OnePlus teases new phone to be released next month

At the same time, OnePlus launched a new Instagram account called ‘OnePlusLiteZThing’

Co-founder and director of the Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, Carl Pei gestures as he speaks on stage during the launch of their latest OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro (MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images)

OnePlus has confirmed that it is working on a new, affordable smartphone, but the details of that device remain a mystery.

The company’s CEO Pete Lau wrote in a forum post that it is “bringing the premium, flagship experience … to a new, more affordable smartphone product line”

The new device will be first introduced in Europe and India, with a launch in North America coming at a later date.

The post also says that the design team for the new smartphone will be led by Paul Yu, the head of product hardware development.

Many details of the phone still under wraps, but Mr Lau was keen to stress that “this is not a reactionary attempt to 'go back to our roots,' as some people have speculated,” he wrote in a message to the media.

“Our goal has always been to build leading products that provide the best user experience at a comparatively affordable price point. And since our 'roots' are actually in creating the best flagship smartphones, I see this part of our strategy as an important extension of the OnePlus value proposition.”

At the same time, OnePlus launched a new Instagram account called ‘OnePlusLiteZThing’.

This is likely a reference to the ‘Lite’ and ‘Z’ brands, both of which have been rumoured as the name for the new device.

The locked account has posted four times. One of which is morse code which, when decoded, spells out "July".

Another post reads: "It's been a while since we've done anything like this. But we think you'll like what's coming."

"Unfortunately, we don't have any news for you right now. But if we did, this would be the first place to look. Unless we forget a prototype in a bar."

Apple's iPhone devices have been previously left in bars.

XDA Developers reports that the budget OnePlus phone could come with a 6.55″ Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz screen refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 SoC with 5G support, along with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

OnePlus’ last affordable phone was the OnePlus X from 2015, announced at $249 (approximately £200).