When the OnePlus 5 smartphone launched this summer it looked like a phone with modern flagship specs… although the $479 starting price makes it a bit pricey compared with earlier phones from OnePlus. Still, at a time when Apple, Samsung, and Google are charging $800 or more for phones, the OnePlus 5 kind of looks like a steal.
Except that it’s got a design that looks pretty dated. Oh, and it’s out of stock.
But rumor has it that a OnePlus 5T is on the way.
Like the original, the new model is expected to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and support for up to 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage.
But instead of a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, the OnePlus 5T is expected to have a 2160 x 1080 pixel display. That means it’d have an 18:9 (or 2:1) aspect ratio rather than 16:9, putting it more in line with other flagship phones launched in the second half of 2017.
It’d have a lower resolution screen than the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or Google Pixel 2 XL, but that’s in keeping with the OnePlus strategy of less-is-more when it comes to display resolution.
Speaking of less, over the past few days we’ve seen a few different leaked images that allegedly show what the phone will look like. Unsurprisingly, the bezels have been slimmed down considerably.
According to details from the Antutu benchmark, it looks like the new model may also have 20MP + 20MP rear cameras, which would be an upgrade from the twin 16MP cameras on the back of the original OnePlus 5.
Finally, according to Evan Blass, OnePlus plans to launch a new phone with an 18:9 display in late November. That sure sounds like the OnePlus 5T.
Blass, who’s known as one of the most reliable purveyors of tech gadget leaks, had previously been skeptical that a OnePlus 5T was in the works, but he said a reliable source indicated that the phone is happening.
There’s no word on whether OnePlus will make any other changes, so we may have to wait a while to find out more about the battery, price, and other details.
Serious question, do people really like the 2:1 screen ratio?
Well, I said they were going to do a OnePlus 5T (Oct 2017, same body as 5, but new QSD 836) and a OnePlus 6 (Jun 2018, new bezelless body, old QSD 836/new QSD 845).
However, it looks like Qualcomm’s not releasing the refined/overclocked 835 (QSD 836), but instead, is doubling-down on their high-end QSD 845 and midrange QSD 660 offerings.
That’s why it makes no sense to do the OnePlus 5T. Unless, these rumours are true, and they will use the same spec level just in a newer body design. That’s something I didn’t expect them to do until 2018 simply because the OnePlus 5 is still a very newly released device, and doing so would make it prematurely “obsolete” sort of like the OnePlus 2/X fiasco.
I kind of feel bad for those early adopters now. Just like how the iPhone X buyers will feel in 6 months time. Or any Pixel 1/2 buyers.
No thanks: upside down screens, spying software, phones that are forgotten with no updates, prices going up all the time…no thank you!
Slight upgrades, and starting at *only* $529!
Every single phone they release is ~$50 more expensive than the last one. In three more years, a OnePlus 8 will cost as much as a Pixel 5 and an iPhone 11. They used to be the “budget flagship” option, but there’s increasingly little that’s actually “budget” about OP’s prices.
Still no micro SD slot, eh? Disappointing.
I really like my Oneplus 5 a lot. So I guess I’m happy I got one when I could. Battery life is sensational. Performance more than snappy enough. Tons of storage. Every LTE band in the world.
While the camera isn’t quite as good as they hyped it to be, it’s fine. More MPs is not what this camera needs. It needs bigger pixels, not more, smaller ones.
The rumor that they’ve decided to remove the headphone jack would be a deal breaker for me if I was in the market. But I expect to use this phone for a few years.