Limited OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition Launched in China

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus launched its new OnePlus 7T series in China today, along with a limited OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition. The company’s 7T series was previously released in India on September 26 and subsequently in London on October 10.

Borrowing the supercar aesthetic of the limited-production McLaren Speedtail, the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition features a premium, track-inspired appearance with a U-shaped highlight on the back in McLaren’s hallmark papaya orange.

The smartphone also features notification lights that the company dubs “Horizon Light” with the same shade of orange, giving the phone a futuristic design while still maintaining its design tribute to the racecar brand. Users are also presented with a customized McLaren theme and wallpaper when the phone boots up.

To compliment the phone, OnePlus also gave the flagship a protective case accented with carbon fiber and Alcantara, a type of fabric often used in the interior of McLaren’s luxury sports cars.

The limited edition flagship shares the same specs as the regular OnePlus 7T Pro, powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 Plus mobile platform, UFS 3.0 storage, a set of dual stereo speakers featuring Dolby Atmos and a triple camera kit featuring a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor.

The only difference in specs between the two variants is the additional 4GB of RAM, boosting the total RAM available in the McLaren Edition to 12GB to pair with the 256GB of storage.

Company founder and CEO Pete Lau also announced during the launch that the company will continue to proliferate and popularize high refresh rate displays, promising that the company will never launch phones with refresh rates lower than 90Hz in the future.

Speaking to The Verge last week, Pete Lau explained (via a translator) that the company simply hasn’t seen enough of an opportunity to launch a second 5G device.

“It’s not related to a Pro series or T-series or another device that certainly must have 5G,” the CEO said. “It’s more looking at what are the circumstances and what’s a suitable opportunity to build a 5G device.”

The OnePlus is priced starting at 2999 yuan (~$423), while the OnePlus 7T Pro begins at 4599 yuan (~$650). The limited edition McLaren OnePlus 7T Pro is priced at 5299 yuan (~$750). Lau did not mention any trade-in options for consumers throughout the launch.