OnePlus announces the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G in partnership with EE

Today, OnePlus held the launch event for its 7 series of smartphones, with the highlight of the show being the OnePlus 7 Pro. But in Europe, at its London event, the firm also announced its first 5G smartphone, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G.

Just like the regular version of the 7 Pro, this device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, which is required for 5G functionality. It has the same UFS 3.0 storage technology, up to 12GB of RAM, and the same 90Hz AMOLED display. The main distinction from the OnePlus 7 Pro, of course, is the ability to connect to 5G networks, which are now starting to be available in some markets. In Europe, OnePlus is partnering with British carrier EE to launch the 5G smartphone.

Earlier this year, EE announced that it will start rolling out 5G services across the UK this summer. At the event, the company said that it will launch 5G services in six cities "very soon", with ten more to follow soon after. The company also said it'll give the first 100 customers a OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and upgrade them to a 5G plan for free.

OnePlus recognizes the challenge of fitting the necessary components for 5G, but it managed to fit them into the same body size as the OnePlus 7 Pro. To do so, it adopted a number of strategies, such as a stacked printed circuit board (PCB) design, increased the cooling area by 20%, redesigned the antennas for the 5G network, and even shrunk the NFC antenna.

The company didn't disclose a price for the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, nor a specific release date, but it should be available around the same time as EE's 5G network.