OnePlus Will Showcase Something New on March 3, but Don’t Expect the OnePlus 8

OnePlus is expected to launch its next flagship smartphone sooner rather than later, but it’s unlikely to happen next week. The company has been teasing the unveiling of a new product in India on March 3, but it has now been basically confirmed that it won’t be the OnePlus 8-series that many would have been hoping for. OnePlus earlier this month announced that it is working on “a special project” that’s “not a phone (or a) commercial product”, so the upcoming event could be a showcase for a new concept product.

It’s not immediately clear what the press conference next week will be about, but from the teasers posted by the Twitter accounts of both OnePlus UK and OnePlus India over the past couple of days, it looks like the company is teasing something mechanical. The short video below, posted last night, shows off what seems to be parts of an automotive engine, so it will be interesting to see what the company actually comes up with on Tuesday. It will also be interesting to see if it will be a concept device on the lines of the OnePlus Concept One smartphone shown off earlier this year.

Meanwhile, even though the OnePlus 8 won’t be announced next week, the company has been teasing the upcoming smartphone on its official Weibo account, revealing some of its key design elements, including a punch-hole display with a curved glass on top. In related news, the OnePlus 8 5G quick start guide has also seemingly been leaked this week, giving us a look at how the device might look from the front.

While the company has remained tight-lipped about its next-gen smartphones, rumors suggest that the OnePlus 8-series is expected to include three models this year, including a mid-range OnePlus 8 Lite alongside the premium OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. The ETA of these devices remain a mystery for now, but we’ll hopefully get more info in the days ahead.