The OnePlus 2 has been out a little while now, long enough that OnePlus has actually terminated the invite-only sales model for the device, meaning anyone can cruise over to the OnePlus webstore and buy one straight up. That can pretty much only mean one thing - a successor is already in the works for launch inside 2016 - but then, given the way we know the smartphone industry works and how in-advance development cycles are, this is hardly suprising news.

The company also released the OnePlus X earlier in 2015 and that handset, while no way near as compelling as the OnePlus 2, is still generating quite a bit of interest from consumers. The OnePlus 2 flagship was not without its detractors, however, following the company’s decision NOT to include NFC, a fingerprint scanner or a QHD panel on the front of the device. 

Are these things deal breakers? I’d argue, no — I can’t remember the last time I used NFC. I do get the fingerprint thing, though, as it is such a useful way to unlock your phone. As for the QHD display, well, that’s kind of a big omission in the Android Kingdom because nearly all of the OnePlus 2’s peers have QHD panels aboard them. Still, using 1080p panels hasn’t stopped Apple from shifting a record number of iPhones in 2014/15, so maybe it’s not quite as bad as some are making out? 

Oneplus is normally quite vocal about its in-development devices, that's kind of its thing; the whole transparency and openess with its own community of fans via social media and its own forum line. That's worked very well in the past for generating plenty of interest in its devices. Sometimes though, leaksters still beat OnePlus to the punch and reveal a new handset before the firm is necessarily ready to say "hey, look what we're working on". And on that note, images have now appeared online showing 3D renders of the next-gen device.

The leak comes via Mobile Dad, and the images appear to show a brushed metal back panel design which may or may not be part of a unibody. If so, this would be a departure from OnePlus' design conventions for the flagship so far, which have previously involved interchangeable back panels in a variety of materials, including kevlar, denim, and wood. That said, using a metal panel at all is also  departure as we haven't seen this until now. It's also worth noting that the OnePlus X was deliberately intended as a device to showcase the firm's premium design, placing this as a higher priority over even the specs - but even that device used glass or ceramic (depending on which variant you opted for) rather than a largely metal build.

Meanwhile, on the front there is no longer a fingerprint scanner and instead we have a front-facing speaker grille which may provide stereo sound similar to HTC's BoomSound setup, though this is merely speculation. The source for the images also claims the handset will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip and a 1080p display - although we've no idea of the size of the handset or the display diagonal. There's also no word on RAM or any other specs, including the camera.

With this info leaked into the open we wouldn't be surprised to hear some official line from OnePlus very soon. More, as always, as we get it.