“According to a new tip, the OnePlus Z will be the start of a new mid-range series of phones running parallel to the flagship devices.”
OnePlus has officially announced that the OnePlus 8 series launch event will take place on April 14th. This will be an online-only event that is expected to see the launch of the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. But you may be wondering about the rumoured OnePlus 8 Lite. It seems the company may not launch the OnePlus 8 Lite on April 14th. The phone will reportedly be unveiled at a later date. Now, a series of tweets by tipster Max Weinbach sugget that the OnePlus 8 Lite may actually be launched as the OnePlus Z, which in essence is the spiritual successor of the OnePlus X. The report comes days after online rumours suggested that OnePlus is looking to revive the OnePlus X, which was a one-off mid-range smartphone.
According to Weinbach’s tweet, an unnamed source revealed that OnePlus is looking to introduce a new mid-range smartphone lineup that will see annual launches, and mentioned the name OnePlus Z. Weinbach further stated that the source revealed some OnePlus Z specifications that matched previous OnePlus 8 Lite renders. This would be an interesting development, since the ‘Lite’ device is already said to not be launching alongside the rest of the OnePlus 8 lineup.
The source referred to it as “OnePlus Z” and said the hardware matched the previous OnePlus 8 Lite render. https://t.co/zB5PN9nQjW
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) March 28, 2020
The tweets suggests that the OnePlus 8 Lite will actually be part of a mid-range smartphone lineup of its own. As of now, the device has been said to feature MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000 5G SoC, while the vanilla OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G SoC. All three models will support 5G connectivity. In terms of the display, the OnePlus 8 Lite (or OnePlus Z) is likely to feature a 6.5-inch AMOLED panel with 90Hz refresh rate, and a centrally aligned punch hole slot for the front camera.
Also read: OnePlus 8 Lite could mark the company’s return to the affordable segment, and it makes total sense
To the rear, the OnePlus 8 Lite or OnePlus Z is expected to feature a 48-megapixel main camera, a 16-megapixel secondary module, and a 12-megapixel tertiary module. The device is said to house a 4,000mAh battery and support 30W fast charging standard. All things considered, the OnePlus 8 Lite does sound like a promising mid-range phone. So far, expected pricing has been pegged at £400 (~Rs 37,500), but given how OnePlus always prices its devices at slightly lower than in global markets, it is likely that the OnePlus Z mid-range phone may come into the market at about Rs 30,000.
