OnePlus has been making cheap but fully featured Android phones for some years now, making smartphone buyers question why they pay so much extra for a Samsung Galaxy S20 or a Google Pixel 4. But a new leak about the upcoming OnePlus 8 shows where the Chinese upstart may have some work to do.
GSMArena discovered an entry on benchmarking app Geekbench’s scoreboards with a model number (IN2025) that’s believed to be attached to the next generation OnePlus device. This device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU (which is referred to by its codename 'kona' on the Geekbench entry), but only 8GB RAM.
The IN2025 number being tied to a OnePlus phone comes from Nashville Chatter’s finding that similar numbers have been registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards. There were two sets in the BIS database - those beginning IN201x and those beginning IN202x. It was assumed that the former was linked to the standard OnePlus 8 and the latter with the OnePlus 8 Pro.
The OnePlus 7T Pro, the newest of OnePlus’ flagships, also uses 8GB RAM, but the original OnePlus 7 Pro could be specced with up to 12GB, giving it true top-tier performance abilities. With this in mind and assuming the leak is accurate, it’s possible that there will be another 12GB RAM ‘Pro’ phone available on the new OnePlus handset that hasn’t been found by leakers yet, or that OnePlus has decided to stick with its low RAM strategy.
Considering the newly unveiled Samsung Galaxy S20 has 12GB RAM as standard, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra goes up to 16GB, that’s a big gap in performance that OnePlus could struggle to make up.
The use of Snapdragon 865 chip is good news though, since this is a top-of-the-line processor that will likely be in every premium flagship Android smartphone released this year. It can also be used to easily add 5G compatibility to a phone, something which OnePlus, which launched its first 5G phone last year with the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and OnePlus 7T Pro 5G, will no doubt be keen to take advantage of.
Leading the performance tables isn’t something OnePlus seems to prioritize with its phones. It aims more for a smoothness and ease of use, which it manages through the smartly designed OxygenOS Android launcher rather than silicon muscle. And if it can leverage the slightly reduced performance ability for a big discount compared to the $1,000 and over S20 series, OnePlus will once again be a thorn in the side of its larger competitors.
You can read more rumors about the next OnePlus phone in our OnePlus 8 hub, which we regularly update with the latest news and leaks.
