A 5G OnePlus smartphone will soon be available via Sprint, as announced by both the U.S. carrier and the Chinese vendor. Important details such as the name of the device, its specifications, and price are being kept under wraps for the moment. If the company follows trend this the device might arrive as a T variant of the OnePlus 7 that was released in the first-half of the year.
OnePlus is known for offering top-notch hardware at an affordable price, although it has been steadily increasing its prices over the last couple of years. This will be Sprint’s fourth 5G device, as the company has previously released the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, LG V50, and HTC 5G Hub.
Sprint’s 5G network has so far gone live in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Kansas City, and it says it plans to roll out the network to other cities including Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C in the next few weeks. The company claims that it offers more 5G coverage than any other network in the U.S., although coverage should not always be automatically equated with faster speeds.
The 5G-ready OnePlus handset will fall into the ultra-premium tier, as hinted by the Chinese company’s chief marketing officer. This will not be the company’s first 5G-enabled handset, as it already sells the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G in a couple of markets including the UK.
There is no sticker price for the first 5G-ready OnePlus smartphone, but even when you exclude the service charges, it is not cheap. The OnePlus 7T 5G, or whatever the company ends up calling the phone, will likely cost a little more than the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and if so, consumers might find this erodes the price advantage that the Chinese vendor has built its reputation on when compared to its competitors.
The OnePlus 7 Pro 5G is fueled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and it also carries the Snapdragon X50 5G modem to provide the next generation of wireless connectivity. The phone sports a 6.67-inch 90 Hz display that makes for a smooth viewing experience. In all, there are three variants of the OnePlus 7, including the standard model, the pro version and the 5G edition and it remains to be seen if the same strategy will be adopted for the OnePlus 7T
Over the years, OnePlus has managed to shake its reputation as a manufacturer that makes cheap smartphones and has come to be known as a company that cranks out premium smartphones that offer great value. And, it seems like if the hardware justifies the price tag, consumers do not really mind. Given that there is a dearth of handsets offering the next generation of cellular connectivity, this unnamed premium smartphone can definitely help the company further consolidate its foothold in the industry.
It remains to be seen what the 5G OnePlus phone will offer, but some reports allege that the handsets might be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset which has an overclocked CPU and GPU.