The OnePlus 2 is getting on a bit, and rumours/leaks for the OnePlus 3 are falling through. Here’s a round-up on the rumours for the OnePlus 3.
The OnePlus 2 was a stellar device offering great specs for a price that made your accountant clap like a seal for hours – providing you bought one – after getting through that arduous invite system. It’s coming up to that time for OnePlus CEO Carl Pei do what his Twitter handle says, and that’s @getpeid. How will they do that? By releasing a new OnePlus device of course.
Going back to the invite system, OnePlus are slowly getting better at it. With each handset release, we saw shorter time periods of the invite system, until a full scrap. Hopefully OnePlus will announce a full scrap of the annoying invite system at the launch of the OnePlus 3.
We’ve seen plenty of leaks and rumours about the OnePlus 3 so we’ve compiled it all into one big article, which will be updated every time we hear something of substance about the new “flagship killer.”
OnePlus does not have predictable release cycles like other established manufacturers. But CEO Carl Pei has confirmed to CNET, the OnePlus 3 will be seeing a Q2 release, anytime between April and June.
According to GizmoChina we could be seeing the new OnePlus 3 as early as May 18th, today. Although take deadlines from OnePlus with a pinch of salt, the manufacturer has missed missed them before, also we’ve heard nothing so far today. But we are halfway through May so an announcement this week or next would not be a surprise.
Renders of the OnePlus 3 box has been released (above) by @krispitech, showing several different minimalist designs OnePlus may opt for. With talks of the box already, surely its time to pack it all up and announce the damn thing?
The freshest leak on the OnePlus 3 is an official looking render complete with the company logo, revealing a full-metal body. It corroborates the badly framed stills we saw earlier last week (below), it looks like OnePlus are going for an iPhone look with an S6 camera bump.
We were skeptical of the early leak below as it came without a logo and is not to mention ugly. The official render that we’re looking at (above) was posted by serial leakster Evan Blass on Twitter, if Blass is right (he usually is), the rough renders below will be proven to be an early prototype.
Carl Pei confirmed the OnePlus 3 will be a departure in design from the current OnePlus design language. The OnePlus One and OnePlus 2 had plastic bodies with a removable customisable sandstone backplate. With the full-metal design we’re seeing a departure from that, a bit sad but necessary to keep up with their “flagship killer” tagline.
A front-mounted fingerprint sensor looks set to return as we can seen an oval home button on the bottom. Looking further down USB-C is set to make a return, the OnePlus 2 joined a small club of smartphones with USB-C, now with recent releases from rivals adopting the new feature, it makes sense to retain it.
There have been murmurs of a decreased in screen size, the OnePlus One and 2 have always teased phablet territory with 5.5-inches of screen real estate. It wouldn’t make sense to do it, with the recent OnePlus X covering those who desire smaller phones. But then again the X is a mid-range device, it doesn’t satisfy those who want high-end specs in a diminutive device.
One of the first rumours we’ve heard about the OnePlus 3 was a massive 6GB of RAM helping to run the show. It’s a strategy we haven’t seen OnePlus do before and that’s to out do rivals in the specs race.
The touted 6GB of RAM will apparently be a premium version paired with 64GB of internal memory. A lower 4GB RAM version with 32GB of internal memory has also been floating about, scrapping the 16GB model makes sense considering how sizeable Android Marshmallow is. Making 32GB the new standard should not hike up the price.
According to the source we can expect flagship rivalling specs with the OnePlus 3 sporting a Snapdragon 820, 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera and Android Marshmallow.
The source also reveals NFC will be making a return, it was omitted in the OnePlus 2 as OnePlus noticed users barely using it on the OnePlus One. Things are different now with Android Pay finally available out of the US, landing in the UK today. Its crucial that NFC is again included for future-proofing purposes.
Another new feature rumoured to be on the OnePlus 3 is a 3,500 mAh battery. It’s an upgrade from 3,300mAh we saw on the OnePlus 2. But that’s not the impressive bit. According to an import list, Oppo’s VOOC fast-charging technology will be used. Meaning a full battery in 15 minutes might be a possibility for the OnePlus 3.
The price point is always going to be a talking point for a OnePlus flagship. Sources speaking to GizmoChina claim an incredible lower price for the OnePlus 3. Apparently the OnePlus 3 will be US $310, equating to about £210. It’d be incredible for consumers but with the young Chinese company is already working on razor thin margins with their current price points.
For more on OnePlus, visit What Mobile’s dedicated OnePlus page.
