OnePlus 3 Successor OnePlus 5 Confirmed? Chinese Company To Skip 4 Moniker, Use Ceramic Casing For New Flagship

OnePlus is getting a lot of attention after releasing its OnePlus 3 flagship killer this year. The launch of OnePlus 3T in the U.S. recently has also helped the company gain traction in the American market. Because of its affordable yet powerful flagships, many are looking forward to what it could be working on for next year. Unfortunately, there could be no OnePlus 4 next year. But fans shouldn’t worry since the Chinese company is believed to be working on a OnePlus 5.

A new report from PhoneRadar claims that OnePlus is preparing to launch a new flagship device in the first half of next year. After all, the company has to keep up with its competition as Samsung is rumored to be launching the powerful Galaxy S8, while LG and Xiaomi are introducing the LG G6 and Mi 6, respectively. Interestingly, since the Chinese believe that the number 4 is an unlucky digit, rumors are swirling that OnePlus is skipping the OnePlus 4 moniker and is instead introducing the OnePlus 5 in 2017.

The jump in the nomenclature is perceived to be a normal thing to do among Chinese companies. One good example to this is how Chinese technology company Vivo introduced the Vivo V5 as the successor to its Vivo V3. Therefore, the Chinese’s practice of Tetraphobia is regarded as the primary reason why OnePlus is skipping OnePlus 4 and not because the company has already released two flagships this year, with the arrival of the 3T.

Aside from its name, there are also insiders that have been spreading word that the OnePlus 5 could sport ceramic housing. Local tipsters are claiming that OnePlus is tapping the same people who worked on the ceramic shell for the Xiaomi Mi Mix to work on the OnePlus 5’s case. For consumers who may find this a bit odd, PhoneArena reports that OnePlus is actually no stranger when it comes to relasing smartphones that have ceramic as its shell. The company has already released the OnePlus X, which came with zirconia ceramic finish.

Making the smartphone even more tempting are its other specs and features. Fresh rumors from China are claiming that the OnePlus 5 could launch with a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6GB of RAM. The handset is expected to arrive in the market in Q2 2017.