Here's our first look at the OnePlus 5G smartphone prototype

At Mobile World Congress 2019, it seems every company is releasing either a foldable phone or a 5G phone (or both). OnePlus isn’t one to be left out in the cold, as the company just (sort of) revealed the OnePlus 5G smartphone for the first time.

OnePlus and Qualcomm — the developer of the device’s 5G modem and Snapdragon 855 chipset — showed off the smartphone in a concealing case in order to hide its design from the public. In other words, you can see some of the device’s display but the discerning characteristics of the OnePlus 5G smartphone are hidden.

Check it out in the gallery below:

To show off the power of the phone and 5G, OnePlus and Qualcomm allowed MWC attendees to use an Xbox controller to play games on the smartphone’s display. However, the games aren’t installed on the device — rather, they are streaming over 5G to take advantage of the low-latencies the technology offers. As such, user input on the controller resulted in in-game action on the smartphone’s display in almost the same amount of time as it would if it were connected with a wire.

OnePlus also had another display showing off messages people left at the OnePlus 5G micro-site, which we discussed earlier here.

Previously, OnePlus hinted that the OnePlus 5G smartphone would be very similar in design to the OnePlus 6T. However, from the prototype we see here it appears the devices could be quite different. The most notable thing missing in this prototype is the waterdrop notch — although, it could be that the eventual device will have the notch but this prototype doesn’t.

OnePlus hasn’t announced a price or release date for the device yet but hinted it would be its most expensive offering to date — likely over $700 — and come out before May 2019.

What do you think? Are you excited about the OnePlus 5G smartphone? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: What you need to know before buying a OnePlus 6T without the original charger