OnePlus 10 confirmed to have powerhouse Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor

Not long ago, OnePlus confirmed it would be jumping straight from the One Plus 9 to the OnePlus 10, with no room for an iterative ‘T’ series update in between.

Now, the Android darling has gifted us with a juicy holiday OnePlus 10 specs announcement, with CEO Pete Lau taking to his Weibo account (H/T PhoneArena) to confirm that the firm’s next flagship will feature the new-gen (and newly rebranded) Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.

Prior to this, it was all rumours when it came to the OnePlus 10 and OnePlus 10 Pro, but the leaks were good’uns and gave us a seemingly reliable look at the device’s release date and design – complete with images.

What’s the latest in the world of OnePlus 10 news? Read on for what we know right now.

• Related: read our full OnePlus 9 Pro review

OnePlus 10 specs, design and features

Lau’s big reveal that the OnePlus 10 will feature the next Snapdragon flagship is no surprise, because the top OnePlus phones always have and very possibly always will come with premium Qualcomm chips.

But while hardly earth-shattering news, it’s still a big deal, as it gives us a better idea of what focus the OnePlus 10 (and big sibling the OnePlus 10 Pro) will likely have.

Namely, that we’re going to be looking at the best OnePlus camera yet (rumoured to come with the Hasselblad seal of approval), as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset is the first in the world to deliver an 18-bit mobile image signal processor to a commercial product.

We can also expect blazing fast downloads, as the new Snapdragon SoC promises 5 speeds of up to 18-Gigabits (yes, really), and a focus on new AI features, thanks to the chip’s built-in AI engine.

Of course, if OnePlus wants to be the Android phone to beat in 2022, it’s going to have to bring something special on the design front, too – and the early signs are good.

For those interested in what the Chinese outfit might have up its sleeve, look no further than this new set of would-be OnePlus 10 Pro renders, which arrive courtesy of Zouton and long-standing leaker OnLeaks (who, for what it’s worth, has a reasonably good track when it comes to their divulgences).

It shows a device measuring 163 x 73.8 x 8.5mm with a curved display design, punch-hole front camera, and that chunky Hasselblad branded camera on the back. According to this leak, the OnePlus 10 will be a 6.7-inch device whose screen features a 120Hz refresh rate and 20:09 aspect ratio, while under the hood it’s being rumoured to pack a 5000mAh battery (fast charging at 125W), 8GB/12GB of RAM, and 128GB/256GB of onboard storage.

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Those purported OnePlus 10 specs would certainly seem to be flagship calibre, so stay tuned as we could be looking at an all-out Android flagship war early next year.

• Related: all the new 2022 phones to look forward to

OnePlus 10 release date and price

As first spotted by GSMArena, the OnePlus 10 release date is being tipped for earlier than usual, with the manufacturer apparently already testing the device in private in China and Europe, ahead of a late January or early February 2022 launch.

That’s according to the blog 91Mobiles, who say they gleaned the scoop from mobile tipster Yogesh Brar. It’s a fair bit earlier than the OnePlus 9 landed, with this year’s flagship dropping in March, but not impossible – though it would bring the OnePlus 10 into direct competition with the Samsung Galaxy S22.

It would be an interesting twist, given that OnePlus has long fancied (and marketed) itself as the flagship killer. Maybe it’s about to put its money where its mouth is and try and wrest the Q1 limelight away from Samsung, as the South Korean electronics giant usually is the undisputed headliner at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show each February and into March.

There’s no word on price, but OnePlus has typically made a point of undercutting its rival when it comes to cost, as evidenced by this year’s OnePlus 9 starting at £629.

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