The OnePlus 10 Pro could launch early — but there’s a catch

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OnePlus 10 Pro will arrive in China before the rest of the world, claims leaker.

Renders of the OnePlus 10 Pro
(Image credit: Zouton | OnLeaks)

Update: OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau has confirmed the OnePlus 10 Pro will be revealed in January, very likely at CES 2022.

Traditionally, OnePlus has released a slightly souped up ‘T’ version of its flagship around this time of year, but the company has already confirmed that there will be no OnePlus 9T. At least for those unimpressed by the special edition OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition the company just announced, the OnePlus 10 Pro might not be too far away.

That’s according to the reporter Max Jambor of German website All About Samsung on Twitter, who published an extract from what appears to be OnePlus’ upcoming release timeline. On the chart, the OnePlus 10 Pro is listed as being a "January/February" product which is a plus, given the OnePlus 9 Pro arrived in March this year.

But there’s a catch: that early release date seems to be for China only, with the "Global" version of the OnePlus 10 Pro listed as March/April, which is more in keeping with what we’ve come to expect. 

Perhaps the staggered release is a symptom of the ongoing global chip shortage, and OnePlus believes that this is the way it can keep up with demand. If so, it’s interesting that China is seen as the priority when combating the rumored early 2022 release of the Samsung Galaxy S22 in the battle for best Android phone. 

Is there any significance in the fact that the chart only mentions the OnePlus 10 Pro, and not the vanilla OnePlus 10? Possibly, but if the non-Pro version of the handset were being planned with a different schedule in mind, it would represent a change of strategy for OnePlus. The company has released both the Pro and non-Pro versions of handsets on the same day since the OnePlus 7 Pro debuted in May 2019. 

The OnePlus 10 Pro is expected to feature the Snapdragon 898 chip with all the speed and efficiency improvements Qualcomm is no doubt planning. Alongside a prominent looking camera bump, that will hopefully house significant improvements, the phone will reportedly feature a 120Hz, 6.7-inch OLED screen and a 5,000mAh battery.

The OnePlus 10 could be powered up by a crazy fast 125W charger, though we’re dubious as to how much faster that will be than the lightning fast OnePlus 9 Pro in practice. 

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.