Update: A leaked OnePlus 5 retail box highlights a dual-camera and hints at its skills, while a teaser photo revealed by OnePlus itself suggests the OnePlus 5 will be able to take good photos in low-light, and another teaser makes us think it will be smaller than the OnePlus 3T.

The OnePlus 5 will arrive in the coming weeks, as the Chinese startup has now confirmed the name of its next flagship smartphone and that it will arrive during ‘Summer 2017’.

OnePlus has managed to consistently stand out from the crowd by offering high-end hardware at a mid-range price, but even to say that undersells its achievements.

The company often out-specs rivals with its ‘Never Settle’ mantra and clearly puts time and thought into its phones, yet still manages to sell them for less.

All of that is true of the OnePlus 3T, which has a massive 6GB of RAM, along with a premium build and high-end specs throughout, all for just $439, £399 (around AU$580).

It’s a remarkable phone then, but it’s not perfect and we’ve come up with a wish list of things (on page 2) that we want to see for the OnePlus 5.

You’ll find all the latest news and rumors about the OnePlus 5 on this page, along with speculation and analysis to fill in the gaps.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The next affordable flagship from OnePlus
• When is it out? Summer 2017
• What will it cost? At least £400, $439, AU$580, could be more

OnePlus 5 release date

Hottest leaks:

• A June or July launch
• Confirmed: coming ‘Summer 2017’

The OnePlus One launched in April 2014, the OnePlus 2 in July 2015 and the OnePlus 3 in June 2016.

It’s more than likely then, that the OnePlus 5 will land in mid-2017, to keep the Chinese firm on the annual rotation of new handsets which is commonplace in the mobile industry.

That’s all but confirmed, with OnePlus revealing that the OnePlus 5 launch will take place during “Summer 2017” – basically we should only be a month away at most.

This all falls in line with Weibo tipster i ice universe, who claimed a June or July OnePlus 5 launch, while another Weibo source reckons we’ll see it in June, and a store listing claims the phone will ship in early June.

OnePlus has also confirmed that it will stop selling the OnePlus 3T from June 1, as it gears up for the launch of the OnePlus 5 – suggesting we won’t have too much longer to wait.

TechRadar’s take: We’d be surprised if the OnePlus 5 landed before June though, with June the mostly likely arrival date for now.

The name: OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 4

• It will be called the OnePlus 5
• We won’t get a OnePlus 4

The eagle-eyed among you will note that we’ve not had a OnePlus 4. We’ve had the OnePlus One, OnePlus 2, OnePlus X, OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T – and now we’re getting the OnePlus 5.

Why 5? The number 4 is a sign of bad luck in China, which is the main thinking as to why we’re going straight to the OnePlus 5. It would also, technically, be the fifth flagship phone (ignoring the short-lived OnePlus X) with the OnePlus 3T taking the fourth generation spot. 

Thing is, apparently neither of those are the reason behind the name. According to OnePlus, it was apparently inspired by the former NBA player Robert Horry who had a number five jersey and is a popular player among OnePlus employees. 

OnePlus 5 screen

Hottest leaks:

• A change in technology
• A 5.3 or 5.5-inch 2K display

The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T have a 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920 display, just like the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus One. Given how staunchly the company has stuck to that size and resolution combination it’s tempting to think it will do the same with the OnePlus 4, and that’s certainly possible. 

In fact, one tipster has said exactly that, and also shared the image below, showing the phone with an edge-to-edge display.

But we reckon OnePlus might push the resolution up to 1440 x 2560, and that possibility has also been rumored, with talk of a 5.3-inch screen of that resolution, while another source points to a 5.5-inch QHD display.

The resolution of the screen on the OnePlus 3T is one of its few faults and one of the only areas you can really point to and say that’s where the company cut corners.

To make an impact next year it’s likely to push the resolution up, especially since by then just about every flagship is likely to have a QHD or higher resolution screen.

But why do we need to push resolution above 1080p on such a small screen? Two letters: VR. Virtual Reality was big in 2016, even OnePlus has got in on the act launching the OnePlus 3 in VR (and the OnePlus 2 in 2015), but for the best experiences you need a high resolution display.

A 2K screen would improve the VR experience on the OnePlus 5, as well as giving a boost to movies and gaming.

The  rumored drop in size to 5.3 inches is more surprising. OnePlus only makes one or two phones a year and while there’s no such thing as one size fits all the company is going to want to get close.

Big phones are growing in popularity and it’s done well with the 5.5-inch size point, so we’d be surprised if it really gets any smaller, but any bigger pushes it into phablet territory, which is a relatively niche market.

