OnePlus has been rumoured to be working on a 'Lite' version of its next flagship phone for a few months now, but it appears it may not be called the OnePlus 8 Lite. A recent rumour suggests we should rather expect a device named the OnePlus Z.

Max Weinbach, a prolific leaker of information has suggested this is - in fact - a modern interpretation of the OnePlus X, which launched back in 2015 as a much smaller, more affordable alternative to the bigger 'flagship killer'.  

Sadly, while many of us loved its slinky design, premium looks and AMOLED display, even for its time it didn't quite meet the expectations set by OnePlus in other departments. 

The OnePlus 8 Lite - or so it was called in the earlier rumours - was speculated to take on a similar approach to the OnePlus X in spirit, by offering a smaller phone that's more affordable than either the rumoured OnePlus 8 or 8 Pro.

Early leaks of this OnePlus Z suggested we should expect a phone with quite a hefty rectangle protrusion on the back housing dual or triple cameras, and feature a 6.4-inch display with a hole-punch cutout for a selfie camera on the front. 

To keep costs down, it's expected to move away from the usual Snapdragon processor, by offering a MediaTek chip in a phone that will cost roughly £400, making it the entry model in OnePlus' next series of smartphones. 

Despite that, it's still claimed the phone will feature a 4,000mAh battery and be equipped with the 30W Warp Charging tech for fast charging, plus 90Hz refresh rate on the display. 

OnePlus has officially announced that it will unveil the OnePlus 8 series on 14 April, but it's unclear whether or not the OnePlus Z is going to be part of that lineup. There's only a couple of weeks to wait until we found out, and we'll keep you up to date here as the story develops.