OnePlus have already released one phone this year — the OnePlus 2 — and it looks as if that’s not the only one. Well, we know it isn’t, because Carl Pei confirmed as much back in August, and now thanks to G for Games, we have quite a bit more information about this rumoured phone, dubbed the OnePlus mini.
The name would suggest the OnePlus mini is going to come in at a mid-range tier, priced and kitted out below the full-fledged (if it’s fair to call it that) OnePlus 2. With a rumoured price of around $250 USD and a possible release around late November or early December 2015, let’s take a look at what the OnePlus mini could be.
According to the leak, the OnePlus mini will run a MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795T) chipset with  2 GB RAM and 32 GB of on-0board storage, expandable via microSDXC. Display-wise, we’re looking at a 5-inch IPS display at 1920 x 1080. The screen is covered in 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 or 4 and is protected by an oleophobic and hydrophobic coating.
Unlike some previous leaks (which we’ve not reported on, as they were too sketchy), the OnePlus mini will reportedly feature a 13 MP Sony IMX258 primary sensor with a f/2.0 aperture, capable of 4K video @ 30fps with a Dual-Tone LED flash. Front-facing duties will be covered by a 5 MP wide-angle sensor with 1080p video recording.
Other details in the laundry-list include a battery around the 3,000 mAh mark, USB Type-C connector with Quick Charge 2.0, IR blaster, and most appropriately, an NFC chip unlike its bigger brother which strangely didn’t have one.
The OnePlus mini will have a plastic case which can be removed and swapped, and will be IP67 rated apparently, allowing it a good degree of toughness and usability.
There’s one detailed part of this leak which has me a little skeptical (when you lie, lie in detail..); it is claimed that to compensate for the relatively poor GPU performance of the Helio X10 chip, the OnePlus mini will have the ability to render 3D games at 720p, and then upscale the image back to 1080p using MediaTek MiraVision, resulting in performance improvements as well as lower heat output and power requirements.
I’m not sure what to make of all this, but it doesn’t sound as mid-range as perhaps first suggested; with the inclusions, it could actually be better than the OnePlus 2… what do you make of it?
Since when is a 5″ phone ‘mini’?
Hashtag Phones for humans.
OnePlus is indeed a useless company. However, I’ve just received my OnePlus Two, and it’s a beautiful device. The build quality is excellent. While I don’t like the idea of supporting a dodgy company, I do like nice phones. 😉
NFC, IR blaster, Quick Charge. All things the Oneplus 2 should have had as a so called “Flagship Killer”.
These look very much like specs for a last season flagship ‘phone, which makes for a very attractive mid-range/good value ‘phone this season – assuming anyone will be able to stomach the ludicrous invite system OnePlus will no doubt employ.
If these specs are accurate it certainly calls into question some of the corner cutting decisions OnePlus made concerning the Two – but then again, this is OnePlus, a company that only answers questions when they feel they can leverage a marketing opportunity out of it.
Well said 😉