OnePlus CEO hints about the third phone from the OnePlus 9 series

The company's CEO has confirmed the third phone from the upcoming OnePlus 9 series in an interview with News18 (via Android Police). The announcement, which comes just five days before the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro is fully revealed, confirms rumours that OnePlus would also announce a less expensive phone in addition to its new flagships. However, so far, it is only confirmed that the phone will make it to India.

In the interview, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau says the company wants to "go even further" than OnePlus Nord regarding the technology and design included. Depending on how closely you follow OnePlus, you may remember the Nord as a mid-range phone available in Europe and India or as a budget phone launched in the US. It's still unclear to which part of the spectrum. Price-performance targets OnePlus, although some of Lau's comments indicate that it may be closer to the mid-range.

He says the phone will feature 5G and talks a lot about gaming relative to the 9R, saying the company wants the phone to provide "fast and fluid experiences" for "intense gaming." The "smooth experiences" and "smooth scrolling" references suggest that, as with its recent budget phones, OnePlus will likely pack a 90Hz or faster display. As for the gaming approach, it may be more of a marketing approach than a hardware one.

The 9R is rumoured to have a Snapdragon 865, a processor from last year, where we generally expect gaming phones to have the latest and greatest chips. For example, the ROG Phone 5 has the Snapdragon 888, up to 18GB of RAM, and a 144Hz display. None of that is exactly profitable, so perhaps OnePlus's claims will be for heavy gamers to be taken with a grain of salt.

The rest of the interview is light on concrete details, and Lau doesn't talk about pricing or availability outside of India, but it does give an idea of what OnePlus is thinking of for the 9R. With the event just around the corner, it may not be long before we know for sure. If you're curious about the higher-end 9 and 9 Pro models, you can read our pre-announcement information roundup.