[Update: Maybe not] OnePlus will be the first company with a Snapdragon 855 smartphone

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Update 12/6: OnePlus says there was some miscommunication at the event yesterday. The slide was supposed to say “among the first” to use the Snapdragon 855. They very likely will not be the first, though they may still launch a phone earlier than usual. (via Engadget)

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit 2018 has been going on this week. There have been a lot of 5G-related announcements coming out of the event. Qualcomm also officially revealed the name and features for the upcoming Snapdragon 855 mobile platform. Today, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau took the stage to talk about their relationship with Qualcomm. He also announced that they will have the first flagship smartphone to feature the Snapdragon 855.

Lau talked about how OnePlus started with the Snapdragon 801 in the OnePlus One and they have used Qualcomm 800-series chips in every device. The unnamed OnePlus 2019 flagship will be the first to feature the Snapdragon 855. Lau said, “We know that the 855 is the most powerful chipset, it is definitely the one and only choice [for our phone].”

A little bit about the 855, it will be manufactured on a 7nm process. It will be ready for 5G devices with the Snapdragon X50 modem. We’ve already heard a few reports of OnePlus launching a 5G phone in 2019, so this news lines up with that. One report claimed the 5G OnePlus device will not be the OnePlus 7.

Qualcomm hasn’t revealed all the details about the Snapdragon 855 yet. We know it includes the 4th-generation multi-core AI Engine, which boasts 3 times the AI performance as the Snapdragon 845. It also features the first Computer Vision Image Signal Processor (CV-ISP) to deliver new photo and video capture features. Snapdragon Elite Gaming is a set of features to enhance mobile gaming experiences. Lastly, the company announced the Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor, which uses ultrasonic waves for in-display fingerprint scanners, unlike optical under-display fingerprint scanners, which use light.

Update: OnePlus just shared the tweet below. They will be partnering with EE to deliver a flagship 5G phone in “early 2019.”