OnePlus 6T packaging 'leaks,' but are we looking at the real thing?

The OnePlus 6T is all but guaranteed to arrive this year, especially after reports emerged that the phone was coming to T-Mobile next month.

Now, Weibo user Laobaotech (h/t: MySmartPrice) has uploaded photos of what is allegedly the OnePlus 6T packaging. The photos only show the lid of a box, complete with OnePlus 6T branding and a tagline of “unlock the speed.”

If you look closely at the last photo, you can also make out what appears to be a list of names on the underside of the lid. In fact, Googling several names (e.g. manuel19, Maximus Decimus Meridius, owndroid, Nikolaus Matheis) along with “OnePlus” suggests that these are user names on the official OnePlus forum.

What’s also interesting is that the underside of the lid contains a phone design too, showing an in-display fingerprint scanner and a waterdrop notch. These features aren’t too far-fetched, because OnePlus frequently uses elements from stablemates Oppo and Vivo in its new phones. And both companies have pioneered waterdrop notches and in-display fingerprint scanners this year.

Is this the real thing?

The OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T don’t have the phone design on the underside of their lids, which makes us doubt the authenticity of the packaging in the images. Furthermore, this alleged OnePlus 6T lid appears to show a mottled white color scheme, while almost all OnePlus phones since the OnePlus 3 have arrived with a pure white lid. The mottled colors could be a trick of light or a compression artifact, but it definitely looks peculiar.

Nevertheless, the source has previously leaked the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE‘s front panel. The Weibo account apparently leaked the Mi 6X/Mi A2 back panel too, according to WCCFTech.

So the source seems to have had successful leaks before and those forum names are interesting, but we’re still not sure this is the real deal. What do you think? Does this look like a legitimate OnePlus 6T package? Sound off in the comments below!