OnePlus 2018 Flagship With Snapdragon 845 Launching in Q2: CEO Pete Lau

The 2018 OnePlus flagship smartphone is in the news even though nothing significant about it has been leaked so far. The upcoming OnePlus (6?) smartphone was discussed by company CEO Pete Lau at CES 2018, with the smartphone's key feature and launch window being discussed. The second flagship of the year - something we have come to expect from the company owing to OnePlus 3T and 5T - was discussed too. The US carrier release of the brand was also mention in the interview.

OnePlus 6 launch plans, features

In an interview with CNET at CES 2018, Pete Lau announced that the next flagship phone from OnePlus (OnePlus 6?) will be unveiled in the latter part of Q2 2018, and will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, because "there's no other choice". He also said that the Chinese phone maker will initiate talks with US telecom carriers for probable partnerships in the coming months. Additionally, Lau stated that "he wasn't 100 percent sure if OnePlus would sell a second phone in 2018".

This is the first instance of an official confirmation for a 2018 smartphone by OnePlus. In 2017, the company launched the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T, along with several variants of the latter that include Midnight Black, Star Wars Limited Edition, Sandstone White, and Lava Red.

On the sidelines of CES 2018, Pete Lau also confirmed that a beta version for Face Unlock will soon arrive on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. This development was earlier teased by OnePlus Global Director Carl Pei. "The only thing we can do now is to keep a humble approach," said Pete Lau when asked on his views of incorporating AI (artificial intelligence) as a part of the software experience on smartphones.

Ever since its inception, OnePlus has been pushing up to higher price segments with every smartphone generation. While the OnePlus One was launched in the sub-Rs. 25,000 price range, the OnePlus 5T was priced in the sub-Rs. 40,000 price segment.