The next OnePlus phone - the OnePlus 6 or the
OnePlus 5T - could be coming soon, and while OnePlus has managed to keep leaks
to a minimum, there are a few things that we know that paint a quite detailed
picture of the upcoming phone.
The OnePlus 6 is likely to have a 6-inch 18:9
display in a body that is as wide, but a bit taller than the 5.5-inch OnePlus
5, and yes, it will keep that useful headphone jack. The headphone jack is
actually one of the giveaways that a new OnePlus phone is coming. Last year,
some three weeks before the launch of the 3T, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei asked
his Twitter followers whether they like headphone jacks. He got an overwhelming
"yes!" response, and the 3T launched soon after with the headphone jack.
This year, Pei ran the same poll anew and got even more people to vote with a
similarly conclusive "yes" score.
There is more evidence that the OnePlus 6 is coming
soon: the OnePlus 5 has been out of stock in the US for a few days, and is
available in limited quantities across other markets. But more importantly: the
device that might serve as the "prototype" for the OnePlus 6 is
already out in China.
Here is the thing to know about OnePlus: the company
is part of China's BBK Corporation that owns phone makers Oppo and Vivo, two of
the biggest names in China. The OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T are all phones
that take an existing Oppo / Vivo phone design, that use the same fast-charging
technology and that use the same camera engineering, but rather than using the mid-range
chips that Oppo and Vivo use, OnePlus equips its phones with top-level
Snapdragon processors. The reason for this seems simple: the Chinese market is
much more competitive in terms of price and by using a mid-range chip, Oppo /
Vivo can sell its devices even cheaper, without taking a huge hit to
performance.
We do not have any specific information about the
price and release of the next OnePlus, but we know this: last year, OnePlus
unveiled its flagship OnePlus 3 in the middle of June 2016, and followed up
with the OnePlus 3T just five months later in the middle of November 2016. This
year, the OnePlus 5 was unveiled in June as well, and November is not too far
off. This, the limited availability of the current model and the recent poll by
OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei about the headphone jack suggest OnePlus is gearing
up to launch its new phone.
And give industry trends and the OnePlus internal
dynamics, we expect it to be slightly more expensive than before. Here is our
guess:
- OnePlus 6 / 5T 64GB: US$ 520
- OnePlus 6 / 5T 128GB: US$ 580
These prices will still be significantly lower than
all of OnePlus' competitors. Let's see if we're right.
