OnePlus CEO Pete Lau snapped using a mysterious new smartphone

A leaked photo, seemingly taken from an internal OnePlus meeting, has surfaced online apparently showing CEO Pete Lau with a device that could be either the OnePlus 7, or another unnamed 5G phone from the company.

The image was tweeted by leaker Ishan Agarwal - who has a reasonable track record with smartphone leaks in the past - and considering we can actually see the OnePlus CEO in the shot there's little doubt it's genuine.

A red device can been seen on screen, and it appears to sitting face down on the table in the room, while a white/grey variant of the handset seems to be in Lau's hands. 

There's a distinctive circular camera block on the rear of both devices, which would be a new design direction for the firm.

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Not so fast...

While we can easily get carried away with this early reveal of the OnePlus 7, or the first OnePlus 5G smartphone, it's worth noting this could simply be an early prototype.

Handsets go through a myriad of designs, tests and tweaks during development, and what we see in this leaked image may never make it to market - so take it all with a pinch of salt for now.

Previous reports claim the price of OnePlus' 5G device could be between $200 and $300 higher than the firm's standard flagships, and it's expected to be powered by the latest Snapdragon 855 chip with the 5G-capable X50 modem.

2019 promises to be an exciting year for tech aficionados as the industry seems poised to forge ahead with new, more powerful and far-reaching technologies in field like AI, machine learning, and of course, the not-so-humble smartphone. 

First on the list will be 5G phones, so we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more news (leaks!). 

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.