A new OnePlus 5 leak that suggests a key feature may be scrapped could worry fans of the brand.
Indian blog PriceRaja has posted images of what it claims to be the OnePlus 5, potentially revealing important design points about the phone. The handset, which is due to launch later this summer, hasn’t been officially revealed by OnePlus yet, so it’s not clear how legitimate this leak is.
OnePlus was unable to verify these snaps for TrustedReviews, as the images were not posted by an official OnePlus source.
For the most part, the images don’t show off anything too exciting. However, there’s a notable absence of the 3.5mm audio jack, which appears to be scrubbed from the bottom of the phone. However, it’s entirely possible that the headphone port could be on the top of the phone, or one of the sides – so we’d recommend due caution for now.
Still, it wouldn’t be the first time a major phone maker has killed off the headphone jack. Last year, Apple made the bold (and very divisive) move to cull the 3.5mm audio port on the iPhone 7. Instead, users were prompted to either purchase a conversion dongle or buy a pair of headphones that support Lightning connections.
If the OnePlus 5 didn’t feature a headphone port, it’s likely that users would have to follow a similar tack, either buying a dongle or adopting some USB-C friendly headphones.
However, we’re not entirely convinced OnePlus will drop the feature. In a Twitter poll last year, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei asked fans whether they liked headphone ports. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of 3.5mm jacks, with 88% of respondents confirming their allegiance to the humble port.
If these images aren’t a hoax, it’s entirely possible that they may just depict a prototype, which wouldn’t necessarily represent the final phone design. In any case, we can’t say for sure whether these images are legitimate, so take this leak with a pinch of salt.
The only other point to note about the images is that there’s a dual camera clearly featured on the back of the phone. The introduction of a dual camera has been the most hotly tipped OnePlus 5 rumour. It wouldn’t be a massive surprise either, given that we’ve already seen such technology on the iPhone 7 Plus, Huawei P10, and LG G6.
OnePlus has also admitted that it’s putting particular focus on camera technology for the OnePlus 5, yesterday announcing that it had partnered with DxO Labs, a French company that builds image processing software.
