OnePlus 5 Sketch Hints At Modular Design

For those of you following the OnePlus 5 rumours train then we have some interesting news from the Chinese brand this morning.

Over on Chinese social media platform Weibo, a leaked sketch of the OnePlus 5 flagship has been listed showing off some of the new devices key features.

Items on the sketch design that standout included the use of a dual front camera design, something which we have seen both Oppo and Vivo use in the past, and the deciding to continue using a 3.5mm headphone.

Other phone makers including LeEco and Xiaomi have already begun to replace the 3.5mm headphone jack with audio out via USB Type C in favour for a larger battery, but OnePlus obviously feel they can provide both features without “Settling”.

What’s really interesting is the use of a ceramic plate on the top half of the rear of the phone. This is listed as being made of cermaic and at first glance would give the OP5 style swap covers for just the top half of the phone, but on closer inspection there might be more to it than that.

The sketches also show either a dual rear camera option or a single rear camera with additional LED flashes. We wonder if this could mean the OnePlus 5 has a modular design to it? Do those removable ceramic covers also mean you can upgrade a lower spec OP5 to dual cameras or switch to additional flashes for lower light photography? It seems like a bit of a stretch but not impossible.

The overall design of the OnePlus 5 in the sketch looks almost physically identical to the out going OnePlus 3T, with ac curved metal body, with the exception of that removable panel.

The OnePlus 5 is expected to be released in the summer with 5.5inch QHD display, Snapdragon 835 chipsets, and unto 8GB RAM.