Rumour Roundup — OnePlus 3
OnePlus’s next flagship may be the big cat amongst the pigeons.
One of the stars of the Mobile World Congress 2016 that’s gaining the attention is OnePlus’ next flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 3.
Carl Pei, OnePlus’ founder, had dropped a hint at the tail end of the MCW 2016, that the next big OnePlus launch can be expected within the second quarter of the year.
While listed as OnePlus A3000 for now, as the world knows, it is actually going to be titled as the OnePlus 3. Not everything is known about the device yet; only bits and pieces of the devices specs are known based on recent leaks and reports.
According to available information and speculations, the device is to be groundbreaking in its own right, deadly to the competition, and will be highly appreciated in the market.
The snippets we’ve gathered on the device specs are:
- The phone comes with a 1920x1080 full HD display,
- Has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with a 4 GB RAM,
- An externally expandable 32 GB of internal storage,
- A 16 megapixel and an 8 megapixel camera setup that’s listed innocently enough, to imply either a dual camera set up or the regular back and front facing cameras’ spec (which we consider the more probable of the two explanations).
- The device, like its predecessor is expected to run on Oxygen OS, OnePlus’s own operating system, at par with the latest Android 6.1 Marshmallow.
As can be expected, a lot of speculations about the new OnePlus smartphone have been doing the rounds. One such speculation in terms of the design, which is not that great news, is that the company might be getting rid of the textured Sandstone back in favour of a black, Brushed Steel finish.
Locationally, the rear camera might have moved higher up on the back and the fingerprint scanner does not seem visible anymore. This could mean the phone is looking at Iris scanning, a feature which is included in HP’s Elite x3.
The device’s pricing hasn’t yet been revealed; but it is expected to go with what OnePlus is known for — bringing technologically sound devices at budget prices. Given that the OnePlus 2 is priced roughly around INR 22,000, we can expect a similar number, or a very slight bump upwards.
Going by pure numbers, the camera and the display are not the best in the market, but they shall certainly land at the better-than-good spot in terms of the space that the device is looking to enter into.
On the plus side (no pun intended), the design of the OnePlus 2 was highly appreciated; so it is estimable that the newer phone shall be similar in design and execution, or maybe OnePlus could be smoothening it out even further.
In terms of market competition, the OnePlus 3 shall be dealing with its own predecessor, the OnePlus 2, alone with OnePlus X. It shall also be competing with Google Nexus 5x and Nexus 6P, Motorola Moto X Play, LG G4 and LG G5, and some Xiaomi and Huawei devices.
OnePlus 3 is perhaps then a device sound on its technology within a budgeted price range. It, however, has the chance to smoothen out the few tiny drawbacks — battery life, camera, and perhaps a better operating system in terms of the Oxygen OS — that were felt with the company’s previous handset, OnePlus 2.
Originally published at Chip-Monks.
