OnePlus 5: CEO hints at fingerprint on the front

Not the back. Or the side. Or under the screen.

OnePlus has made an artform of the "slow trickle" of info around new, unannounced smartphones. The most recent nugget of info comes from the company's CEO, Pete Lau, who recently appeared to confirm that the OnePlus 5 will feature a front-facing fingerprint scanner, like its predecessors. First reported by GizChina, the remark came in Lau's answer to a fan question on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Fingerprint on the front means the OnePlus 5 will probably be a traditional 16:9 slab.

Sure, everyone has their own preference when it comes to fingerprint scanner placement. But if Lau's comments are accurate - and there's no reason to doubt them - we can draw a few conclusions. First off, it's likely that the OnePlus 5 will use a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the taller form factors championed by Samsung and LG. (An 18:9 display plus front-facing fingerprint would likely lead to an unreasonably tall phone.) Second, we can probably expect a similar choice between capacitive and on-screen keys in the OnePlus 5 - and thus, the front of the OnePlus 5 might look a lot like a OnePlus 3 or 3T.

The news of a fingerprint scanner on the front also fits with some recent, unverified renders of the phone, which have cropped up online over the past few weeks.

Other recent OnePlus 5 rumblings? A camera partnership with DxOMark and the teasing of four new color variants.

We'll undoubtedly hear more about various aspects of the OnePlus 5 in the run up to the launch later this summer, so stay tuned!