OnePlus Nord 2 might be a Realme phone in all but name

There have been all sorts of phones in the Nord range, but the wait for a true OnePlus Nord 2 continues. However, the phone that finally launches as the OnePlus Nord 2 might actually be a rebranded Realme X9 Pro.

That’s according to a leaker known as Arsenal, posting on Weibo (a Chinese social network). More specifically, they claim that there are two models of the Realme X9 Pro in the works, with one destined for China and apparently packing a Snapdragon 870 chipset and a curved screen, while the other is supposedly headed for the rest of the world and said to have a Dimensity 1200 chipset and a flat screen.

That second one will apparently be called the OnePlus Nord 2 at launch, presumably because the OnePlus name carries more weight globally than the Realme brand does. As OnePlus and Realme are both subsidiaries of BBK Electronics this move is certainly a possibility.

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OnePlus Nord 2 leak — (Image credit: Arsenal / Weibo)

The leaker says also that both phones have a 90Hz refresh rate, and implies that the chipset and whether or not the screen is curved are the only differences between the two. They don’t detail any other specs here, but they have recently leaked the Realme X9 Pro’s specs (as spotted by MySmartPrice) so presumably most of those specs would apply to the OnePlus Nord 2 as well.

According to Arsenal then, the Realme X9 Pro has a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 4,500mAh battery with 65W charging, a 32MP front-facing camera, and a triple-lens rear camera with a 50MP main sensor, a 16MP ultra-wide one, and a 2MP black and white one.

The phone is additionally said to have 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of storage, a Gorilla Glass front and back, an aluminum frame, and dual speakers.

These specs are broadly in line with what we’ve heard rumored elsewhere for the OnePlus Nord 2, so they may well be accurate – though one previous leak pointed to a 6.43-inch screen. In any case, we’d take all of these leaks with a pinch of salt for now, but we’ll hopefully know the truth before too long.

The original OnePlus Nord launched in August, so we’d expect the new one to launch by August of this year, but it might land earlier, with one source suggesting it could launch by the end of June.