OnePlus 3T vs OnePlus 3
OnePlus 3T vs OnePlus 3IBTimes India/Sami Khan

OnePlus might feel some pressure after Xiaomi launched its latest Mi Note 2 smartphone to take on budget flagships. But as the rumours suggest, the "flagship killer" maker has some plans in store.

In our review of the OnePlus 3 smartphone in July, we found the handset extremely powerful and comparable to some of the industry's leading flagships. And that was with the Snapdragon 820 chipset, which is found in several mid-range flagships such as Xiaomi Mi 5, but there have been new handsets like Le Max 2, Lenovo Z2 Plus and now the Mi Note 2 powered by the latest Snapdragon 821.

OnePlus is likely feeling the pressure of its closest rival and it is not surprising that it will up its game soon. OnePlus 4 is not due until next year, but the Chinese smartphone maker is rumoured to launch a variant of its current flagship to match the evolving industry standard.

OnePlus 3T is reportedly the company's next offering, which will be an enhanced version of the OnePlus 3. Nothing much is known about the unannounced handset, but rumours have painted a vague picture of what to expect.

OnePlus 3T reportedly made a stop on the China Compulsory Certification with the model number A3010 and a OnePlus designer accidentally posted on Weibo from a device named OnePlus 3T, which pretty much confirms the imminent release of the new phone.

According to the rumours, the OnePlus 3T will come with Snapdragon 821 chipset clocked at 2.4GHz. This will be a significant upgrade as compared to the current OnePlus 3 model, which features Snapdragon 820 CPU clocked at 2.1GHz.

Combine that new chipset with OnePlus 3's 6GB RAM and other premium features, it is certainly a recipe for success. OnePlus 3T, at large, is going to resemble the OnePlus 3 smartphone with an aluminium body, fingerprint scanner, Dash charge, Optic AMOLED display, 16MP+8MP camera setup, USB Type-C and 64GB storage. The new smartphone is likely to run updated Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box.

It is still unclear when the new OnePlus 3T is going to arrive, but it is likely to happen this year itself. There might be a slight inflation in the price, but it will be worth it with the new performance combo.