OnePlus doesn't really seem like a serious global challenger for Apple and Samsung in the high-end smartphone market segment anymore, but when it comes to inexpensive mid-rangers, the "never-settling" brand has never looked quite as competitive as it does right now.
That's primarily thanks to the Nord family, which was established less than two years ago, rapidly expanding (both numerically and as far as its mainstream popularity goes) around the world.
After already unveiling the feature-packed and surprisingly affordable Nord CE 2 5G last month, OnePlus is apparently working on not one and not two but three additional members of this non-flagship handset family to be announced... sometime in the relatively near future.
So... much... speed
The "standard" Nord 3 is easily the most exciting of these three impending models, reportedly gearing up to eclipse pretty much all of the best phones available today in at least one key department. We're talking about charging speeds, rumored for the first time to hit a bonkers 150W a couple of weeks back and "corroborated" as such by a generally reliable Twitter tipster earlier today.
While Digital Chat Station avoids naming the "new OnePlus phone" whose "detailed parameters" he's sharing here presumably based on credible inside information, we really don't see what other device this could be.
That's because the insanely fast 150-watt charging technology is apparently set to be paired with a MediaTek Dimensity 8100 processor, which shouldn't deliver a comparable level of raw power as Qualcomm's state-of-the-art Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC... in theory.
Of course, early benchmarks suggest this "mid-end" chipset is a lot more powerful than you'd normally expect, and combined with a whopping 12 gigs of speedy LPDDR5 memory, it could make for a truly irresistible value proposition... at the right price.
OnePlus Nord 3 price and other specifications
If the OnePlus Nord 2 5G is any indication, the undoubtedly 5G-enabled OnePlus Nord 3 might cost as little as €500 in Europe in a 256GB storage configuration. Given the massive upgrades in the processing power and charging capabilities departments over the Nord 2, which packs a Dimensity 1200 SoC while supporting 65W speeds, you shouldn't be surprised (or terribly disappointed) to hear that many of the other key specs are likely to go largely unchanged for the sake of affordability.
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The Nord 2 (pictured here) is a very good mid-range phone, but the Nord 3 could be even better.
The Nord 3 could even go so far as to retain the IMX766 sensor of its predecessor's main 50MP rear-facing camera in addition to that megapixel count, as well as an 8MP secondary shooter presumably in charge of ultra-wide-angle tasks and a tertiary 2MP sensor. Oddly enough, the 4,500mAh battery capacity is also expected to go unchanged even though the Full HD display will purportedly go up from a 6.43-inch diagonal to a much more generous 6.7 inches.
Meanwhile, the single selfie shooter could be housed in a centered hole punch this time around rather than a small screen cutout positioned in the top left corner, and instead of rocking 32 megapixels, a 16MP downgrade is rumored.
All in all, this sounds like a budget-friendly slam dunk, cutting a few unimportant corners while preparing to crush many costlier devices where it matters most, at least for some people.
The 150W SuperVOOC or Super Flash Charge technology, by the way, will be borrowed from parent brand Oppo, promising to get a 4,500mAh battery from 0 to 100 percent fuel in 15 minutes (!!!). In contrast, Samsung's extravagant Galaxy S22 Ultra barely supports 45W speeds... on paper, and even something like the cutting-edge Motorola "Frontier" is rumored to come equipped with 125W charging capabilities at some point this year.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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