This article was published on March 28, 2018

OnePlus 6 leak shows off wooden back and headphone jack


OnePlus 6 leak shows off wooden back and headphone jack Image by: Evan Blass

Perpetual leaker Evan Blass is at it again, this time with one of our best looks at the OnePlus 6 yet. While we’d previously seen the device leaked with a glass back – sighs – this new leak suggests the phone could come with an awesome wooden back as well.

Oh yeah, it still has a headphone jack. Yay!

The wooden back harkens back to the original OnePlus One, which had removable backplates with interesting textures, including sandstone and wood. Since then, the company has adopted a metal unibody but tried to keep the spirit going with sleek cases and the occasional design variant. But it’s just not the same as having the textures integrated into the phone itself.

If Blass’ leak holds up – and they pretty much always do – OnePlus could be returning to the unique materials of yore. That said, judging by the image, it seems the wood texture isn’t removable, but I’ll take it. It’s rare to see a flagship phone using something other than glass or metal.

The glass and wood back also suggest OnePlus will finally implement wireless charging on the new phone, perhaps a reaction to Apple’s implementation – after all, the phone is supposed to have a notch as well. Metal doesn’t mix well with wireless charging, but glass, plastic, and wood work just fine. It’d be reasonable to assume the glass back will be the ‘standard’ trim, and you can pay extra for wood backs.

It might be a while until we get a confirmation; the OnePlus 5 was released in June and it makes sense the next model would follow. Some rumors are pointing to an earlier release though, and the timing of these leaks seems to suggest that’s possible. A man can hope.

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