We may see a move from AMOLED back to LCD though, as OnePlus is reportedly struggling to source enough AMOLED panels to keep up with OnePlus 3 demand. Then again, the first OnePlus 5 rumors point to AMOLED still.

TechRadar’s take: We reckon the OnePlus 5 will have a 5.3-5.5-inch QHD LCD screen – so roughly the same size as the OnePlus 3, but higher resolution to catch up with rivals, and a return to previous tech due to AMOLED shortages.

OnePlus 5 design

Hottest leaks:

Early design rumors suggest we could see a big change in the look of the OnePlus 5, with apparently a glass body in place of the OnePlus 3’s metal one. 

You can see a rough render of how that might look below – note the absence of antenna bands, which wouldn’t be as needed with glass.

We’re not totally convinced by this though, and more recent leaks suggest an all-metal finish may be the more likely option for the OnePlus 5

A clearer leaked image from India Today shows a lack of antenna bands, as does a leaked photo from Priceraja, and both shots suggest we’ll get a metal back here rather than a glass one with a similar shape to the OnePlus 3T.

Another image, which popped up on Chinese social networking site Weibo, again claims to show the rear of the OnePlus – complete with no antenna bands and a dual camera.

We’re hoping for further bezel slimming – allowing the OnePlus 5 to sport a more compact frame even though it houses a 5.5-inch display. The Samsung Galaxy S8 also boasts a larger 5.8-inch screen, but it’s narrower and shorter than the OnePlus 3T, which means the OnePlus 5 should be able to slim down a bit.

There’s reason to think the OnePlus 5 will be smaller than the 3T, as OnePlus has tweeted a teaser image of the 5 under the 3T. You can’t really see it – but that’s the point, as if it was as big as the 3T the edges would be visible.

Look into the shadows. What do you 5ee? pic.twitter.com/QPQq9feIMe1 June 2017

We won’t mind if OnePlus makes its next flagship slightly thicker, allowing it to reduce bezel size while making a bit more room for a bigger battery. And space for a microSD slot? We can but dream.

A new teaser has also suggested there will be four colors for the OnePlus 5. Pictured below you can see the black, red and gold versions, but number two is a big bold compared to the others and OnePlus is calling it “Unicorn color”.

What 5hould the color of your next phone be? 😉 pic.twitter.com/5FevP1VSq5May 22, 2017

TechRadar’s take: The OnePlus 5 could go glass, but we think the changes will probably be smaller – think evolution, not revolution.

OnePlus 5 camera

Hottest leaks:

• A dual-lens camera
• 12MP rear and 8MP front snappers
• Augmented and mixed reality features

OnePlus has announced that it’s working with camera expert DxOMark to improve the quality of the camera on the OnePlus 5. No specifics were given, but the company has since shown a teaser photo, demonstrating strong low-light performance. And we’ve also heard rumors of the form these improvements might take.

For one thing, several leaked images show a dual-lens camera, and another rumor also points to a dual-lens snapper, with augmented reality and mixed reality functions, though no details are given on the specifics of these features.

Another leak details some aspects of the camera though, saying that both lenses will be 12MP, with one color and one monochrome (black and white one), which combine for improved contrast, more light and less noise in images. The same source says there will be an 8MP front-facing camera.

That suggestion that one lens will be monochrome and one will be color seems to have been backed up by some images that’ve leaked on to the web.

There’s more proof of a dual-lens camera in a leaked retail box. The box has the tagline “Dual Camera. Clearer Photos”, which not only gives the dual camera game away, but also suggests that, as rumored, it will be a monochrome and color lens pairing, since that would allow it to capture more light and detail, for clearer photos.

We’ve also heard again that there will be a dual lens camera, but that the lenses will be horizontally aligned rather than vertically, which would mean the images we’ve seen of the phone are inaccurate.

Recently, another rumor came to the surface that directly contradicts this, showing what appears to be the OnePlus 5, except it shows a vertically-aligned camera system, with both lenses being 16MP.

Either way, these changes are believable. A lot of work was put into the camera on the OnePlus 3T. Both rear and front sensors have a high megapixel count (16MP on both), there’s optical image stabilization and plenty of other features.

But the end result is a snapper which still isn’t quite up to the standards of the best around, so expect the camera on the OnePlus 5 to be further tuned and improved. That’s not to say it’s a bad offering, it’s just the bar has been raised so high it’s difficult – on a budget – to match it.

Surprisingly, a leaked sketch shared by Chinese site anzhuo has shown a dual front-facing camera. No details of its specs are included and this is the first we’ve heard of that, so we’re highly skeptical, but can’t rule it out.

TechRadar’s take: A 12MP rear camera is likely, as this would both change things up and fall in line with rivals. There’s a good chance it will also be dual-lens, but we doubt the front-facing camera will be.

