OnePlus 8 Lite renders point to a return to the mid-range

It looks like we'll be getting a more affordable OnePlus 8 model next year, after renders of what's being called the OnePlus 8 Lite were shared online.

Posted by @OnLeaks and 91mobiles – a pairing that has a good track record as far as mobile rumors go – the renders show a handset with a dual-lens camera on the rear and a punch-hole cut out for the front-facing camera.

The phone is being tipped to feature a 6.4 or 6.5-inch screen, making it a little smaller than the 6.55-inch OnePlus 7T and the 6.67-inch OnePlus 7T Pro that the company launched most recently.

Rumors of the OnePlus 8 Pro
Google Assistant is getting better at taking notes
Apple could be readying an iPhone 9

As usual, there's a USB-C port here and no headphone jack, and based on the renders the phone will come in at a thickness of 8.6 mm (0.34 inches), which actually puts it between the two flagship phones this year.

OnePlus 8 Lite leak

When it comes to the internal specs, it's not clear exactly how the OnePlus 8 Lite might differentiate itself from the standard OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro (if those are the handsets that OnePlus launches).

A slower processor and less RAM would be an obvious move – but this year the likes of Samsung and Apple have put the same processor in both their flagship models and the more affordable variants.

It might be that fitting a smaller screen and putting just two cameras on the back of the phone are all the compromises that OnePlus is going to make, but we shouldn't have to wait long to find out: the OnePlus 8 handsets are expected in the first half of 2020.

We do know that OnePlus has committed to putting 90 Hz screens on all its phones in the future, so that's one spec that we're certain to see when the device does appear.