The stylishly affordable OnePlus Nord 3 bares all in 'official' pre-launch marketing renders
UPDATE: Aaaaaand the puzzle is now (un) officially complete, as Roland Quandt has quickly followed up his original WinFuture report on the OnePlus Nord 3 with what is likely to prove the 100 percent accurate pricing structure of the upcoming 5G-enabled mid-ranger.
Android power users on a tight budget should find the value for money provided by this 6.74-inch giant quite appealing at €449 in an entry-level 128GB storage configuration also equipped with a decent 8GB RAM count and €549 when doubling the local digital hoarding room and bumping up the memory to a hefty 16 gigs.
Because we don't expect the Nord 3 to ever be sold stateside, there's obviously no point in converting those numbers to dollar amounts. But we can compare them with the €499 European list price of the Nord 2 5G with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, and given all the expected upgrades and improvements, a €50 hike for a 16GB RAM option doesn't sound that bad. Our original story follows below.
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Instead, the Nord 3 depicted today in super-high-quality and presumably 100 percent legit "official marketing renders" by WinFuture's Roland Quandt in a new German language report (translated here) is almost certainly designed primarily with the old continent in mind (minus Germany).
The reasonably powerful, arguably good-looking, and presumably relatively affordable 6.74-inch handset is likely to be unveiled extremely soon in European markets where the OnePlus brand is not banned, obviously following in the footsteps of 2021's 6.43-inch Nord 2 5G.
Given that inexplicably lengthy pause between product launches, you probably won't be shocked to hear that most key Nord 2 specs will be seriously upgraded. The larger AMOLED Nord 3 screen is expected to jump from 90 to 120Hz refresh rate technology, for instance, while a decidedly impressive (for the mid-range smartphone class) MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor should run the overall performance show.
For the time being, we don't have a variant or pricing breakdown, but the most advanced OnePlus Nord 3 5G configuration could also pack as much as 16 gigs of RAM and 256GB internal storage space. Then there's a battery bumped up from 4,500 to 5,000mAh capacity and from 65 to 80W speeds, while the triple rear-facing camera setup is... weirdly tipped to go unchanged, at least in terms of sensors and megapixel counts at 50 + 8 + 2MP.
That's probably because OnePlus had to make some compromises somewhere to hit a reasonable price point, and judging from today's leaked press-friendly renders, the design is as premium as you expect. The Nord 3 doesn't look groundbreaking or "special" in any way, especially if you're familiar with the China-only OnePlus Ace 2V.
But the razor-thin screen bezels, smoothly rounded corners, relatively slender frame, and particularly the alert slider on the side (it's alive!) give this bad boy an overall air of elegance and a distinct personality that very few other budget phones right now can legitimately boast. Such a shame OnePlus is (likely) not thinking of giving the Nord 3 a truly global stage to shine on.
Interestingly, the Nord 3 does appear to stray from its Ace 2V twin in one department, with the aforementioned 50MP main shooter on its back in lieu of a 64-megapixel sensor. Otherwise, this is really not a new device, although it will of course seem that way to its target audience in Europe.
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