OnePlus may have lost its steam this year compared to other Android phone makers — namely Google with its impressive Pixel 6 — but the company has a new smartphone up its sleeve.
OnePlus cofounder and CEO Pete Lau recently teased the OnePlus 10 series on the Chinese social network Weibo. Lau posted the name “OnePlus 10 Pro” as a hashtag, then, “see you in January.” As you might expect, fans are excited.
What’s interesting is that Lau only mentioned the Pro model of the next OnePlus. A noted tipster tweeted rumblings from the rumour mill that it’s likely there will only be one product in the OnePlus 10 series. Typically, OnePlus launches two versions at a time — a regular and a Pro — followed by a third “T” model that tends to be geared toward power users. However, OnePlus cancelled the 8 T this year.
It’s also worth noting that this is a tad early for OnePlus to be introducing a new flagship device. Previously, the brand launched its new products right after Samsung finished with its Galaxy showcase, in the March/April timeframe.
The OnePlus 10 Pro would be the first OnePlus release under the Oppo brand umbrella. OnePlus has been connected to parent company Oppo since its inception, but this year, the company announced that “deeper integration” with Oppo was in the works.
While it spells good news for OnePlus’s business, since it has one of China’s major smartphone manufacturers helping foot the bill, it’s been a little worrying to Android fans, especially around impending changes to the OnePlus Oxygen OS interface as it works to consolidate it with Oppo’s ColorOS. I also wondered if we might see the end of OnePlus’s play as the “enthusiast’s” Android device — a position held previously by Google’s Nexus.
The last question is whether the OnePlus 10 Pro can offer an edge to Google’s refined Pixel 6 Pro, especially when it comes camera performance. The specs that have been rumoured give us reason to be excited.
We’ve seen unofficial renders of the next OnePlus showing a stove-top camera array with three lenses and a flash, along with the return of the Hasselblad partnership the company introduced with its OnePlus 9. The OnePlus 10 Pro’s display is pegged at 6.7 inches with a QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It might support 80W fast charging, and according to its CEO, it will have the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip.
The OnePlus 10 Pro may debut overseas first and then arrive for sale in the U.S. early springtime.