OnePlus launches 8 series with two 5G-enabled smartphones

With no physical presence in Middle East, the company is selling its devices on Amazon

Visitors checking the new phones of OnePlus 7 series during a launch event in Bangalore in May, last year. EPA

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus launched its latest 5G-enabled 8 series through its Facebook page on Tuesday, joining tech giants rolling out new 5G-enabled devices this year.

The new 8 series includes two models - OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. Each has an advanced display, faster processor and bigger battery.

“The OnePlus 8 series is the most powerful and beautiful flagship smartphone series we have ever created,” said Pete Lau, co-founder and chief executive of the company.

OnePlus 8 Pro, which has a 17.2 centimetre display, comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and is powered by a bigger battery of 4,510 milli Ampere hours that will last for more than a day of phone use.

“The OnePlus 8 Pro is the company’s first device with the new Warp Charge 30 wireless charging solution, which can give the battery 50 per cent power in only 30 minutes… making it one of the fastest wireless charging solutions in the industry,” the company said.

The company said that OnePlus 8 Pro offers the most advanced fluid display technology with a 120Hz refresh rate. A higher refresh rate means that the screen would be able to refresh content more dynamically.

It also comes with stronger video capability, equipped with hybrid image stabilisation for more stable videos.

As the coronavirus outbreak restricts the movement of people globally, companies are becoming innovative when launching products. In the past one month, tech giants including Apple, Huawei and Samsung have unveiled their new products virtually.

The OnePlus 8 series, which is the company’s first full 5G line-up, is expected to be released in the Middle East in the last week of this month, according to industry sources.

The company formally entered the Middle East market with the launch of the OnePlus 6T in 2018 but has no physical presence in the region and relies on selling its devices on Amazon.

Founded in 2013, Shenzhen-based OnePlus became one of the top five brands in terms of market share in the budget segment, where phones are priced at more than $400, for the first time ever in 2018.

As the competition intensified in the global premium smartphone segment (priced more than $400), OnePlus grew its market share in the premium segment by more than twofold in 2018, according to Hong Kong-based researcher Counterpoint. In 2018, it had 2 per cent of the overall premium smartphone market share.