OnePlus is no stranger to unusual marketing and hype practices. For the recently rumored OnePlus Z series of budget smartphones, it is resorting to a private Instagram account sending out teasers.
Recently, OnePlus set up an Instagram account called @onepluslitezthing to share updates around its next smartphone. The name is a clear mockery of the suggested and leaked names of the phone, but the account's most recent post may feature the real name.
This post is an image of Carl Pei, the co-founder of OnePlus, which shows him holding a teal-color poster with the word “Nord” written across it. For the uninitiated, ‘Nord’ is heavily rumored to be the final name of the new series, instead of OnePlus Z or OnePlus 8 Lite.
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This teaser might be our first official hint at that. However, the post was then deleted and re-uploaded thrice in quick succession for whatever reason. At the time of writing, the post hasn't been reuploaded to the account, so we're uncertain if it was meant to be uploaded at all.
One of the iterations of the post read that this image was from the first day they started working on the “new project”. That could mean that OnePlus Nord has been a codename for the project.
Looking back, we can’t help but reminisce over the last six months or so – we’d be lying if we said the journey has been straightforward, but we wouldn’t change it for the world. We love what we do.
Instagram caption
The private account is already filled with cryptic clues, which seem to be rather vague, and we may see further elements of the handset teased this way. An earlier post read “July” in Morse code, which seemingly confirms we'll be hearing more about the handset next month.
The upcoming launch will mark OnePlus’s return to the affordable space, one that it slowly moved out of in favor of more premium smartphones. It reaffirms that premium features and design will still be at the heart of the device, even if it will be significantly cheaper.
Pete Lau has previously mentioned the project will be a part of a new product line, which could be a hint towards more smartphones in the Nord family to launch later.
