OnePlus may be preparing to announce the OnePlus Z based on an interview in which the company's CEO again expressed his intention to create an inexpensive product.

OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau spoke about this in an interview with Fast Company and in a statement on Chinese social network Weibo Weibo (via Ishan Agarwal on Twitter). In the interview, Lau talks about his company's desire to get back to its roots of making budget handsets and its plans to expand into areas other than smartphones.

OnePlus has made great strides since its founding in 2014, producing premium-specification phones while maintaining prices well below Samsung and Apple. However, as the company's phones like the OnePlus 8 series and last year's OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7T have become more feature-rich, prices have risen considerably.

Many are therefore looking forward to the OnePlus Z, which will add a new competitor to the mid-range market currently blockaded by the iPhone SE 2020; the Google Pixel 4a is also expected to make an appearance, but it is likely to be delayed until July or August.

The OnePlus Z, also called the OnePlus 8 Lite, is rumored to have a 6.4-inch OLED display running at 90Hz, a Snapdragon 765G processor with 5G connectivity, three rear cameras, and a $499 price. While none of this is confirmed, it would be an attractive option for Pixel 4a buyers.

Meanwhile, the Pixel 4a is rumored to be much cheaper at $349 while offering a 5.8-inch OLED screen, a Snapdragon 730 processor without 5G, and one rear camera. But that doesn't mean OnePlus isn't working on a direct competitor in the same price range as the Pixel 4a and iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE is an archaic design in some respects, but it offers Apple's latest A13 Bionic chip and iOS 13 software, and can be expected to offer the same performance as those who bought the more expensive iPhone 11, only about $300 cheaper. You have to make do with a large bezel and a single rear camera with no night mode, but other than that, the new iPhone SE is an impressive phone.

A statement on Weibo noted that a "new member" will join the OnePlus family now that the company has gained the experience needed to handle a wider range of products; in an interview with Fast Company, the OnePlus launch in India, followed by European and North America, with events planned for the rest of the year.

Last year, OnePlus released OnePlus TV, which is only available in China and India. This is an interesting example of an Android-powered smart TV and perhaps an indicator of where OnePlus' ambitions lie outside of cell phones.