The mid-range OnePlus Z 5G will likely be announced in July
Concept image
The OnePlus Z was meant to be announced earlier this month alongside the flagship OnePlus 8 series but COVID-19 delays reportedly made that impossible. Now, it appears the company has finally settled on a new timeline.
The OnePlus Z should be announced in July
In a cryptic Tweet published earlier this morning, reliable tipster Max J hinted at an official OnePlus Z announcement in July. That coincides with the summer timeline provided by Steve Hemmerstoffer earlier this month.
A launch should take place around one week later and pricing is expected to start at £400 in the UK. How much the OnePlus Z will cost in the United States remains unconfirmed at this stage, although a $450 price tag could certainly be on the table.
Expect a triple-camera setup and a punch-hole display
Also teased in the accompanying image today was the display. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro featured curved-edge screens but the OnePlus Z will keep costs as low as possible by adopting a more traditional flat panel.
But to maintain a modern look, it looks set to adopt a centered punch hole for the selfie camera and relatively slim bezels. Both of these design elements were previously shown off in CAD-based renders of the smartphone.
Triple-camera OnePlus Z render
Accompanying all of this should be a glass panel on the back that’s home to the redesigned OnePlus branding and a vertical camera module in the top-left corner. Earlier renders revealed the presence of a dual-camera system, but newer leaks suggest OnePlus has now opted for a triple-camera system.
It’s home to a 48-megapixel primary shooter coupled with unspecified 16-megapixel and 12-megapixel sensors. An LED flash and what is likely a laser autofocus system complete the package.
The OnePlus Z might replace Qualcomm with MediaTek
Tipster Ishan Agarwal warned that some of the key specifications may have changed since the delay, but earlier reports mentioned the presence of the MediaTek Dimensity 1000, which features four high-performance CPU cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four efficiency CPU cores running at 2GHz.
That chipset should be coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage as standard, although a 256GB version could be on the way.
Last on the list is Android 10 and OxygenOS 10 straight out of the box alongside a 4,000mAh battery that offers support for OnePlus’ Warp Charge 30T 30W fast charging technology.