Anybody with some interest in technology or planning to buy a mobile phone hasn’t missed the Nord campaign of OnePlus. The smartphone from the company is not just priced sensibly but it has all the big experience features that make OnePlus a popular brand in India and globally. Nord is aimed at the below $500 mid-range market segment. In fact, the mid-range segment of $200-500 accounted for the strongest YoY growth of 55.2 per cent, accounting for 19.3 per cent of the overall smartphone market (IDC).

The Telegraph spoke to Navnit Nakra, vice-president and chief strategy officer, OnePlus India.

Planning on the Nord must have started a few months ago. What did you have in mind and how much of it are we seeing in the final product?

Yes, the planning had been on for some time. The senior team got together to revamp our strategy for India and globally. As part of the strategy we realised that as a global technology firm there are a lot of consumers who want to experience this brand just outside the premium smartphone segment. That is why we took a decision to expand the product portfolio and tune into a wider range of price points. OnePlus has always had a very high quality and design aspect but the broader idea is to create a seamless ecosystem to deliver a premium experience.

Last year was the first step towards this strategy when we launched the Q1 TV series. The reception was tremendous and as part of the strategy we have introduced the mid-range smart TVs in India.

All our community feedback indicates there are a large number of consumers who are frustrated with a few things. First, they want a high-quality phone which carries a strong brand value. They want to have a killer product. Second, a great camera is central to the purchase decision. Third, how does hardware and software come together to offer a smooth experience? That is where OxygenOS comes in. If you are a young user in India, you would like to associate with a great brand. You wouldn’t like to pay a luxury price.

So it would be okay to say that Nord can become the stepping stone into the OnePlus world for many?

Spot on. We want more and more consumers to look at our brand and experience it. There is a large segment of consumers waiting for a device with great specs, design as well as experience. We hope to welcome a lot of new users to the OnePlus family with the Nord.

Navnit Nakra, vice-president and chief strategy officer, OnePlus India OnePlus

What distinguishes Nord from the competition?

The camera is extremely good here and we have a flagship-level set-up at this price point. It’s a set-up that would suit indoors and outdoors. But we also have our first dual front camera, which has a 32MP main sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide. For me, a lot of selfies are taking place inside the house and on the balcony. So the front camera set-up shines in such a situation. What distinguishes us is that we are bringing the same high-quality OxygenOS on the Nord also, which will make the experience smooth.

Then there is the Snapdragon 765G, which is 30 per cent faster on graphics rendering than its predecessor. There is also a 90Hz Fluid AMOLED display. A lot of your experience around app smoothness and gaming experience is going to come alive. Because it’s a 5G phone, we would be better positioned about the next step in our product cycle. We are opening doors to consumers who want to get a great product and hold on to it for a couple of years.

How much of Nord was created keeping India in mind?

As part of the OnePlus philosophy, we take feedback and collaborate with community members. Our R&D centre, which was set-up last year in August has worked on the software for OnePlus Nord end-to-end. There is a fair amount of work the India team has done to bring Nord alive. Like the previous phones, which are manufactured in India, this too is manufactured in India. In fact, we have commenced manufacturing of smart TVs in India as well. India-centric feedback is important for us and the Nord.

The OnePlus 8 phones come with top processors but if one gets a smooth experience on the Nord then why should one go for a higher product?

Difficult question. When we look at consumer sentiment, consumers who want a device with every spec out there, also present is another big segment. Any new consumer getting into smartphones, especially young ones, would like to associate with a brand. One of the reports say that there are over 200 million families in India which are going to upgrade from analogue/CRT TV to a smart option. If you go to them with a Rs 2 lakh TV, chances are it wouldn’t be accepted. In our country people don’t throw out stuff. The sentiment is they want to experience a great product but at the same time the cost of ownership need to fit the pocket.

Is it going to be free of bloatware?

Absolutely. This is going to be bloat free. Consumers would love the experience, be it camera or audio.

Your thoughts on the big campaign to promote Nord.

The campaign started before I joined five months ago. Nord is ‘north’. So it’s about finding the true north in life. The young generation would like to take on quality ventures and have a non-traditional way of thinking. It’s about giving them something to make new beginnings in life.

At a glance

• Nord comes with the same 48MP primary sensor as the OnePlus 8, complete with optical image stabilisation (OIS) to eliminate blur and shakiness from every photo. It is kept company by an 8MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP depth camera and 2MP macro lens
• Nightscape takes up to nine different pictures at varying exposures and stitches them together to produce clearer, brighter, and more dramatic photos in low light.
• Forget the selfie stick. On the front is a 32MP camera and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter.
• It is powered by Snapdragon 765G 5G mobile platform with improved CPU speeds and 30 per cent faster graphics rendering than its predecessor. The company has thrown in up to 12GB of RAM.
• Price: Rs 24,999 (6GB+64GB, arriving early September), Rs 27,999 (8GB+128GB) and Rs 29,999 (12GB+256GB). Open sales start at noon on August 4
• OnePlus Buds will be available at Rs 4,990. The white and Nord blue variants will be available in an early access sale on July 31 on oneplus.in and will be available for open sale starting August 4

(Left to right) Shot using the iPhone by Dimpy Bhalotia, Artyom Baryshau and Geli Zhao. Apple

iPhone photography at its best

When the iPhone Photography Awards were launched in 2007, nobody thought smartphone photography would be big. Today, it’s a matter of pride if a picture makes it to the ‘Shot on iPhone’ billboard.

At the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS), UK street photographer Dimpy Bhalotia has taken home the Grand Prize Winner and Photographer of the Year Award for her image titled ‘Flying Boys’.

In her photograph, shot using an iPhone X, three boys are seen taking “flight from a wall into the Ganges River, their expressive limbs filling the sky with both tension and exuberance”.

In a recent interview with Street Photography India she said: “I realised I got too blinded by the fashion world. I felt the inadequacy of realism in it. I had a successful fashion brand but I couldn’t resonate with it. It got too plastic for me. I could express myself from what I made, but yet I felt it lacked naturalism. Metaphysically nothing is compared to the human eye, but street photography makes me feel closest to the semiotics of life. The power of capturing inevitable existential moments attracted me to it like a magnet.”

The first, second and third-place Photographer of the Year awards have gone to Artyom Baryshau of Belarus with ‘No Walls’, Geli Zhao of China for an untitled image of sheets catching wind on a cloudy day and Saif Hussain of Iraq with ‘Sheikh Of Youth’.