OnePlus is rumored to release an "Ultra" flagship phone this year, and it won't be based on Snapdragon chipset

OnePlus had earned a reputation for its “flagship killer” mid-range phones, but the company recently diversify its product portfolio to release more premium flagship phones alongside affordable mid-rangers. The Shenzhen tech giant is now in the process of making an “Ultra” flagship phone, according to popular Indian tipster Yogesh Brar.

As per the tipster, the new flagship phone will be based on OPPO’s self-developed MariSillicon X chip, which is named after Mariana Trench. This is not a surprise as both companies are working together on a lot of areas. For instance, we recently heard from a reliable source that OPPO’s upcoming flagship phone, the Find X5 Pro, will feature the HASSELBLAD camera branding, which debuted in OnePlus 9 Pro last year.

On his Twitter account, the tipster also said that the new Ultra flagship is in the EVT phase right now, meaning we’re unlikely to see OnePlus releasing the smartphone very soon. He clarified further saying that we might see the OnePlus Ultra flagship sometime in the second half of 2022. We haven’t heard about the exact launch date, but we’ll get more concrete information on that as we approach the end of the first half.

Although we’ve no clarity on the pricing just yet, it’s likely that the Ultra model will be priced similarly to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. By releasing an Ultra-premium smartphone in the market, the company clearly wants to go head to head against the likes of Samsung and Apple. It seems that the company is seriously interested in giving users a third option in the ultra-premium flagship phone market, which is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple.

However, we haven’t seen a MarSilicon X-powered flagship phone yet, so it’s reasonable to doubt its caliber. But based on what OPPO had said about the chip, we’re keeping our expectations high. OPPO’s self-developed OPPO chip is based on TSMC’s 6 nm process technology, and the main aim of its NPU is to improve the quality of photos and videos and further expand the feature set of its cameras. We’ll see how all that plays out in a couple of months as the OPPO’s MariSilicon X-based next-generation Find X is expected to debut in March.

Coming back to the OnePlus Ultra flagship phone, there is not enough clarity on the official name of the new flagship phone. But for the sake of simplicity, OnePlus might call it ‘OnePlus 10 Ultra.’ We’ll get more clarity in the coming few months, and you’ll be apprised of all the leaks related to the OnePlus 10 Ultra as they happen, so stay tuned.