OnePlus has finally spoken up regarding its long-rumored upcoming flagship smartphone - the OnePlus 5. The Chinese tech company, at last, confirmed that it is working on the device and that it will launch this summer. OnePlus also revealed the real reason why it decided on the OnePlus 5 moniker.
The Verge got dibs on the exclusive story after OnePlus confirmed the said details to the website. While it did not indicate a specific release date, OnePlus did say that fans should expect the highly anticipated smartphone sometime this summer. That means the OnePlus 5 could come as early as next month or as late as September.
OnePlus also told The Verge the real reason why it chose to call its next flagship handset the OnePlus 5 and it has little to do with the fear of the number four. 9to5Google pointed out that the OnePlus 3T could technically be the company's fourth smartphone so the OnePlus 5 does make sense. However, according to OnePlus itself, the name of its new handset was derived from a certain Robert Keith Horry.
Horry is a former professional basketball player who plied his wares in the National Basketball Association for teams such as the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs. The seven-time NBA champion also happens to have donned the number five on his jersey for the majority of his career. That's right. The OnePlus 5 is called such because many of the company's employees are big fans of Big Shot Rob and his number five jersey.
The OnePlus 5 has dominated the rumor mill in recent weeks thanks to its rumored specs. Some of the impressive features expected to be seen on the OnePlus 5 include the latest Snapdragon 835 processor, a dual-camera set-up featuring a 23-megapixel rear camera, and a front-facing camera with 16 megapixels. Another more recent rumor pegs the RAM of the OnePlus 5 to be an amazing 8GB which is 4GB more than that of the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Of course, all these mind-boggling specs are still under the category of rumors. Fans and tech pundits need to wait until summer comes before they get a clearer understanding of what the OnePlus 5 will be like.
