Chinese start-up OnePlus is gearing up to release its next-generation smartphone, the OnePlus Mini. It was said that the company is planning to launch the new flagship smartphone by the end of this year, probably during the holidays.
It can be recalled that as early as August this year, it was reported that a third OnePlus device will arrive before the holiday season. Recent rumors suggest that the upcoming device is likely the OnePlus Mini, a report from iDigital Times said.
One strong indicator that OnePlus Mini is expected to arrive later this year is the recent interview of OnePlus CEO Carl Pei with USA Today. In the said interview, Pei shared the company's plan of launching another smartphone this year.
"There's going to be a second phone this year, before the end of the year. Hopefully for Christmas. It may or may not be (higher spec'd than the OnePlus 2). When I saw the prototype for that phone I was like 'holy s--- that's going to be my daily driver' but then when the OnePlus 2 production version came out it's also super nice, so its really hard to decide now what to use.It's going to be amazing, but today I'm not going to talk about it," Peil told USA Today.
BGR reports that OnePlus Mini is expected to feature a 5-inch display with full HD resolution. Inside the phone is a 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTekMT6795T processor, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage capacity. The phone's rear camera will be 13 megapixels and there will be a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It was noted that all the specs and features were based on the latest AnTuTu benchmark results that were leaked days ago.
"The leaked OnePlus Mini specs also claims the device will feature a rear facing 13MP Sony IMX258 camera with f/2.0 aperture, and 4K at 30fps video recording performance. A 5MP wide angle front-facing camera will also be capable of recording 1080p video," iDigital Times said.
The phone's battery is rumored to range between 3000 mAh to 3100 mAh non-removable battery and will likely feature USB Type C charging. However, it was noted that the phone will have a more inexpensive plastic body. According to GforGames, OnePlus Mini will be sold for $250, which is cheaper than OnePlus Two.
