OnePlus has confirmed that its next big product launch will take place on July 8 for its European and Indian markets. The company is dropping a whole slate of new hardware, announcing five different products. These include two new phones, the Nord 5 and its cheaper sibling, the Nord CE5, alongside a OnePlus Pad Lite, a smaller version of the OnePlus Watch 3, and a new pair of OnePlus Buds 4. The whole point of the Nord series, which originally launched back in 2020, has always been to filter some of the company's flagship tech down into phones that do not cost a fortune, and this year looks to be the most aggressive attempt at that yet.
The star of this show is the OnePlus Nord 5. It is getting a huge performance upgrade, as it will be the first Nord phone to use a flagship-grade Qualcomm chip, the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. That is a massive leap from the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 that powered the Nord 4 last year. OnePlus also seems serious about keeping it cool, adding an advanced 7,300mm² liquid cooling system and support for faster LPDDR5X RAM. The company even made a point to mention that the phone will handle games like Battlegrounds Mobile India at 90 to 144FPS.
OnePlus is also making some interesting design changes. The company claimed that moving back to a vertical camera setup, a clear change from last year's Nord 4 and its horizontal bar, was a practical decision. The new layout supposedly optimizes internal space to fit the beefier chipset and other components. In another departure, the phone's frame will not be metal, unlike what we saw last year with the Nord 4. This change was based on feedback from a global survey where people apparently prioritized simple and practical designs over more premium materials. The Nord 5 will be available in a pale blue finish called "Dry Ice," while the cheaper Nord CE5 gets a "Marble Mist" color.
Both new Nord phones will also replace the company's signature Alert Slider with a new customizable Plus Key. According to Celina Shi, CMO at OnePlus Europe, this is a "natural evolution" of the button, allowing it to be programmed for different actions like launching the camera or starting a recording. This key is tied to a new set of AI features called Plus Mind, which can recognize on-screen content and save it as a "memory." For example, it can pull schedule details from a picture of a flyer and add them directly to your calendar.
The new Nord phones are joined by a handful of other devices. The OnePlus Watch 3 will now come in a smaller 43mm size for those with smaller wrists, and the company claims it has "exclusive monitoring features" not found on the larger model. The OnePlus Pad Lite is an "affordable," entry-level tablet designed to "work seamlessly" with the company's other hardware. Finally, the OnePlus Buds 4, available in "Zen Green" and "Storm Gray" color options, promise high-quality sound with dual drivers, Hi-Res audio support, and a low-latency mode for gaming. The launch event is set for July 8, where we will get the full specifications and, more importantly, the pricing for everything.
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