The OnePlus One was one of 2014’s surprise hits. Produced by Chinese upstart OnePlus, and designed to do battle with Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8 and the Google Nexus 5. The OnePlus One aimed to deliver high-end specs and a no-nonsense user experience for very little money. And it sort of succeeded too –– the only real issue with the handset is that OnePlus can’t seem to produce it in high enough volumes. Officially, things are said to be getting better from here on out but we’re still receiving emails from disgruntled consumers that cannot get hold of one.
So, what’s next for OnePlus? According to @evleaks, Lettuce is the company's next big project. And by “Lettuce” we mean the OnePlus Two (Lettuce is its codename, apparently). Interestingly, the OnePlus was codenamed Bacon. Could the OnePlus Three be Tomato? Do they even have BLTs in China? We digress.
The leak did not mention anything to do with specs or hardware, or when the handset will launch. All we have is the predictable name and inside knowledge of OnePlus’ bizarre food-based codenaming convention. Based on what the company did with the OnePlus One, though, it is fairly safe to assume the OnePlus Two will be a high-end smartphone with a decent specs and, hopefully, wider LTE support than its predecessor, which was a bit lacking in this area.
Can't wait for the OnePlus Two? Check out our review of the OnePlus One. Then if you really want to get your hands on one you can read our user guide on how to get one of those elusive invites.
OnePlus Two Release Date
In a recent Reddit AMA session OnePlus’ Carl and David fielded a bunch of questions about the future of the company and some of its upcoming products, such as the OnePlus Two. According to Carl, the “OnePlus 2 should be out in Q2 or Q3 of 2015. By that time, I’d think Android L would be standard.”
Unfortunately, OnePlus said that it will probably use the invite system for its next smartphone too, before moving on to limited preorders again.
“It will probably be invite-only for a short period of time, after which pre-orders are rolled out,” OnePlus wrote, much to the chagrin of every fan who’s been slighted by the highly selective system.
Coolicool claims the OnePlus Two will become available in 2015's third quarter.
OnePlus' CEO Carl Pei has spoken out about the forthcoming successor flagship stating that it will "surprise people." He also revealed the company will create seperate models for North American, European, and Asian markets to ensure a better range of mobile data network bands - a key criticism of the OnePlus One was that it only supported one band in the UK. However, Pei did confirm that OnePlus has apparently settled on a launch date in 2015's third quarter.
OnePlus Two Mini & Smartwatch?
Another question asked in the Reddit AMA was about the size of the handset (some users have complained the OnePlus One is too big), the exec responded: “We’ve seen a lot of people asking for a smaller device, and want to let everyone know that we hear you. We’re thinking about it.”
The company also confirmed it is hard at work on a wearable device. “Re: wearables,” OnePlus wrote in response to a fan’s question about the new category. “Yes. Unsure if/when/how we’ll release it though.”
What is unclear, however, is what OS the smartwatch would run. Android Wear seems like an obvious choice, but seeing that OnePlus likes to develop its own software (effectively skews on Android’s core source code) it’d make sense for the company to do something similar with its wearable platform too. Another, rather more left field option, would be Samsung’s Tizen OS –– it too is open source but, unlike Android Wear, it lacks developer support.
OnePlus Two Design & Display
We already knew from previous info that the OnePlus Two was a certainty, but Pei has since reiterated this and added that previously detailed info on the phone's size might no longer be accurate as the concept is still being hammered out. He said the device has had its display size changed several times, no doubt in a bid to find the correct sweet spot for users –– nobody wants a phone that is too big (just look at how some long-standing Nexus Users view the Nexus 6).
OnePlus re-seller Coolicool claims the OnePlus Two will have a 5.5in display but did not describe the resolution.
OnePlus Two Hardware Spec
A set of specs has leaked courtesy of an online re-seller of OnePlus handsets called Coolicool. The report claims we'll see a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chip inside, alongside 32GB of onboard storage and a 3,100mAh battery cell.
The phone will also allegedly pack in a 16MP primary camera and a 5MP front-facer for selfies.
OnePlus Two Software: What OS Will It Run?
The Economic Times managed to snag an interview with Carl Pei, OnePlus’ Global Director and got some juicy details about behind the scenes at the company.
Pei revealed during the interview that OnePlus has a dedicated software team to help develop operating systems in-house. That suggests OnePlus is looking to make some major changes for the OnePlus Two handset and according to what Pei said it’s likely it’ll be a heavily skinned version of Android.
There is no confirmation OnePlus will do away with CyanogenMod OS for the next handset but the company is definitely investigating the alternatives.
We do know there 100 percent won’t be a Windows Phone OnePlus Two handset. A spokesperson for OnePlus has said quite bluntly, “We have no plans to make a Windows phone.” That’s that then.
No comments:
Post a Comment