It was fascinating to note that by the end of 2021, OnePlus’ new phone portfolio was suddenly encompassing a rather wide price segment: These phones were lower specced but even lower priced than the Nord, which continued on its own merry path with the Nord 2.

Similarly, the brand also introduced a new range in the Nord series, the Nord CE (CE standing for ‘Core Edition’). While it continued with the Pro range, it also released a slightly more affordable device in its premium range, which it christened the R series, ostensibly targeted at gaming. The next year saw OnePlus add a further twist to its product portfolio. OnePlus now had phones in premium as well as premium mid-segment zones. By all accounts, the phone did very well in the Indian market. To many, it represented a sort of return to OnePlus’ perceived core values of good specs and smooth performance at an affordable price. The Nord was very skilfully marketed by a still-at-OnePlus Carl Pei.

OnePlus called it called the ‘premium mid-segment and positioned the Nord as its flagship in that zone. And just as it had invented the ‘flagship killer’ moniker, OnePlus now came up with a whole new segment, one that was well below the premium segment but just above the conventional mid-segment. This was the year in which it launched the Nord, a device that was half the price of its flagship OnePlus 8 Pro and was priced a bit more than conventional mid-segment devices. Going from being a flagship killer to a proper flagship in a little more than five years would have been quite an achievement in itself, but in 2020, OnePlus turned over a new leaf once again. To its credit, although many traditional OnePlus fans cried foul, it did well in the premium segment, emerging as one of India’s top premium smartphone brands, even outperforming the likes of Apple and Samsung in some quarters. While the brand also came out with non-Pro variants that were more affordable, OnePlus seemed to have now stepped into the premium phone zone. The OnePlus 7 Pro was an unabashedly premium device and came at a price that was more than double of the first OnePlus.

With the OnePlus 7 Pro in 2019, OnePlus finally got into the zone of the very flagships it was killing.

Low specs experience premium torrent