Last week when OnePlus announced their new ultra-premium flagship the OnePlus 7 Pro in New York there was not a single mention of the rumoured OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. At the time we thought that the rumours got it all wrong.
Once the London, Indian and Chinese launches were done and finished it became all clear. Both of those phones existed but were region limited.
OnePlus 7 Pro 5G
As we heard from OnePlus earlier in the year at MWC 2019 OnePlus had partnered with UK carrier EE exclusively to bring a 5G phone to market “this summer” – one of the first. Not only one of the first, one of the best.
The OnePlus 7 Pro 5G packs the exact same specs as the OnePlus 7 Pro. At the announcement OnePlus stated that the 5G flagship will be available exclusive to EE in the UK, expanding over various cities as the year goes on.
Pricing is yet to be announced by EE but you would expect it to be more than the £799 highest specced OnePlus 7 Pro.
5G worldwide variant coming later this year
When asked if the 5G variant would be making it to other markets OnePlus told Ausdroid that no, it will not. They told us that the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G will be exclusive to EE in the UK only. There are plans to bring a 5G phone to the rest of the world later in the year but not yet.
More 5G networks are expected to be operational and available by later this year and it will make it worth their while to mass produce the 5G variant. We assume that the OnePlus 7T Pro will thus have a 5G variant, available to the rest of the world.
OnePlus 7
The regular OnePlus 7, which OnePlus are calling their premium flagship as opposed to their ultra-premium flagship (the Pro) was also not mentioned in New York but made an appearance in the other markets. According to OnePlus that is because it is only going to be available there.
Ausdroid were told that the OnePlus 7 will eventually arrive in the UK now with it coming to India and China in the following weeks and months. The US will not be receiving the OnePlus 7 with OnePlus believing that the OnePlus 6T and its new lower price suiting the US market alongside the OnePlus 7 Pro.
The OnePlus 7 arrives with essentially the same specs as the OnePlus 6T, albeit with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. They have the same display, are available in similar RAM/storage configurations, same battery, and have a similar selfie camera.
The OnePlus 7 has a different rear camera configuration to the 6T but time will tell if there is much, if any, difference between the quality of imaging in the two camera systems.
Coming to Australia?
Unfortunately we keep getting the same answers from OnePlus — on a positive note they are continually evaluating new markets but at this stage it will not be coming here. With OnePlus now in the top 5 worldwide premium smartphone sellers you can be sure that they will make their way Downunder eventually, if not soon.
We suspect that they will require a carrier to get onboard and import them to help cover distribution and warranty and servicing issues.
We can only live in hope and continue to urge them to give us a chance – afterall the OnePlus 7 Pro (and most likely all phones that follow on from it) will be one of the best smartphones available anywhere.
In the meantime we will have to keep using grey market importers or mail forwarders to get our hands on one of the hottest phones of the year.
“worldwide”
In light of the Huawei ban by the USA, I wonder if this will prod OnePlus to look at markets they, currently, do not sell in.
Indeed. Or prompt Australian carriers currently selling Huawei to look for alternatives to replace them in their line up?