OnePlus Confirms OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro are Going to be Expensive

On Tuesday, OnePlus has an announcement to make about the announcement event for its new phones, the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. Before we learn about OnePlus’ unveiling plans, the company’s CEO confirmed some details about their next line-up of phones, including names, where they’ll be priced, and some of the specs, like a new “breakthrough” display tech.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau spoke with The Verge to reveal that they will have two phones to start 2019 called OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. Rumors of two models have floated about this tech space for some time, so I’m glad we can finally end any speculation around that idea.

In confirming the names, Lau had other info to share that you should know about. For one, he suggested that the OnePlus 7 Pro will have pricing near Samsung’s Galaxy S10 line, Huawei’s P30 Pro, and the iPhone XS. This will be an expensive phone – the most expensive in OnePlus history, I’m going to assume. The regular OnePlus 7 will also cost more than the OnePlus 6T, which started at $549 and was already OnePlus’ most expensive phone to date.

With another set of yearly price increases from OnePlus, the value in their phones is starting to diminish. As a company who started out as a brand that offered more for less, 2019 might be the year that all goes away. We knew it was coming. We knew that OnePlus was ditching their roots as they began to match almost all of the features of their competitors. That doesn’t mean their phones aren’t still really, really good and to be considered, it just means you’ll have to spend to get one, just like every other good phone.

Why the price hike for this Pro model? Lau said that they spent three times the amount on display tech for the Pro as they normally would. He added that he was “stunned” when he saw the Pro’s display for the first time and that it should set a new benchmark for mobile displays. Does that mean an increase in resolution from 1080p to QHD and an improvement in refresh rate to something like the 120Hz seen on the Razer Phone series? Maybe! They should probably go there if they want to call any display from them as a breakthrough.

The price increase for the regular OnePlus 7 is likely due to ongoing increases in component pricing. At least that’s what OnePlus has told us in recent years.

Lau noted that the OnePlus 7 will have 5G capabilities too (or maybe a separate model), in case you care, but didn’t elaborate much. I can’t say I blame him since 5G is limited and bad and confusing. The first round of 5G phones are not something you should pay much attention to.

Are you ready to pay for a OnePlus phone what you’d pay for a Samsung phone?

// The Verge