OnePlus’ well-balanced Nord line is US-bound with sub-$400 5G model, says report

We were pretty pleased with the OnePlus Nord — a well-balanced, mid-ranger that made some compromises but generally delivered for its price. But the Nord wasn’t available in the US, which is why we’re excited to see reports that OnePlus is readying a new Nord model that apparently will be coming to the United States: the Nord N10 5G.

News of this handset comes from Android Central which cites “an insider source.” The publication says the Nord N10 5G will be powered by the Snapdragon 690 which offers 5G support (the original Nord had a Snapdragon 765G), and that the base variant will have 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate. That’s a slightly larger screen than the original’s (6.44-inch) but slightly less RAM (8GB for the base Nord) and what benchmarks suggest to be a marginally slower processor.

It’ll also reportedly have a 64-megapixel camera on the rear — a first for a OnePlus device, though not the stand-out spec it once was. Android Central says the rear camera array will also have an 8-megapixel wide angle and a pair of 2-megapixel auxiliary sensors. There’s no mention of whether the front-facing dual selfie cameras will be returning.

The publication didn’t have anything to share on a release date for the N10 5G but said it would likely arrive some time after the OnePlus 8T. This is the expected update to the OnePlus 8, which we will likely see some time between October and November. Android Central says OnePlus is aiming for a retail price of less than $400 for the N10 5G, and that a presumably down-specced “entry-level option” will arrive even later in the year “in the vicinity of $200.”

All this is very intriguing, but we’re going to have to wait and see how the N10 5G performs in person. Our gripes with the original Nord were that its processor had trouble keeping up with its display and that the handset had more camera hardware than it knew how to handle. These specs don’t necessarily look like they’ll change that. However, it’s still good to see OnePlus filling out its mid-range options, rather than focusing solely on the high-end.