Third OnePlus smartphone allegedly shows up in sketchy render leak

Pinch of salt at the ready? A leaked render published this morning seemingly shows what OnePlus’ second phone of the year will look like, and it seems a bit of a change from the angular, flat frames and edges of the current devices. At least, it does from the back. From the front, the renders look very familiar; with the chrome-finished edges surrounding a large, flat, glossy black panel.

From the back, the smartphone seems to be a solid piece of plastic with slightly rounded edges and corners. The bottom edge looks to be hosting a USB Type-C connector, flanked by two identical sets of machined holes, presumably for the microphone and single loudspeaker like the OnePlus 2.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about this render. First off, there’s the fact that anyone with the right skillset could just mock these up on an image editor quite happily. We’ve not seen any other physical references to the device; no leaked schematics, parts or press images. There’s also the dual-camera setup on the back, which is unusual to say the least. I wouldn’t put it past OnePlus to do something a little off-the-wall, but it typically focusses on quality. That’s without mentioning the relatively low quality of the rendered image.

I have concerns about the rear-placed fingerprint sensor too, although I concede that it might be place there — rather than on the front — in an attempt to save space and make the device as small and palm-friendly as possible.

Little’s been seen or heard of the third OnePlus smartphone since the company’s founder indicated they would be releasing another phone before the end of this year. Although we know it won’t be the OnePlus 3, we know very little about the next device from the disruptive, and sometimes controversial, handset manufacturer. All in all, I’m not convinced this is the upcoming ‘mini’ or ‘x’ smartphone OnePlus is about to release. Still, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was.