While it can be fun to look at OnePlus as an underdog in the smartphone space, it's important to remember that its parent company is Oppo — one of the largest phone manufacturers in the world. OnePlus phones often take a lot of inspiration from Oppo handsets that come out before them, and should that pattern continue this year, the recently announced Oppo R17 looks like an excellent foundation for the OnePlus 6T.
At first glance, the Oppo R17 impresses with its design. The back of the phone has a stunning multi-color paint job that appears to shift hues based on how the light hits it, and around front, we've got a large 6.4-inch 2280 x 1080 screen with one of the tiniest notches we've ever seen.
There's still a chin at the bottom of the display, but it's also so small that most people likely won't be offended by it.
Under the hood, the R17 is packing a Snapdragon 670 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and a 3,500 mAh battery.
There's still no word as to when the OnePlus 6T will be announced or how much it'll cost, but should OnePlus use the R17 as inspiration for the handset, upgrade its internals with more powerful specs, and keep the price around the $530 marker of the OnePlus 6, we could be in for a real treat later this year.
