Cutting corners: Beloved budgeteers OnePlus have been steadily raising their prices for several years straight, by providing good value phones with otherwise high-end specs. That's seen them go from their original $299 product line turn into a $599 one. But all is not lost, and like many smartphone manufacturers OnePlus will be splitting the OnePlus 8 line-up in three, the flagship 8 Pro, premium 8 and budget 8 Lite. Lower prices certainly sound good, but could you settle with sub-par specs?
The new leak comes courtesy of Steve 'McFly' Hemmerstoffer, who has a nearly flawless five-year leaking track record. While he hasn't provided a spec sheet for the device, we've got renders of what it'll look like based on manufacturing CAD files he's intercepted.
The OnePlus 8 Lite appears to be a serious deviation from typical OnePlus design, moving the camera bump back to the corner from the central position it's occupied the last few generations. It's also now got a rectangular bump, which looks quite similar to leaks of the Galaxy S11.
In other areas, however, it's more or less what you'd expect from a slightly cheaper OnePlus device. The circular cut-out in the corner of the OnePlus 8 has been moved to the middle. The display is flat and about 6.4" to 6.5". It has one less camera with 'only' two regular sensors, though a mysterious cut-out might be a ToF (time of flight) depth sensor.
Like the OnePlus 7 series, the OnePlus 8 Lite won't have a headphone jack but will have an under-screen fingerprint scanner. That'll also mean the screen is OLED.
Despite their steady price hikes, OnePlus still has a reputation for flagship specs at budget prices. I expect (and certainly hope) the OnePlus 8 Lite will continue that trend and sacrifice some flagship creature comforts to bring the price below $500, rather than compromise the raw performance that makes OnePlus OnePlus. The device will release sometime next year.