The OnePlus Nord is one of the most popular mid-range smartphones of recent years, but even though it only recently launched there's evidence that a new model in the range could land soon, and it might be even more affordable.
Evidence of this comes from XDA Developers, which found references to a phone codenamed 'Billie' in code for OxygenOS 10.5 (the latest version of the interface that OnePlus uses on its phones).
While the release name of the phone isn't mentioned, it looks to be a mid-ranger, as the name 'Billie' was also linked in the code to the 'SM6350', which is the internal name of the mid-range Snapdragon 690 chipset.
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That's a lower end chipset than the Snapdragon 765G chipset in the OnePlus Nord, suggesting that this phone would be highly affordable. That doesn't mean it will be bad though, as the Snapdragon 690 supports 5G and a number of other fairly high-end features, such as a 120Hz refresh rate when paired with a FHD+ screen, and the ability to take 198MP photos.
That's not to say this seemingly upcoming phone will have those features of course, just that the chipset supports them.
Numerous Nords
And in fact, it's possible that there's more than one new OnePlus Nord coming, as devices with the model numbers 'BE2025', 'BE2026', 'BE2028', and 'BE2029' were all also spotted in the code, but these are likely to just be different variants of the same phone (the one with the 'Billie' codename).
As for what makes us think this is a new Nord specifically, the OnePlus Nord, which had the codename 'Avicii' (a Swedish DJ), has the model numbers 'AC2001' and 'AC2003'. XDA Developers suggests therefore that 'BE' in the model numbers above and 'Billie' could be a reference to Billie Eilish (a singer and songwriter).
These musical links, coupled with the mid-range chipset, are what make us think this is a new phone in the OnePlus Nord range, rather than a flagship like the OnePlus 8T (which is also thought to be on the way).
This also isn’t the first time we’re hearing of another OnePlus mid-ranger in the pipeline. In fact, we know that a Nord-branded phone is landing in the US later this year, and just days before the Nord’s launch, a OnePlus smartphone with the Snapdragon 690 chipset was also spotted on Geekbench.
So this could be a OnePlus Nord Lite or similar, but if it's landing this year then we should find out more soon.
