OnePlus 6 will launch in the coming months, the Chinese company has confirmed.
Not at lot is known about the next-generation flagship smartphone, besides the fact that it will be powered by Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line SnapDragon 845 chipset.
However, new rumours suggest the so-called OnePlus 6 will ship with a feature that Apple rejected for its iPhone X.
According to technology blog Phandroid, the all-new OnePlus handset will ship with a fingerprint sensor embedded beneath its display.
Apple has a number of patents around this technology, which the Cupertino company was purportedly looking to implement in the iPhone X.
However, rumours of low yields and incompatibility with its pressure-sensitive 3D Touch display offer an insight into why the solution was purportedly dropped from the smartphone.
OnePlus moved the fingerprint scanner to the back of its phone with the launch of the OnePlus 5T late last year.
The biometric sensor was relocated to make room for an edge-to-edge, all-display design.
Rear-mounted fingerprint scanners are not as convenient as their front-facing counterparts – forcing users to either pick-up the device or enter a PIN manually to unlock the phone when it’s placed on a flat surface. In acknowledgement of these occasional annoyances, OnePlus fitted its OnePlus 5T with facial recognition.
Embedding the fingerprint scanner beneath the glass display would be an elegant solution for future smartphones.
Meanwhile, if the latest Galaxy Note 9 rumours are to be believed, Samsung is working on an in-display fingerprint scanner for its new phablet.
OnePlus 6 will launch worldwide before June 30th, the company has confirmed.
The all-new smartphone will be unveiled late in Q2 2018, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed.
The Chinese smartphone start-up’s second financial quarter runs from April 1st to June 30th.
If the company is targeting the end of that quarter, we can expect the OnePlus 6 to launch in a similar timeframe to the OnePlus 5 last year.
The OnePlus 6 could also represent a real watershed moment for the Chinese company.
OnePlus wants to nail down distribution deals with the major US carriers, enabling customers to buy the smartphone in-store on monthly contracts.
In the UK, OnePlus uses O2 as its exclusive mobile carrier.
“If the right opportunity and right timing come along, we’ll be very happy to experiment,” Pete Lau told CNET.
It’s unclear how the hugely enthusiastic OnePlus fanbase will react to a broadening of the availability of the exclusive handsets.
Until now, OnePlus has been primarily sold SIM-free via its own website.
This has helped to create a sense of community for those in-the-know about the smartphone brand.