OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer famed for building cutting edge handsets without the expensive price tag has been reportedly working on a budget model for several months now. 

The company made a big splash when it launched its first phone in 2014 with an asking price of just $299. Its prices have crept up since, partly from inflation, partly from more expensive components, and partly because it's possible to get away with it. This new budget model, currently known as the OnePlus Z, but previously referred to as the OnePlus 8 Lite is thought to be a way for the company to cater to consumers who aren't prepared to splash out $649 on a new phone. 

A series of leaks in May and June have given us an ever-clearer picture of what the OnePlus Z will look like and what it will contain under the hood. 

 

OnePlus Z Release Date

 

It's believed that OnePlus may have originally planned to launch the OnePlus Z at the same time as the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, however, it was delayed to the summer. Recent leaks have suggested the OnePlus Z will hit shelves on 10th July.

The same leak suggested that it would go on sale first in India before getting a global launch. This was corroborated by the company's CEO, Pete Lau, who said an "unnamed budget device" would first launch in India. 

 

OnePlus Z Cameras

 

This is an area that isn't conclusive. A leak from December 2019 that was published on the website OnLeaks showed renders of the OnePlus Z with a two-camera setup on the back. The images also show that the cameras had been moved to the top left corner of the device, moving away from the centre like the most recent handsets.

 

This would make the most sense since the flagship OnePlus 8 has three lenses on the rear. However, a tweet from renowned phone leaker, @MaxJmb is believed to suggest that the OnePlus Z will have four rear cameras. This seems a little unlikely though since the budget phone would have better photography capabilities than the top of the range OnePlus 8 Pro. 

 

OnePluz Z Processor

 

One of the most important elements of a smartphone is its processor. A slow one will make the device feel sluggish, create lag, and cause frustration for the user. While flagship phones are usually packed with the most powerful chipsets on the market, corners are usually cut for budget devices.

 

Although the OnePlus Z isn't believed to be getting the same Snapdragon 865 processor as the OnePlus 8, a benchmark test published by Geekbench is believed to show a Snapdragon 765.

 

The 765 is an octa-core processor with a clock speed of 1.8 GHz, which delivers less performance than the latest flagship smartphones, but is still very respectable. Crucially, it also supports 5G, meaning the OnePlus Z will be able to take advantage of the new highspeed mobile networks being built across the world.

 

Despite having a less powerful processor, OnePlus Z will still be capable of running all the latest apps and games. This means you'll be able to enjoy everything from card games from PokerStars to augmented reality gaming with Minecraft Earth, with no performance issues whatsoever.

Since it'll also be running Android 10, you'll get access to the latest features like Desktop Mode so you can take a tiny computer with you, wherever you go.

 

 

OnePlus Z Price

 

The price of OnePlus Z will be one of the most important factors in its success. A leak from Agarwal has suggested the UK retail price would be £400 ($499). That's £199 less than the cheapest OnePlus 8.

 

Another suggestion, published by Android Authority was that OnePlus Z will go on sale in India priced at Rs. 25,000 ($330). This would mean that the OnePlus Z would be almost as cheap as the original OnePlus 1 back in 2014.

 

With a rumoured July release, we don't have much longer to wait before we find out. 

 

In mid-February, the premiere of two flagships Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro was released in an online event. But due to Coronavirus outbreak company decided to delay the launch. The flagships have top-end characteristics, an attractive design and many functionalities, but it seems that the company is planning for more.Until today, Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro was a high-end phone of the premium category and occupies a leading position in the portfolio of smartphones of the company. But it may happen that it won't be the able to hold the same position for long time, and all because of the release of Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro +.

 

Rumors have confirmed the upcoming announcement of the plus version. The phone has a slogan "Look beyond the world". The ultimate flagship Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro+ should have a 100 megapixel sensor in the main camera, support for 12x optical zoom, a display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, the top-end Snapdragon 865 platform and fast 65-watt charging.

