Chinese smartphone brand, OnePlus, will likely launch three smartphones under the OnePlus 9 series next year in March. Up until now, rumours were rife about the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro smartphones. However, a new smartphone named OnePlus 9E is now tipped to debut alongside the other two OnePlus phones. If this rumour is believed to be true, this would be the first time we will see OnePlus launching thee phones under a single series. OnePlus started launching two smartphones under a single series from 2019 and the strategy worked for the brand as it managed to differentiate the standard and Pro model every year. The dual phone strategy also pushed OnePlus to climb the price ladder. The OnePlus 9E could well be priced on the lower side similar to the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.
OnePlus 9E: What to Expect?
This information came from the reliable OnePlus leaker, Max J. He also posted an image of the OnePlus 9 smartphone names placed in the order of OnePlus 9, 9E and the 9 Pro. However, we are not expecting the OnePlus 9E to sit between OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, instead, it could be the entry-level model in the OnePlus 9 series. We recently saw Samsung launching the Galaxy S20 FE at a lower price taking on the OnePlus 8T smartphone. The S20 FE is the cheapest model in the Galaxy S20 series that already consisted of Galaxy S20, S20+ and the S20 Ultra smartphones.
We are expecting OnePlus to use a similar strategy. The 9E will likely retain the Snapdragon 888 5G SoC, however, the handset might have other compromises in the hardware department like plastic body and toned-down cameras. It is also entirely possible for the OnePlus 9E to feature a Snapdragon 700 series SoC, but that would clash with the OnePlus Nord series. The OnePlus Nord is already using the best Snapdragon 700 series chip aka the Snapdragon 765G.
We are excited to see what OnePlus has in store with the OnePlus 9E. The OnePlus 9 is said to sport a triple camera setup, whereas the 9 Pro will likely feature a quad-camera setup on the back. The phones are expected to debut sometime in mid-March 2021.
