The anticipated OnePlus Nord smartphone will launch on July 21, the company has announced. In a press release, OnePlus says the brand new smartphone range will be shown off during a special augmented reality (AR) event to be held at 3 p.m. BST, which is 7 a.m. PT or 10 a.m. ET on the same day. OnePlus has experimented with different platforms for its phone launches before. When the OnePlus 2 was revealed, the company utilized virtual reality, and even designed its own OnePlus VR headset at the time based on Google Cardboard. For the OnePlus Nord AR launch, it has turned to an app. If you head over to the Google Play or Apple App Store now, you can download the OnePlus Nord AR App, which will be your portal to the launch event on July 21. Fire it up today and you’ll see a preview of the phone’s fascia, along with a countdown to the event itself, all in augmented reality. OnePlus says you’ll need a good data connection and plenty of battery power to run the app on the day. OnePlus has also added another opportunity to pre-order the OnePlus Nord, if you’re both keen and fast. Head over to the official OnePlus Nord website on Wednesday, July 8, and slap down just 20 British pounds to secure your phone in advance, and receive an unspecified surprise gift for doing so. A quick dig through the Nord website says the pack will include a sticker pack and a “random lifestyle product,” which appears to be either a water bottle or a T-shirt. If you miss out on pre-ordering on July 8, OnePlus will also hold another pre-order session on July 15. However, at this time you’re placing that pre-order based on rumored specifications and not much else. Sadly for U.S. OnePlus fans, this pre-order is not open to you, as the Nord will first be sold in the United Kingdom and a variety of European countries. The company has said the Nord will be available in the United States at some point in limited numbers, and that there are other plans to bring an affordable OnePlus phone to North America too.
When the OnePlus 13T launched in China last month, I was intrigued as it packed more battery capacity than the OnePlus 13 in a smaller form factor. Now, the company has teased a new phone called OnePlus 13S, which looks similar to the 13T and carries the tagline “Powered up. Sized down” on its teaser poster. The “sized down” part doesn’t mean we’re getting an iPhone mini-esque phone. If it is indeed the OnePlus 13T, it’ll sport a 6.3-inch display, which is far from the iPhone 12 mini’s 5.42-inch screen. But in 2025, where the largest iPhone display stretches to 6.9 inches, a 6.3-inch phone does qualify as compact in comparison. The hopes of a standout phone from the East, making its way to the US market, have received yet another blow. OnePlus recently introduced a compact flagship phone in China and sparked some wishes across the oceans, but the company has shattered those expectations for enthusiasts in the US and Europe. Celina Shi and Spenser Blank, marketing officers for the company’s Europe and US operations, respectively, have told The Verge that the OnePlus 13T won’t be making its way to these regions. Notably, the company is gearing up to launch the phone in India as the OnePlus 13s in the coming weeks.
