Quality OnePlus 3 press render leak seemingly confirms full-metal design, AMOLED display

A fresh press render has leaked this morning courtesy of the fount-of-all-leaks, Evan Blass, showing the OnePlus 3 in a much more flattering light than the recent prototype leaks. The image seemingly confirms OnePlus’ move away from the replaceable plastic rear panels, with the company intent on releasing a metal-bodied device.

With the past couple of OnePlus flagship generations, the manufacturer made a point of stuffing the internals with the most powerful components you could get in an affordable high-end device. This meant compromises were made in the design, with the first generation being a flimsy plastic build, and the second being heavy and metal-framed but with interchangeable plastic back covers. This year, it seems the company is going full-metal, and we couldn’t be happier.

The other compromise with the OnePlus 2 was its display. Despite being full HD, the LCD panel was among the least vibrant I saw all year in 2015 (at least among the top devices), with only the HTC One M9 bordering on the same levels of lifelessness. As I pointed out in an opinion piece a few months back, the OnePlus X’s AMOLED panel put its big brother’s screen to shame. It’s so much more colourful and — with much higher contrast levels — it seemed far sharper too.

Thankfully, this morning’s leak from Mr. Blass also contains some specifications which include an AMOLED panel — *pauses to celebrate* — and a 3,000mAh battery, which should mean that we’ll get a day’s full use out of the OnePlus 3 on a single charge.

There’s that logo. OnePlus 3 with AMOLED display and 3000mAh battery. pic.twitter.com/zvat9NaFd4

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 17, 2016

Taking a closer look at the render, and it appears as though OnePlus is sticking with the same design on the front. Like the Op2, the next OnePlus smartphone will have a front-mounted fingerprint sensor built in to a capacitive home button, surrounded by a pill-shaped metal ring.

What’s more, the screen seems to have very slim bezels, with rounded metal edges in a form factor which reminds me a lot of the Oppo F1 Plus. The back appears to be slightly curved, which should help the device fit very comfortably in hand. The bottom edge has a Type-C port, but we’re uncertain whether it’s ‘true Type-C’ specification, or if it’s just the right sized port.

In my mind, despite looking like a lot of other phones on the market right now, the OnePlus 3 could be the phone last year’s model should have been. Who knows, we might even have an actual “2016 flagship killer” on our hands this year.