The OnePlus 5 could be the phone to be reckoned with in summer 2017, flooring the Galaxy S8 and Xiaomi Mi6 in benchmarks. Read the latest rumours on the OnePlus 5 specs, features and UK launch date.
OnePlus has grown from a tiny startup that struggled to meet user demand to one of the most sought after smartphone brands in just a few short years. Following the 2016 launch of the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, next month the company will announce the OnePlus 5.
That’s right, the next OnePlus flagship will be known as the OnePlus 5, and not the OnePlus 4 as many had expected. Whether this is because it is the fifth-generation flagship, following the OnePlus One, 2,3 and 3T, or because the number 4 is considered to be bad luck in China is not known.
OnePlus has confirmed to The Verge that the next handset would indeed be the OnePlus 5, and that it would launch this summer. It has since then posted links to the site’s resulting story on social media with the tagline ‘True story’, and more recently posted a ‘Hello 5’ teaser on Weibo that reads ‘Hey Summer! Give me five!’
OnePlus has always referred to its phones as flagship killers – unbeatable specs at unbeatable prices. In 2017 things look to continue in that trend, and thanks to the Samsung Galaxy S8 ‘s exclusivity rights on the Snapdragon 835 processor the late-coming OnePlus 5 will have fewer rivals with which to compete.
The LG G6 was forced to launch with the Snapdragon 821, for example, while the HTC U has not yet been announced. Even Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium has yet to go on sale in the UK.
The OnePlus 3T was a great phone, but it featured little more over the OnePlus 3 than a processor-, battery- and camera bump. It’s still available to buy, though stocks are reportedly running low on 128GB models – OnePlus is unlikely to replenish these with a new 128GB model on the way.
We expect the OnePlus 5 to be announced in June 2017, and to go on sale shortly after.
The company doesn’t stick to an annual release date schedule as do other phone makers, with the OnePlus One launched in April 2014, the OnePlus 2 in July 2015 and the OnePlus 3 in June 2016. The OnePlus 3T followed in November 2016.
To be fair, the longest gap here is between the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2, during which time the fairly new company was struggling to keep up with demand and meet such unexpected popularity. Following the OnePlus 2 it has proved much more adept at churning out phones with the OnePlus X, OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.
There’s little to go on when it comes to the OnePlus 5 but various speculations suggest a tag of around $500 – another price increase as the 3T costs $440. In the UK, that could mean a jump from the current price of £399 up to around £449. That’s still cheaper than competing flagships, of course.
The OnePlus 5 was recently listed on Oppo Mart at $450, which sounds about right.
While the specification has leaked online, few images of the OnePlus 5 have been sighted. The images in the rest of this article are concepts, but the one below is said to be the real deal (source) . If true, it tells us two things: there will be a black model, and the OnePlus 5 will feature a dual-camera at the rear. No fingerprint scanner is to be seen here, which means it must still be placed at the front.
There has never been any doubt that OnePlus will want to use the same processor as the Samsung Galaxy S8 in its flagship killer, which means it will come with the 2.35GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. This integrates an Adreno 540 GPU.
The Snapdragon 835 is the first Qualcomm processor to be made with a 10nm process, which will bring various improvements including performance and efficiency, which in turn will result in better battery life for devices.
So far so Galaxy S8. But whereas Samsung’s flagship still has just 4GB of RAM, the OnePlus 5 will come with at least 6GB (as per the OnePlus 3T) and potentially 8GB. The chip can support this much memory, certainly.
Leaked benchmarks show mind-blowing performance from the OnePlus 5:
Interestingly, the score is much higher than the 4GB RAM Galaxy S8, but also the 6GB RAM Xiaomi Mi6 (both feature the same processor) . So this could well be evidence of 8GB of RAM.
The OnePlus 5 was recently listed on Oppo Mart with an accompanying screenshot showing 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It’s not the most reliable of sources, however, so take it with a pinch of salt.
From what Carl Pei has said the OnePlus 5 is going to have an AMOLED display, and we expect OnePlus to stick to its 5.5in dimensions. Whether it will move to a Quad-HD screen remains to be seen, but the company must balance holding on to its value crown and having the necessary specs for mobile VR – an emerging category we know OnePlus will want to get in on – remember the OnePlus 3 VR launch?
Potentially plausible in the light of recent smartphone launches are theories that OnePlus might introduce a curved screen, waterproofing and a dual camera (recent leaks suggest this will appear in a horizontal rather than the more standard vertical format) . Storage is likely to start at 64GB, as with the OnePlus 3T.
We’ ve seen reports that the OnePlus 5 will come with a 21- to 23Mp rear camera and a 3,500- to 4,000mAh battery with Dash Charge, though it is difficult to tell how reliable they are.
A leak via PCPop agrees with many of the above specs but reports a battery size of 3000mAh which would be a downgrade, a rear mounted fingerprint scanner and a dual-camera setup.
Expect it to run the Oxygen OS, a custom UI based on Android 7.0 Nougat.
Also see: Best new phones coming in 2017
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