OnePlus CEO confirms new 5G phone will cost $200 to $300 more than 6T

OnePlus recently announced that it would be the first company to launch a smartphone with Snapdragon 855 processor. The smartphone will first come on the UK carrier EE's 5G network before it hits other major markets.

While the device is said to launch in the first half of 2019 - before the end of May, reports CNET. The reports also say that the device won't be marketed as the OnePlus 7. The company is planning to introduce a new series for the 5G-ready phones, which means the company is moving away from its two-phone release cadence.

OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau in an interview with The Verge confirmed that the company is working on a 4G product which will come under the OnePlus 7 moniker. As for its 5G phone, the device could carry a $200 to $300 higher price tag. "It's hard to know because there's a lot of specifics still to look at, but it's likely in the neighborhood of $200-300 more."

So if the company launches its OnePlus 7 at a $20 to $30 premium over the $549 6T, the 5G smartphone could cost between $770 to $880

"5G is an important trend with its own tremendous challenges... we're working to understand the technology as quickly as possible. 5G will be particularly difficult to have a device that covers all of the world, or even most of the world's networks."

Besides, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the OnePlus 7. The device is said to sport a sliding camera. A YouTube channel Techconfigurations shared a concept renders of upcoming smartphones based on leaks and speculations.

The video showed OnePlus 7 featuring a sliding mechanism with dual selfie cameras with a triple camera setup on the rear panel.

The rear camera might comprise of 16MP + 20MP + 16MP sensors with AI capabilities, PDAF, dual OIS, and 4K video recording support. Up front, it will have 16MP + 12MP sensors and might have a dedicated flash.