Another mid-range OnePlus phone could be on the way, packing SD 690 (Update)

Update, August 3, 2020 (2:53AM ET): A new “leak” of OnePlus’ possible budget device has broken cover. The leak itself, coming from tipster Max J (via Phonearena), doesn’t provide any specifications or feature additions but does suggest we can expect as many as two ‘Billie’ devices to arrive.

 

The tipster also posted renders of the devices based on their “imagination,” which he believes could be “very close to the actual phones.” Although they take design cues from the OnePlus Nord, we’d take that with a handful of salt.

Original article, July 29, 2020 (2:17 AM ET): OnePlus has just launched the Nord, marking the firm’s first mid-range smartphone in a long time. However, it looks like the company could be working on yet another budget phone.

XDA-Developers dug into Oxygen OS 10.5 for the Nord and discovered references to “SM6350” products in the settings APK file. More specifically, SM6350 is the part number for the recently launched Snapdragon 690 5G processor.

This chipset is the first 5G SoC in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 series, while also packing an octacore design (2x Cortex-A77 and 6x Cortex-A55) and a graphical boost of up to 60% over the Snapdragon 675. You’re also getting sub-6Ghz 5G rather than the faster but more temperamental mmWave standard.

Furthermore, the team also found references to an upcoming phone code-named ‘Billie,’ along with four corresponding model numbers. These model numbers are BE2025, BE2026, BE2028, and BE2029. This doesn’t necessarily mean there’ll be four separate models, the outlet notes. But it could theoretically refer to slightly different SKUs or regional variants.

Read: Tested — The OnePlus Nord beats the 7T Pro at sustained performance | The OnePlus 8T series might have 64MP cameras

XDA-Developers also believes that the code-name of Billie could refer to musician Billie Eilish, as OnePlus purportedly used the internal codename of Avicii for the Nord (after the late Swedish DJ).

This wouldn’t be the first time we heard about a supposed OnePlus phone with a Snapdragon 690 processor either. A Geekbench listing for a OnePlus phone purportedly packing this chipset surfaced earlier this month, but these benchmarks are notoriously easy to spoof. Nevertheless, this latest news combined with the Geekbench listing featuring the model number BE2028 suggest that there’s another device in the works.

OnePlus also previously confirmed to Android Authority that the US would be getting “future products in the Nord line.” So it’s entirely possible that the aforementioned phone is the one the US will get. I guess we’ll just have to wait for OnePlus to incessantly tease the phone.