OnePlus 7 is launching on May 14, the Chinese company announced earlier today, confirming earlier rumors about a mid-spring debut being planned for the upcoming Android flagships.
In accordance with OnePlus’s established product strategy, its next smartphone series is coming backed with promises of grandeur. “Go beyond speed” is the tagline accompanying the OnePlus 7 teaser posted several hours back and while OnePlus did not elaborate on that claim as part of the short clip that can be seen below, its top officials already hinted at the gist of the firm’s next phablet project.
While previous devices from the BBK Electronics-owned brand largely focused on speed, on having the fastest animations and the best app launch times, the OnePlus 7 will also attempt to raise the user experience from the aspect of smoothness. While some skeptics interpreted this is as being indicative of needlessly convoluted splash screens and similar interface changes, it’s unlikely OnePlus is aiming to make its next Android-powered device range slower than the OnePlus 6T lineup.
What “smooth” actually means for the manufacturer remains to be seen, especially after its founder and CEO talked up some new display technology meant to be implemented into the most expensive member of the incoming mobile family which will simply be advertised as the OnePlus 7 Pro. The phablet in question is said to feature a screen around three times more expensive than conventional small-sized Super AMOLED displays and while costlier doesn’t necessarily mean better, that’often the case in the consumer electronics segment.
The OnePlus 7 Pro will also be the firm’s first handset with support for the fifth generation of wireless networks, though the Shenzen-based handset maker doesn’t appear to be too keen on advertising that fact, being aware of how limited availability consumers can expect from the new communications standard in the next few years. Dozens of leaks and rumors that emerged so far suggest the OnePlus 7 will, in spite of extra display and software investments, be largely based on the F11 Pro, an Android mid-ranger released by its sister company OPPO several months ago.
Not only is the manufacturer’s reliance on OPPO’s templates far from unprecedented but it’s also more important than ever right now; as OnePlus is moving outside of its comfort zone in an effort to justify its continued price hikes and remain competitive across the entirety of the high-end handset space, it needs to seize whatever opportunity it can to generate any kind of savings. That’s precisely where the F11 Pro comes into play as its overall design will apparently serve as a basis for the OnePlus 7, pop-up camera in tow.
An in-display fingerprint reader should once again be part of the package, together with a minimum of 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space, though the OnePlus 7 Pro is likely to at least double those figures or go even beyond the 256GB mark in the flash memory department. The new handset series should become available for purchase no later than a week following its official unveiling.
Get ready for the OnePlus 7 Series.https://t.co/ViZaz53XXkpic.twitter.com/9oRGqVqLOH
— OnePlus (@oneplus) April 23, 2019