From being the disruptive "flagship killer" to being a premium smartphone brand taking on the likes of Apple and Samsung, OnePlus has come a long way since its inception six years ago.
Despite all the changes in hardware and its pricing, the Chinese smartphone maker has remained consistent in terms of its brand image - with its well-identified 1+ logo encased in the box, the red and white colour scheme, the bold fonts etc. However, last year, with the launch of the OnePlus 7T, the company did start to revamp its image with some simplified designs tweaks.
A new logo for OnePlus
Now, as we wait for the launch of the brand's next flagship smartphone series - the OnePlus 8 – it seems the company has another big surprise for us – a brand new logo.
OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau in a post on the OnePlus community forums, announced that the company will change its brand's visual identity on March 18, 2020. Although Lau does not give out any details on how the OnePlus branding will change, he does suggest that this rebranding will be a significant one. And as with any "rebranding", the logo is perhaps the most important aspect that changes, and it looks like that's what's going to happen in this case too.
Subtle yet significant
OnePlus had reportedly applied for a new logo design via a trademark at the National Trademark Office in Shenzhen, China back in November 2019, and the trademark has been granted recently and the alleged new logo has been leaked a bit earlier than Pete Lau would have anticipated.
The alleged revamped OnePlus logo has been leaked out through the Chinese patent office and upon digging deeper, 9to5Google was able to find a few variations of the logo which include a simplified logo with just the "1+" icon, as well as the new font o the logo's text.
For those who don't know, the OnePlus logo has remained unchanged ever since the company's inception in 2013, and every OnePlus device starting with the OnePlus 1 has been flaunting the same 1+ box insignia with ONEPLUS in bold upper case fonts.
Where's the red?
In the new leaked logo design, while the icon itself is mostly unchanged – except for some subtle tweaks, the text or font is certainly different.
The ONEPLUS text is now a heavier font that lines up closely with the branding that was seen on the OnePlus 7T – with the font basically identical to the text on the OnePlus 7T's retail box. The logo is also notably the same as the one that was seen on the 7T's reviewer kit.
But the biggest change is the black logo on a white background instead of the OnePlus staple of red over white, which quite looks quite muted in our honest opinion, but that's just a personal perspective. Some might like the new black and white scheme better.
OnePlus 8 might be the harbinger of change
9to5Google also suggests that this new logo could be the one that OnePlus might use on its 2020 products including the upcoming OnePlus 8 flagship series.
However, since this is just a leak, it is possible that it could be wholly inaccurate. It also seems unlikely that OnePlus could ditch its bold red and white colour scheme to a boring black and white scheme as suggested in the leak. But you never know. And while we have our doubts, it won't take us too long to have them cleared. OnePlus could drop another surprise by announcing the launch date for the OnePlus late at the rebranding announcement on March 18, in which case, we will keep you updated.
