OnePlus 10, Pro, and Ultra: Everything you need to know about OnePlus's latest flagships

OnePlus' 2022 has had a rocky start. Despite strong sales in 2021, it alienated hardcore fans by releasing OxygenOS 12 as a watered-down port of its parent company's OS, ColorOS 12. The backlash was so strong that the company gave up and promised it would return to form with OxygenOS 13; but for now, its new phones — like the OnePlus 10 Pro — rely on software very few people like.

It also has confused people with its 2022 release schedule. The OnePlus 10 Pro shipped out in China several months earlier than in the rest of the world, and the typical OnePlus 10 is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, other 2022 releases like the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and 9RT have underwhelmed our reviewers.

If you're a OnePlus fan with money to spend, the 10 Pro might be the best phone it releases this year. But we've heard rumors that the brand might also release a OnePlus 10 Ultra later this year, as well as the missing OnePlus 10. So is there reason to wait and compare?

Details are scarce, mostly coming from leakers without hard information to share. But we'll help answer questions like whether or not the OnePlus 10 is canceled and how the 10 Ultra could differ from the Pro.

Is the OnePlus 10 canceled or will it ship in 2022?

Techradar reported that it attended a MWC 2022 briefing with OnePlus founder Pete Lau, who "confirmed its flagship 10 series would consist of just one phone - the OnePlus 10 Pro." That doesn't leave much room for wiggle room. But is it true?

91Mobiles reported OnePlus would release a new phone, codenamed "Oscar," sometime between April and June, according to information from leaker Yogesh Brar. The site speculated this phone would be the base OnePlus 10. But Brar himself later leaked a list of upcoming OnePlus launches without the 10, and said he had "no idea" when the vanilla model would arrive.

At this point, most conventional wisdom suggests the OnePlus 10 is canceled, with the OnePlus 10R taking its place on the calendar. But leaker Max Jambor responded to this cancellation claim on Twitter, saying "the OnePlus 10 exists. If only internally for now but yeah, we will see it in a while."

Considering Lau said only the 10 Pro exists, but leakers have strongly hinted at a 10 Ultra, it's possible he was also hiding the OnePlus 10's existence too.

As for any hypothetical OnePlus 10 specs, we can only speculate based on what we know about the 10 Pro and last year's OnePlus 9. It would likely use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (like the Pro) or the Dimensity 9000 (like the 10R). It would have an AMOLED 120Hz display without LTPO, 8-12GB of RAM, and at least 65W charging if not faster.

The flagship OnePlus 10 Pro

Our OnePlus 10 Pro review, written by OnePlus guru Harish Jonnalagadda, gives a comprehensive blow-by-blow account of its hardware, design, cameras, software, and more. So rather than recreate that here in lesser form, we'll provide the specs and other core information you need to know about it.

Available starting on April 5 in 32 countries, the 8GB 10 Pro costs $899 in North America, £799 ($1,048) in the U.K., and €899 ($998) in other European countries; the 12GB model (which isn't available in the U.S.) costs £899 ($1,180) in the U.K., €999 ($1,108) in European countries, and ₹71,999 ($952) in India.

Overall, the 10 Pro has cutting-edge hardware and battery life on par with the Galaxy S22+, only with a curved QHD display instead of a flat 1080p display and 80W wired charging — or only 65W in the U.S. — instead of 45W. If you can stomach the somewhat buggy OxygenOS 12.1 software and lack of IP68 rating, it's certainly a formidable flagship.

OnePlus 10 Ultra or 10 Pro Plus: An unknown quantity

We have no hard evidence of the OnePlus 10 Ultra; OnePlus has never released such a phone before, always stopping at the Pro. But several leakers have hinted at its existence, and it's possible OnePlus is waiting to announce it to avoid cannibalizing 10 Pro sales.

Brar suggested the phone would arrive in "late Q3," suggesting either August or September around the expected launch window of the Pixel 7 and iPhone 14.

It may use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus; NotebookCheck spotted a Weibo leak indicating as much. This could help solve the throttling issues spotted in most Snapdragon 8-backed phones. In fact, the 10 Pro exhibited major CPU throttling in our review benchmarks, putting it in line with last year's OnePlus 9 Pro in speeds. So a Pro Plus or Ultra could provide a welcome performance boost.

LetsGoDigital also created mock-up renders of the OnePlus 10 Ultra based on a patent application for a periscope camera with much better optical zoom than the 3.3X on the 10 Pro. Assuming this does show up on the 10 Ultra, we'll have to see if this lens can match up with the 10X optical zoom of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Otherwise, OnePlus' upcoming phone won't have too much room for improvement over the 10 Pro, at least in terms of software, battery life, and display quality. Perhaps we'll see an MP boost for the main camera, a 16GB variant, or a display even larger than 6.7 inches. Otherwise, it's unclear how the phone will live up to the Ultra moniker.

For now, you'll have to make do with the 10 Pro. While its software leaves plenty of room for improvement, enthusiasts can hope that OxygenOS 13 will be a return to form. And in terms of hardware, it's hard to beat. The hypothetical 10 Ultra will have a tough act to follow, while the regular 10 will likely downgrade the display but hopefully live up to the Pro in most other ways.

Barring any evidence to the contrary, there isn't much of a reason to wait for the OnePlus 10 that may or may not exist. But you may want to wait for the Ultra and its revamped Snapdragon 8, if you're willing to spend over a grand on it. Otherwise, the Pro isn't a bad purchase at all; it's certainly likely to number among the best Android phones of 2022.