear camera system.

OnePlus has been expanding its mid-range and budget portfolio in the last couple of years, now offering a variety of phones aside from its flagships. We’ve already heard about the supposedly upcoming Nord 2T, Nord CE 2, and the Nord N20, but it looks like yet another budget-tier phone is in the works.

Reliable leaker Steve ‘OnLeaks‘ Hemmerstoffer and SmartPrix revealed specs for a device dubbed the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite. The name clearly suggests that it’s a cheaper version of the Nord CE 2, and the specs seem to bear this out too.

The duo report that the Nord CE 2 Lite will be equipped with a mid-range Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, a 6.59-inch FHD “fluid” display (presumably a high refresh rate panel), 6GB to 8GB of RAM, and 128GB to 256GB of storage.

What else does it offer?

Interestingly, the new OnePlus device is tipped to also offer a 5,000mAh battery with 33W wired charging. By comparison, the Nord CE 2 is said to offer a 4,500mAh battery with 65W charging.

Unfortunately, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite might offer a disappointing triple rear camera consisting of a 64MP main camera and a pair of 2MP sensors. A 16MP camera is said to handle selfies and video calls.

Finally, Hemmerstoffer says the phone will be an “India-first” release, although it certainly seems like other markets will have no shortage of cheap OnePlus phones. Still, this could match up well to cheap phones from rivals like Samsung, realme, and Xiaomi if it’s reasonably priced.