Budget-minded U.S. shoppers may not be left out in the cold when it comes to the latest low-cost phone from OnePlus. A new report claims that the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Light announced earlier this week may be headed to the U.S. after all — and apparently with a less unwieldy name.
Unveiled Tuesday (April 4), the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is a budget phone that boasts a couple of very premium specs. Most notably, the phone features a 108MP main camera, and while megapixels aren't everything, a phone with that kind of eye for detail is rare among budget devices. The latest Nord model also supports 67W charging speed, which should let you fill up most of the 5,000 mAh battery after just half-an-hour of charging.
Those kind of features in a low-cost handset would certainly appeal to U.S. shoppers on the hunt for the best cheap phone. But at the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite launch event, OnePlus had nothing to say about U.S. release plans. The phone's release on April 20 is limited to Europe and Asia.
However, a report from GSMArena claims that the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite could be coming to the U.S. through both the phone maker and T-Mobile. It looks like the device would be rebranded as the OnePlus Nord N30 when it lands in this country, replacing the OnePlus Nord N20, which shipped here last year and immediately won praise as the best cheap phone under $300.
How much will it cost?
The report is based on some detective work done by a OnePlus forums user. That user found an archive containing software build feature files that also mentions which country a device is headed to. A phone with the Nord N30 name shares many of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite's features and is slated for a U.S. release.
It's unclear when the OnePlus Nord N30 would make it to the U.S., and we're not sure how much OnePlus will charge for its new phone. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite has a £299/€329 price tag in the U.K. and Europe. That would place the OnePlus Nord N30 between $360 and $370 based on current conversion rates, though phone makers often adjust prices based on specific markets.
If the OnePlus Nord N30 can sport the same sub-$300 price that the Nord N20 debuted at while delivering the kinds of features OnePlus is touting, it's definitely a budget device that's going to draw some attention in this part of the world.
