OnePlus is set to reveal the Nord next week - the first smartphone in a new, more affordable series of handsets from the Chinese company. OnePlus has been doing what it does best, and building up hype for the launch by teasing its flagship features on social media, divulging the development process behind the device with a four-part docuseries, and opening up pre-orders for fans who are brave enough to take the leap of faith without having laid eyes on the Nord yet.
But now it's revealed that the OnePlus Nord AR launch event will also see the debut of the company's first truly wireless earbuds: the OnePlus Buds.
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After teasing its Twitter followers earlier today with a tweet reading, "We're buds, right?" that immediately had a flood of responses calling an impending wireless earbuds announcement, OnePlus made it official in a short blog post entitled: You asked for no wires. We heard you."
There's not much in the post about the earbuds themselves, other than their presence at next week's launch event, but OnePlus followed up with a press release saying that the OnePlus Buds will feature "high-quality audio playback and an easy-to-use experience on the go, eliminating all wires for a truly freeing sound experience." OnePlus CEO and founder, Pete Lau, added:
"With the new OnePlus Buds, we are further building out our portfolio of products that give our users a burdenless experience.
"Our users are looking for the right combination of great sound quality, seamless connectivity and an easy-to-use experience. That’s exactly what the OnePlus Buds will deliver.”
That's still not a great deal to go on, but with the imminent arrival of Samsung's Galaxy Beans and the foothold Apple has already established with its AirPod Pro earbuds, we hope OnePlus has cooked up something that can take on the two tech giants while still maintaining its ethos of keeping everything affordable.
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The existence of the earbuds has been speculated for while, with Twitter leaker Max J. posting an image of what they could look like just a couple of weeks ago - and if it's is accurate, there's more than a passing resemble to the AirPods Pro.
It's also likely that the OnePlus Buds are one of the pre-order bonuses for the OnePlus Nord, as the company specifically stipulates in its pre-order FAQ that in the event of a return, customers are required to return the "surprise gift bundled with [the OnePlus Nord]".
We may even see a second, cheaper Nord handset if today's news is anything to go by, but with just seven days left, we don't have long to wait to find out.
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Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.