OnePlus’ next phone, the OnePlus 8, will reportedly launch on Verizon in the US, with 5G connectivity, Android Police reports. It would be the first OnePlus phone available on Verizon, as currently T-Mobile is the only US carrier for OnePlus phones.
The phone would be “fully Verizonified.” For better and worse, that means it’ll come with the carrier’s suite of apps and experiences preloaded onto the device.
If the report is accurate, it’ll be interesting to see how OnePlus tries to reconcile the decision to allow Verizon to install apps on its phone. Pete Lau, the company’s co-founder, has repeatedly said in interviews that OnePlus designs products with “burdenless” user experiences that don’t force bloatware on its customers.
The Chinese phone maker showed off its Concept One phone at CES 2020, which included a disappearing camera. And according to Chinese media reports, OnePlus plans to demonstrate new “screen technology” at an event in China on January 13th. What this new tech might be remains a mystery, but a graphic the company shared shows glass panels stacked on top of one another. It’s not clear whether the OnePlus 8 will make use of any of this new tech, but we do know it may swap its signature pop-up selfie cam for a hole-punch display.
