Qualcomm’s latest chipset is the Snapdragon 821, which is not a huge upgrade from the Snapdragon 820, but it is a nice upgrade. It’s already available in a few smartphones like Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL, as well as LeEco’s Le Pro3. Now, according to Qualcomm, OnePlus is working on something that is powered by the Snapdragon 821, as they confirmed on Twitter this morning. Stating “Something new from OnePlus is on the way…and it’s powered by our #Snapdragon 821 processor. Stay Tuned.”
Lately, there have been plenty of rumors about OnePlus debuting a new smartphone next week, in the OnePlus 3T. It’s also been rumored that it’ll be slightly more expensive than the OnePlus 3. Now that Qualcomm has all but confirmed the device, the next question is when is it coming, as well as what other specs are changed from the regular OnePlus 3. Given the fact that OnePlus typically launches a smartphone at a low price point, it’ll be a tough sell for them to get the OnePlus 3T into more hands if the only change is the processor. It’s likely that they could add more storage, or even a higher-resolution display though. But rumors are pointing towards 64GB and 128GB storage models, and keeping the same 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display on board.
Typically Qualcomm doesn’t announce that one of their partners is working on something with their latest chipset. They typically allow their partner to make the announcement when they are ready. So this is a bit surprising. But given the fact that the Tweet is still up, nearly four hours later, this may not be a mistake and be on purpose. And given OnePlus’ marketing strategy with their previous smartphones, this could be a way that OnePlus hopes to hype this new device before it is officially announced. We should learn a whole lot more about this unannounced device next week, which is when OnePlus is slated to officially announce the device. With a starting price of $479, it’s still likely going to be one of the cheaper Snapdragon 821 smartphones available on the market – that is if it is a smartphone, and not an entirely different device.
