It's been a little while since we heard anything about the OnePlus Nord 3, but it looks as though we might not have to wait too much longer before the next affordable OnePlus handset gets an official unveiling.
According to reliable tipster Mukul Sharma, the OnePlus Nord 3 is indeed real and will be leading a whole host of new Nord devices: a Nord Watch, a Nord Band, new Nord Buds, a Nord smart measuring scale, and more besides.
That's an impressive expansion of the Nord ecosystem. We already have some OnePlus Nord Buds, so that product will be an update, but the other kit is new – assuming that the Nord watch will be a cheaper and separate product to the OnePlus Watch.
Nord 3Nord WatchNord BandNew Nord BudsNord smart measuring scale (not sure of the name)and more Nord-branded AIoT products coming up.August 19, 2022
Needs more Nord
We're assuming that the Nord Band is going to be a fitness tracker, but we don't have any more information about these products beyond their names and their existence. It is clear, however, that OnePlus wants to grow the Nord brand pretty rapidly.
What with OnePlus and Oppo now joining forces, and the OnePlus flagship line continuing with handsets such as the OnePlus 10T, it can be difficult to keep track of all the devices launching from this behemoth of a tech company.
As yet we don't have any new information about launch dates, but it's been more than a year since the OnePlus Nord 2 was unveiled, and previous rumors have suggested that we might see announcements sometime in August or September.
Analysis: picking apart the OnePlus Nord strategy
Everything was so simple in the beginning, with the original OnePlus Nord quite clearly a value-for-money, mid-range alternative to the flagship phones offered by OnePlus. It's the same sort of strategy Google has with handsets such as the Google Pixel 6a.
In the two years since the Nord made its debut, we've had numerous different products from OnePlus, with and without the Nord branding – and sometimes with rather confusing numbering and naming schemes that have been difficult to keep track of.
The recently launched OnePlus Nord 2T, for example, is a minor upgrade over the OnePlus Nord 2, and one that we called "strangely superfluous" in regards to the rest of the OnePlus range – even if it is a relatively impressive mid-range smartphone.
Let's hope that when the new wave of OnePlus products arrives, their features and their pricing points will offer clear indications of where they sit among everything else that OnePlus makes (these days, that even includes television sets).
