The OnePlus Nord N200 5G, the company's follow-up to its successful Nord N10 and Nord N100 phones, is the lowest-cost 5G phone available in the US, and it arrives on June 25 for $239.99.
The N200 splits the difference between the 4G, $179.99 N100 and the 5G, $299.99 N10. Like the N10, it has a 90Hz, 1080p screen and 5G. It has a slower processor than the N10 does: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 versus the better 690. (The N100 has an even slower Snapdragon 460.) But the N200 also has a bigger battery, at 5,000mAh compared to the N10's 4,300mAh.
In an exclusive interview with PCMag.com last week, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said there's still a difference between the N10 and N200 lines; the product lines won't collapse into each other. I think that implies an N20 is coming, but he didn't confirm that.
"The OnePlus Nord N200 5G offers an optimum burdenless mobile experience at an even more accessible price point," he said in a press release.
OnePlus interestingly didn't release a full spec sheet yet—there's no detail on the cameras, for instance. The press release does say it has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Images also show that it has a side-mounted combination fingerprint sensor and power button. The images also show volume buttons, but not the typical OnePlus lock/mute switch.
The Nord N10 was spectacularly successful at Metro by T-Mobile, Wave7 Research told us earlier this year. At one point, it got OnePlus to a 15% sales share at the carrier—the highest the manufacturer has ever seen in the US.
At $239, the N200 will become the least expensive 5G phone in America, but it's up against the tough competition of carriers' free-phone promotions. With only around 16% of Americans using 5G phones, the carriers desperately want people to switch over to the new networks, so they're offering deep discounts even on much more expensive phones.
The $200-$300 5G field has also become more crowded in the past year. T-Mobile now features the $264 Moto one 5G ace and the $282 Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, as well as the $299 OnePlus Nord N10 5G.
The Nord N200 5G goes on sale on Friday, June 25 at 11 a.m. ET on OnePlus.com. But most buyers should probably wait for the inevitable T-Mobile and Metro promotions that will follow shortly afterwards. This is the kind of phone Metro will want to give away for free.
We'll have a review of the N200 soon.