Update – OnePlus has since clarified that they won’t be the first, but will be one of the first to use the Snapdragon 855.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 chipset will be the company’s flagship chipset for 2019, and as expected many smartphone makers will be using the chipset for their flagship phones as well. However in an interesting announcement, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau took to the stage at Qualcomm’s event in Hawaii where he revealed that the company would be the first to use the Snapdragon 855.
It is interesting because when you think of Android phone brands, brands like Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi are definitely some of the bigger players and you would think that they would be getting first dibs. The fact that OnePlus will be the first does speak a lot for how far along the company has come since its first handset, the OnePlus One.
While the Snapdragon 855 will come with the usual host of performance improvements and increase in efficiency, one of the key features of the chipset is that it supports 5G. OnePlus did previously confirm their plans for a 5G smartphone, although what the company seems to have suggested is that the handset in question might not be the OnePlus 7 and could be part of an entirely new lineup of devices.
There is no date on when this particular handset will launch, but given that we’ll be seeing other devices powered by the Snapdragon 855 launch in the early part of 2019, such as presumably the Galaxy S10, this means that OnePlus should have more specifics in the coming month or two. In the meantime the company has posted a tweet confirming that they’ll be partnering with carrier EE to deliver a 5G smartphone in “early 2019”.
We are taking the next step in our journey to the top of the global flagship market! OnePlus and @EE will join forces to deliver a #5G ready flagship in early 2019. https://t.co/NYppNZ6nYF #SnapdragonSummit pic.twitter.com/bXo0hulRmo
— OnePlus (@oneplus) December 5, 2018
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