 

The authenticity of this news remains to be verified. According to rumors circulating in the network, in the second half of the year, Xiaomi plans to show five more flagships based on the Snapdragon 865. There are also predictions that the company will release a device with 6.67-inch (2340 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED 19.5:9 aspect ratio HDR10 + display with 90Hz refresh rate. The phone will be powered by Octa Core (1 x 2.84GHz + 3 x 2.42GHz + 4 x 1.8GHz Hexa) Snapdragon 865 7nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 650 GPU. Xiaomi Mi 10 may feature a high-quality 108MP rear camera with 1/ 1.33″ Samsung sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, f/1.69 aperture, OIS, 8P lens LED flash. 13MP 123° ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.4 aperture. 2MP depth sensor and 2MP macro lens with f/2.4 aperture, 8k at 30fps, 4k 60fps, 960fps at 720p. 

 

 

OnePlus is ready to release its next smartphone OnePlus Z that falls under the upper mid-range category. It could be a flagship killing phone with high-end features without getting the user ripped. Recently, the OnePlus 8 Pro was released, but it is slightly more expensive than regular OnePlus phones as it is priced at $899. So far the company manages to keep the prices of their smartphones at the lower cap while providing some premium features.

Initially, there were rumors about OnePlus 8 lite, and the name did make some sense. But on April 14, the OnePlus 8 series was introduced without any lite variant of the phone. In late March, phone tipster Max Weinbach tweeted that OnePlus would adopt a new name for its budget phone; the OnePlus Z. In the past, the company sold a lower-cost variant of its flagship phone after branding it as OnePlus X. The OnePlus Z might be the next phone according to the tradition of the company.

Another leak suggests from the Max J on Twitter, OnePlus Z might be launched in July 2020. He also tweeted an image along with the release date leak. It is unclear if that image is coming from OnePlus itself or some graphic designer created this image according to the leaks available so far, but we may expect that the device might debut later in the year. There might be some delay in the launch of the phone, as many other phones got delayed, due to the coronavirus situation.

Earlier leaks suggest that the OnePlus 8 lite will be around $499, but we don't know if this is the price for OnePlus Z as well. The same online store that leaked about its earlier prices, called Giztop has shown off some specs and prices for OnePlus' upcoming phones. There might be a paid difference of $50 to $100 between the OnePlus Z and the OnePlus 8 if the earlier one needs to be a budget-friendly variant. Rumors suggest that the phone will feature a 6.4-inch display, with front-camera on the top. The phone will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G system-on-a-chip. That's a mid-range processor that features a faster clock speed for the chipset's main core, plus more graphics improvements. The phone will have a 4,000mAh battery with wired charging.

 

Huawei released the P40 series this year in April with a 5G phone as well. The cutting-edge Kirin 990 5G chip is super-fast and takes the user experience to the entire next level. But Huawei P40 Pro and Pro plus are just too expensive for some users. The Huawei P40 Pro with 256GB internal storage and 8GB RAM comes around $900. The higher-tier of smartphones in the series goes even higher in terms of price.

Now, the company decided to launch a new smartphone in the P40 series but that would be a more economical version of P40. The Huawei P40 lite 5G is an upgraded version of the Huawei P40 Lite that the company released in April 2020. The phone features upgraded silicon, a better camera equipped with AI software, and of course, 5G connectivity support.

The phone has a 6.5-inch LCD panel with HDR 10 support at Full HD+ resolution and has 1080 x 2400 pixels. The phone is powered by the new HiSilicon Kirin 820 5G octa-core chipset compared to the Kirin 810 on the previous model. The phone features a quad camera setup on the rear side of the phone. The primary camera is of 64MP and uses Sony IMx582 sensor with f/1.8, the secondary camera is of 8MP wide-angle lens with f/2.4, the third camera is of 2MP super macro lens with f/2.4, and the fourth camera is of 2MP with depth sensor lens and f/2.4. The front camera can take up to 16MP photos with f/2.0. The phone has 6GB internal storage with 128GB RAM.

The phone has a 4,000mAh battery with a 40W proprietary fast-charging capability. This much battery is good enough for an average user to sustain his phone for more than 24 hours with a single full charge. You can charge your phone up to 70% in 30 minutes as per the company's official statement.

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports Bluetooth, USB Type-C, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC, and 5G support. The phone comes running EMUI 10.1 based on Android 10. The design is similar to Huawei Nova 7 SE that was launched in China last month. The phone comes in three colors - Space silver, Crush green, and Midnight black. If you living in any part of Europe, you can pre-order the phone right now. The phone will go on sale starting on May 29 for a price of $430.