OnePlus 5 battery

Hottest leaks:

• A 4000mAh juice pack
• Seriously fast charging

Battery life is one area which OnePlus will hopefully be focusing on for next year’s handset. The company delivered great life with the 3,400mAh OnePlus 3T and we want to see a repeat of that – or something even better.

Fortunately, it sounds like that might be what we’ll get, with rumors of a 4000mAh juice pack.

Then again, another source says to expect just a 3,600mAh juice pack – but with 25% faster charging speeds.

The Dash Charge tech OnePlus has employed in the 3 is already impressive, and we fully expect to see it return in the OnePlus 5. It could be even faster too, as sister company Oppo unveiled an even speedier charging tech at MWC 2016.

One source claims it will have Dash Charge 2.0, though its description of being able to get a full day’s charge in half an hour is the same as the claims OnePlus made about the original Dash Charge. The same source says the phone will have a 3,580mAh juice pack.

TechRadar’s take: We doubt the battery will get much smaller than 3,400mAh and there’s a good chance it will get larger.

OnePlus 5 OS and power

Hottest leaks:

• Confirmed: Snapdragon 835 chipset
• 6GB or 8GB of RAM

OnePlus flagships are always among the most powerful around, at least on paper, and we don’t expect that will change with the OnePlus 5.

In fact, OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 5 will the high-end Snapdragon 835 chipset.

That’s the same chip that you’ll find in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, HTC U 11 and US variants of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. In short then, the OnePlus 5 is not going to be short of power.

Alongside that we may see 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, although another Weibo source claims that the amount of RAM could be upped to 8GB.

The 8GB of RAM spec has also been outed by PCPop.com, and it would certainly be eye-catching on paper – it’s unlikely to have much of a noticeable advantage in general usage though.

The OnePlus 5 will almost certainly run Android (likely Android Nougat) overlaid with OnePlus’ own Oxygen OS.

TechRadar managed to get hold of internal speed testing stats from the OnePlus 5 production line, which shows the upcoming handset could well be faster than the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel XL.

While we wait for the final components to be confirmed, it looks like it’s safe to say the OnePlus 5 will be supremely powerful.

TechRadar’s take: The Snapdragon 835 is the obvious chip choice for the OnePlus 5, but RAM might stay at 6GB, since the OnePlus 3T is already ahead of the pack there.

OnePlus 5 other features

Hottest leaks:

• 128GB of storage
• Two speaker grilles
• No headphone port

The OnePlus 3T has a fingerprint scanner, so expect that to return. It’s possible that OnePlus will add other features for its next phone, perhaps an iris scanner for example, since Samsung has started using them.

But, on the other hand, the company will likely be focused on making the best phone it can while keeping costs down, so if it doesn’t think a feature is worthwhile or likely to be used by many then it probably won’t include it. An example of that is the lack of NFC on the OnePlus 2.

The other question is whether the OnePlus 5 will come with a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

Motorola and Apple have dropped the aging audio technology from recent phone releases – including the Moto Z Force and iPhone 7 – and it seems Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, is interested in whether the community thinks the headphone jack is necessary.

Do you like headphone jacks?October 25, 2016

The result was overwhelmingly in favor of the OnePlus 5 keeping the headphone jack, so you’d think it would be likely that the phone will keep the 3.5mm jack.

However, a leaked photo of the phone shows it without one on the bottom edge – though it’s possible that it’s simply been moved to the top edge, or that the image is inaccurate.

While there’s no headphone port visible, there is an extra speaker grille, so it’s possible that the OnePlus 5 is trading one audio skill for another.

However all hope is not lost, with suggestions that OnePlus is simply moving the location of the headphone jack to the top of the phone after a couple of cryptic tweets from Carl Pei.

As for storage, that could jump to 128GB if early rumors are to be believed.

TechRadar’s take: We don’t expect feature-overload on the OnePlus 5, but old features like the fingerprint scanner are likely to return, and more powerful speakers is entirely possible.

OnePlus 5 price

• The OnePlus 3T launched at $439 (£399, around AU$580)
• We expect there to be a price increase for the OnePlus 5

The super low price of past OnePlus phones may be about to disappear for the OnePlus 5. 

A source speaking to Android Authority claims the company is planning to use “more costly components” on the new phone and will therefore have to increase the price.

The source claims the OnePlus 5 will cost about $650 (£500, AU$880), which is much more than the OnePlus 3T that launched at $439 (£399, around AU$580).

Previously a store listing suggested the OnePlus 5 would have a much smaller price increase only up to $449, but the latest information may supersede that. It’s looking pretty certain there will be a price increase of sorts, but we don’t currently know exactly how much it’ll be.