OnePlus 3 is coming and the launch is today! It is one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2016, and we have been hearing about this particular flagship for the past few months. In fact, as the launch is coming near, we have a very good idea as to what to expect from the new flagship, thanks to the various leaked renders, real life images and TENAA listings. So, let’s take a look at the expected features, specs, pricing and other details of the upcoming OnePlus 3.
OnePlus 3 Design:
OnePlus One was a pretty good looking device and so was the OnePlus 2. Then late last year, the company released the OnePlus X with glass body and premium design for the mid-range market, taking the design to a new level. So, the company has pretty big shoes to fill with the OnePlus 3. Everyone is expecting a new design and something that will look premium and will be good to hold.
And from the renders we have seen lately, the company seems to have followed the same route as most other smartphone makers, using an all metal body on the new OnePlus 3. From the front, the design has a very similar appearance as the OnePlus 2, which is not really a bad thing since we loved OP2’s design. However, at the back, the OnePlus 3 seems to have taken inspiration from HTC One M9. Now, for most, this is a pretty good design, with visible antenna lines and a large sensor. But in my personal opinion, OnePlus could have done much better, as this design will always remind us of the good old HTC flagship. Nevertheless, the design looks polished and if you are able to get over the HTC feel, the overall design is good enough for a premium flagship smartphone.
OnePlus 3 Specs:
We have heard about the specs of the OnePlus 3 from so many sources in the past few months. Luckily, most of them, paint a very similar picture. The flagship phone will come with the mighty Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset inside, which shouldn’t be surprising that most of the powerful flagships of 2016 are currently powered by this Qualcomm chip. As for the display, you should find a 5.5-inch 1080p panel on the device.
Coming to the memory, our own sources have revealed that the OnePlus 3 will come in two variants, one with 4GB RAM + 32GB of storage and another with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. But we believe there could be two other variants, namely 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB + 128GB storage. So, in all, there could be four different variants of the device. Recent rumors also seem to conform to these specs, so it’s likely that we will see these four variants at launch.
From the reports we have seen in the past as well as the phone’s TENAA listing, the OnePlus 3 should come with a 16MP sensor at the back. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a laser focus in the renders before, so we aren’t sure whether it will make it to the device this year. Also, details about the sensor inside have been scarce till now.
But don’t be disappointed, we have seen a lot of camera samples from the OnePlus 3 in the past one month, to give us a good idea of the sensor’s capability. And from what we can see, the phone has managed to capture some pretty good images. Low light photos also have been decent. All the camera samples from the OnePlus 3 are added below.
We also have seen a couple of samples from the phone’s front camera. It should be an 8MP shooter. You can check out those images from down below.
As for the software, the OnePlus 3 international model should come with OxygenOS 3.0 based on Android Marshmallow while the Chinese variant should feature HydrogenOS based on the same Android version. The phone’s battery is said to be 3000mAh which is decent, but we should either see Quick Charge 3.0 or OPPO’s VOOC fast charging tech inside, which should speed up the process of charging the phone to 100%. There have been rumors about the company’s own Dash charge tech as well, but nothing is confirmed so far.
Like the OnePlus 2, the new OnePlus 3 handset should come with a fingerprint sensor incorporated in the home button placed right up front. We hope the company has improved the sensor inside, as there were a few reports about fingerprint sensor related issues with the previous generation OP2.
The phone should get standard connectivity features such as dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE support, dual-SIM card slots, and even NFC. However, there was a new report which said that OP3 won’t feature NFC, but we can’t be sure of that.
OnePlus 3 Pricing:
Our sources have revealed that the OnePlus 3 should start at 1999 Yuan which is just $306. This will be for the 4GB RAM version, and the 6GB RAM version should retail somewhere around $380. While we are yet to confirm these figures, earlier today, an advertisement, which was most likely posted by mistake in a daily newspaper in India kind of confirmed the 6GB RAM pricing of the OnePlus 3, at least in India. The phone will retail for 27999 INR which comes to $416. So, we expect the official price for the 6GB RAM model should be more or less around this figure, which would be great. Now, some of you may argue that there’s the 6GB RAM smartphone, Le Max 2 that retail for less than $400. But considering that OnePlus is sold internationally in almost all major markets, if the pricing is anywhere close to the above-mentioned figure, it would be great.
OnePlus 3 Availability:
This time around, OnePlus has decided to ditch the boring old invite system. So, fans can purchase the device from the moment of announcement. In fact, the company has even revealed when the OnePlus 3 will go on sale in different time zones. Here’s the list.
Open sales will start at:
June 14 15:00 EDT New York time
June 14 12:00 PDT San Francisco time
June 14 20:00 BST London Time
June 15 03:00 HKT Hongkong Time
June 15 12:30 IST New Delhi Time
Finally, for all those who want to watch the event, which is going to start in around four hours from now, can check out this article. It contains the event start times in different time zones as well as a few other details about the launch of the OnePlus 3.
