The OnePlus 10 Pro is now available in an ‘Extreme Edition,’ which dons an all-new Panda White colorway. The flagship OnePlus device launched in China back in January, but the sales remain restricted to its home market. There’s still no clarity on when OnePlus is bringing the smartphone to other countries, which is surprising because the brand usually hosts global launch events for its flagships. As per previous reports, the OnePlus 10 Pro could hit other markets by March, but a launch date is yet to be officially confirmed.
The OnePlus 10 Pro was among the first phones to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. It comes with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage on the standard variants. The display is a 6.7-inch LTPO OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1440 x 3216 pixels resolution, 1300 nits brightness, and Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The cameras continue the Hasselblad partnership that debuted on the OnePlus 9 series. At the back, the OnePlus 10 Pro sports a 48-megapixel primary camera, 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera. There’s a 32-megapixel selfie camera at the front. The battery capacity has been increased to 5,000mAh, while wired charging is bumped up to 80W. The phone also features 50W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
The OnePlus 10 Pro ‘Extreme Edition’ retains all these hardware specifications, barring the storage which is doubled to 512GB. The back panel is a pure white shade, while the large camera bump remains black. Notably, this Panda White variant also switches up the material from glass to ceramic. While ceramic isn’t widely seen on phones outside of China, it’s a more durable material than glass and consequently also more expensive. OnePlus previously launched a Ceramic Edition of the OnePlus X back in 2015 but hasn’t used the material since. Parent company OPPO on the other hand more recently used ceramic for the Find X2 Pro. In China, the OnePlus 10 Pro ‘Extreme Edition’ will cost CNY 5,799 (about $910).
OnePlus Explains Why White Phones Are Difficult To Make
The last time OnePlus launched a white phone was back in 2018, when it introduced the OnePlus 6 in Silk White. The president of the company’s product line, Liu Fengshuo, explained why OnePlus doesn’t launch many white phones via a Weibo post. The top exec noted three major reasons for this. The first comes down to the CMF (color, material, finishing) which is difficult to achieve in white. Even the slightest change in the manufacturing process can cause a complete shift in the tone. The high cost and low yield rate were the second cited reason. Fengshuo claimed OnePlus tested over a hundred different shades over three months to finalize the Panda White color. Lastly, he said a white smartphone is more difficult to maintain since it picks up dirt and smudges easily. This leads consumers to avoid this color.
Given how rare it is for OnePlus to launch a white smartphone, it’s likely the company is testing the waters once again with a limited edition OnePlus 10 Pro to gauge market interest. Even if the Extreme Edition is successful in China, it’s unlikely OnePlus will launch this particular variant in other countries, given the difficulty of the manufacturing process and the use of the ceramic material.
