A patent fuels speculations about a potential OnePlus 10 Ultra release

Some time ago, a leak speculated that there is at least one more flagship from OnePlus in the works scheduled for this year. And while tipsters are somewhat divided as to what name this mysterious device will bear, we now have a new potential bit of information about it.

A new patent shows an upcoming premium OnePlus smartphone. As first spotted by IT Home, the patent was submitted by OnePlus to China’s CNIPA patent authority. The information was then further reported by Android Authority in a dedicated article.

The patent reveals two crucial bits of information. Firstly, it reveals that the device will feature a periscope camera. This implies that the handset will have a sophisticated camera module which is a definitive feature of premium OnePlus smartphones.

However, there is one dead giveaway that this is indeed a future OnePlus flagship. Namely, the fact that the device has an alerts slider. This is a feature that OnePlus has now limited to only its high-end models.

Overall, the design of the cryptic handset heavily resembles that of another OnePlus flagship - the OnePlus 10 Pro. Hence, the odds of this being the much-anticipated OnePlus 10 Ultra are rather high. The other possibility is that this could be the OnePlus 10T. However, renders have shown that the 10T does not feature an alert slider.

It should be noted that this patent does not necessarily imply an imminent release. For all we know, this could be a device way down the line. At any rate, this patent offers conflicting information - earlier reports indicated that we would not be receiving a OnePlus 10 Ultra this year.

In the end, two things are beyond any reasonable doubt. Firstly, OnePlus is set to release a new flagship this year. Secondly, it might be the one shown in the patent.