OnePlus 6: Release Date, Price, Design, Features, Everything We Think We Know

OnePlus will launch its next-generation flagship smartphone before June 30th, the company has confirmed.

CEO Pete Lau revealed the existence of an all-new OnePlus flagship smartphone earlier this year.

Speaking to CNET at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Lau said OnePlus hoped to launch its new smartphone in late Q2 2018.

The Chinese smartphone start-up’s second financial quarter runs from April 1st to June 30th.

Lau also confirmed the new handset, presumably branded OnePlus 6, will be powered by the top-of-the-range Qualcomm SnapDragon 845.

“Of course, there’s no other choice,” he told CNET.

Asked whether OnePlus 6 would be superseded by an iterative OnePlus 6T update some six month later – as OnePlus has done with its flagship phone in the last two years – Lau said he wasn’t 100 per cent sure.

OnePlus hasn’t spoken about the price of its new phone, however, given that both OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T debuted at £449 – that seems like a likely starting point.

OnePlus 5 and 5T were considerably more expensive than their predecessor, OnePlus 3 which launched with a £309 price tag back in 2016.

It’s certainly possible that OnePlus 6 could push the brand’s price point higher again, like last year, however it’s unlikely OnePlus will want to cross the £500 price point – since value for money is one of its biggest selling points when compared to more established players, like HTC, Sony, Samsung and Apple.

In the months following Pete Lau’s CNET interview, a number of new details about the OnePlus 6 have started to leak-out online.

Earlier this week, OnePlus shared a new Android 8.1 Oreo beta which appeared to confirm one of the biggest rumours around the all-new handset.

The Chinese smartphone start-up’s first Android 8.1 Oreo firmware was made available for OnePlus 5T owners earlier this week.

According to the OnePlus’ Android 8.1 Oreo beta, the internal codename for the handset is “enchilada”.

Technology blog XDA Developers unearthed the codename within the new firmware.

The name isn’t that unusual. OnePlus has used food-based codenames in the past, with the OnePlus 5 referred to as “cheeseburger” in software builds ahead of its launch, and OnePlus 5T labelled as “dumpling” in betas.

Elsewhere, OxygenOS Open Beta 4 firmware files hints the hardware codenamed “enchilada” will ship with a display notch.

According to XDA Developers, the latest OnePlus software beta includes an image named “screendecor_up_img_enchilada_1″ which allows developers to test apps to ensure they work with the cut-out in the display.

Earlier this year, leaked images purported to reveal the final design of the OnePlus 6.

And the reaction was far from positive.

Scores of OnePlus fans have tweeted the company to complain about the rumoured design.

One fan wrote: “I really hope @oneplus doesn’t incorporate this notch design in the Oneplus 6. If they do, it feels as though they are going back on their motto of ‘Don’t Settle’.

“I like how they are really trying to stand out. The notch could only hurt their brand status. Just my opinion.”

Another added: “please don’t use iphone X like notch for the OnePlus 6.”

If the images are genuine, OnePlus has designed a smartphone to have the same all-screen design as the latest flagship Apple handset – iPhone X.

The edge-to-edge display stretches across the entire front of the smartphone, broken only by a small notch in the top bezel to house the front-facing camera and a speaker grill.

Apple was widely mocked for the notch used in its iPhone X design, and yet, following the launch of the £999 handset swathes of Android manufacturers have followed suit.

An increasing number of smartphone manufacturers are adopting the notch display design, including ASUS, Ulefone, Doogee, and Noa.

Leaked photos of the latest flagship smartphones from Huawei and LG suggest both companies will also ship devices with a notch in the all-screen design.

Elsewhere, AndroidCentral has published screenshots of an AnTuTu benchmark test purportedly executed on a OnePlus 6 prototype.

The OnePlus 6 purportedly scored an overall score of 276,510 – a significant step-up from the previous flagship from the company, OnePlus 5T, which scored 212,558.

Benchmark tests, like AnTuTu, are designed to help users quickly compare performance across different computers and different platforms without getting bogged down in details of specs.

It also looks at single-app load times, boot time, and wireless data speeds. At the end of the test – the higher the number, the better.

If the leaked benchmark score is accurate, OnePlus 6 will be faster than the Samsung Galaxy S9, which clocked-in at 241,470 in the AnTuTu test.

Even the £999 iPhone X only managed a score of 226,000.

Obviously, benchmark scores are not indicative of real-world performance – which is based on a slew of different factors.

These leaked screenshots also appear to corroborate earlier leaked photos of the OnePlus 6 design.

The screenshots reveal a conspicuous space at the top of the display, with the clock pushed over to the left and a swathe of icons housed in the right-hand corner.

The telltale blank space in the middle suggests OnePlus 6 will ship with a iPhone X-style notch in the edge-to-edge display.

However, those worried about the OnePlus 6 design shouldn’t panic just yet.

OnePlus is a company that cares deeply about its passionate fanbase, and it won’t want to alienate them – especially when the reaction to the leaked design has been so strong.

But more importantly, the Chinese smartphone start-up also makes a slew of different prototypes for each of its devices.

Technology blog The Verge revealed a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the OnePlus 5 last year, and offered a glimpse at the sheer number of prototypes trialled by the company.

The report shows as seen as many as 14 prototypes for the OnePlus 5 – and that’s just the ones the company were happy to flaunt to The Verge.

We don’t have final numbers on the number of prototypes built and tested by the Chinese firm, but it’s clear OnePlus isn’t afraid to try things out before unveiling a new handset.

If the OnePlus 5 prototypes prove anything, it’s that it takes time to get a design right.

Indeed, many of the early mock-ups look nowhere near as good as the final OnePlus 5 design.

The point is, even if the photographs of the so-called OnePlus 6 are genuine, and originate from the secretive labs inside OnePlus – they might not depict the design of the final product.

It’s always worth taking these leaks with a pinch of salt.