OnePlus 10 Pro India Launch in March; Company's Cheapest 5G Phone Coming Soon

OnePlus announced at MWC 2022 on Monday that the company will launch the OnePlus 10 Pro in global markets — including in India — by the end of March 2022. The company also announced that it plans to launch its most affordable 5G smartphone yet in India and Europe later this year, along with new IoT devices. OnePlus revealed that it’s working on a smartphone that supports 150W SuperVOOC fast charging, and that it will debut in the second quarter of 2022. Interestingly, OnePlus has now clarified that its OxygenOS operating system will share its codebase with ColorOS, but will retain its own look and feel when OxygenOS 13 is released. The two Android-based OS skins were earlier reported to merge into a unified OS. Meanwhile at MWC, Oppo showcased a new 240W flash charging technology that can fully charge a phone’s battery in under 9 minutes.

The smartphone manufacturer revealed that it would begin selling the OnePlus 10 Pro in Europe, India, and North America by the end of March. It said that the smartphone has generated over CNY 100 million (roughly Rs. 120 crore) in open sales in China, where it launched in January this year.

Meanwhile, OnePlus will launch its most affordable 5G capable smartphone in India and in Europe later this year. The company also announced that it will introduce a new retail model in India that will allow customers to order smartphones online, then pick them up at retail stores after a OnePlus store member has set it up for them.

OnePlus also revealed that it will launch a new smartphone in the second quarter of 2022 that will support 150W SuperVOOC fast charging. The charging tech, developed by the Oppo Research Institute, is claimed to charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1 percent to 50 percent in just five minutes. OnePlus says the technology is powered by a customised twin battery setup, industry-leading battery PCB protection board, and a highly integrated microcontroller to improve overall charging efficiency.

While OnePlus had announced in September that it would merge OxygenOS and ColorOS into a unified OS that would feature on both the companies’ devices, OnePlus has now revealed that its OxygenOS 13 will remain an independent brand property when Android 13 arrives. The decision to retain OxygenOS on OnePlus devices was taken as a result of feedback from the community, according to the company. However, OxygenOS and ColorOS will both be developed on the same codebase as previously announced, OnePlus has clarified.

On the software front, OnePlus also revealed that it will introduce its HyperBoost Gaming Engine, which offers features such as GPA Frame Stabilizer to reduce frame rate fluctuation, O-Sync to increase syncing speed by up to six times, and GPU Load Control (GLC) to increase rendering efficiency with up to 36 percent improved power consumption. The HyperBoost Gaming Engine will be introduced as part of an OTA update when the OnePlus 10 Pro is launched in India, Europe, and North America. There is currently no word on whether the feature will be available for older OnePlus devices.

OnePlus sister-brand Oppo also showcased 150W SuperVOOC charing technology at MWC 2022 on Monday that it plans to introduce on upcoming Oppo flagship phones. The announcement was accompanied by a demo of 240W SuperVOOC flash charge technology that Oppo claims can charge a 4,500mAh battery from 1 percent to 100 percent in about 9 minutes. The technology is designed with 24V/10A on USB Type-C, according to Oppo, and the company says it has utilised three charge pumps for faster charging. The power supplied to the handset can be converted to 10V/24A using a supported adapter, according to the company.

According to the company, the 240W SuperVOOC adopts five safety protection measures and uses a customised control chip that controls the voltage, current, and temperature on the smartphone. Oppo is also relying on a customised battery safety monitoring chip that can assess and monitor whether the battery of the phone is damaged by any external forces when in use. The technology is also paired with a temperature protection feature that monitors 13 temperature sensors on the phone to keep track of overheating. Oppo is yet to reveal when the technology will be available commercially or which models will come with 240W charging.