Last week, OnePlus first confirmed that it’d launch a 5G device next year, prompting speculation that the OnePlus 7 might be the first smartphone from the company to support the next-gen wireless communication standard. A week later, and we’re even more confident that the OnePlus 7 will be OnePlus’ first 5G smartphone.
“I would love to tell everything in detail, but I’m sure my PR team would not be happy if I were to do that,” OnePlus CEO Pete Lau joked on Monday after the OnePlus 6T event, when answering a question about the company’s 5G plans. But he went a step further, confirming that the first OnePlus 5G device is coming in the first half of next year, according to Gadgets360.
“I can give an overview and say that in the first half of the year [2019] we will have a 5G product. With our closest of partnerships with Qualcomm we will work to try to bring 5G technology available as soon as possible to our community and users.”
Unless OnePlus starts making 5G home routers, it sure looks like Lau was talking about the OnePlus 7, a phone we expect to launch in the first half of next year.
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president, was also present at the Q&A session, saying that companies like OnePlus will be “leading in bringing 5G technologies,” to the market.
OnePlus is just one of the many smartphone vendors out there committed to launching 5G smartphones next year. Samsung and Huawei already confirmed they’ll have such devices in stores next year, including a Galaxy S10 version and Huawei’s foldable phone, respectively. Meanwhile, Motorola launched a “5G” phone a few months ago, but it still needs an accessory to make 5G connectivity real, and Xiaomi last week unveiled the Mi Mix 3, a version of which will come with 5G support in the future.
The OnePlus 6T, meanwhile, is finally official — here’s our review.
