With OnePlus fans losing interest in the brand, it’s up to the OnePlus Nord to revitalize the company’s phones.
Fans of OnePlus phones are turning against the company.
Just look at Reddit – threads like this (opens in new tab)show disgruntled OnePlus users deciding which phones from rival manufacturers to buy. Or head to the brand’s forums (opens in new tab), where fans complain bitterly about the new features of the OnePlus 10T. The comments on the 10T launch live stream weren’t particularly complimentary either and this issue might have been why.
This is a change of fortune for a company that got its start from creating and catering to a passionate cabal of tech fans. Long gone is the time when hype for OnePlus mobiles was spread via word of mouth and exclusive invites.
This sea change has seemingly coincided with a change in tack for OnePlus itself. The brand started with competitive mid-range mobiles that were given the moniker ‚flagship killers‘, for the rivalry they gave to industry stalwarts, but with the OnePlus 7 series in 2019, it began making the same kind of flagship phones that it had previously sought to undercut.
Sure, the OnePlus Nord family launched in 2020 to give budget-oriented fans something to aim their wallets / purses at, but they lack many of the bells and whistles – and, more importantly, new and impressive features – compared to OnePlus‘ numbered device series. Plus, Nord phones hover around the budget and lower-mid-range market tiers, with nothing to cater to people who want ‚true‘ mid-range phones that could viably serve as a ‚flagship killer‘ once more.
This notion gets pulled into sharp focus with the recent OnePlus 10T, because it’s the first mid-range phone from OnePlus we’ve seen in years, and it could prove to be a make-or-break moment for the company.
The OnePlus 10T feels like a budget version of the OnePlus 10 Pro from earlier in 2022.
