OnePlus has officially taken the wraps of its next all-powerful flagship, the OnePlus 6. Including the X and T models, this is the company's seventh handset, and launches four years after the very first OnePlus One was announced. 

• OnePlus 6 specs, release date and everything else you need to know
• Get the OnePlus 6 before anyone else at exclusive pop-up stores around the world

This year's new model takes a different direction to the recent generations. Rather than have a back hewn from one solid piece of aluminium, OnePlus went with a glass back. And - depending which colour you go for - the look and feel will be very different. 

Mirror Black is the glossy, shiny glass back with a polished finish on the metal frame that matches several other Android flagships from 2018. For the Midnight Black model this year, the company added a perforated under layer beneath the glass that gives it a more matte finish, but also creates an interesting S-curve when reflecting light at certain angles. 

Silk White is back this year too, and created using an underlayer of powdered pearl dust, giving it a very attractive frosty look. Combined with the rose gold frame and trim around the camera, it creates a device with an elegance not matched by the other two. Perhaps the only downside to this model: it's not going to be available right away. 

It's quite a departure from the full metal backs of recent years, while the front is more of a subtle evolution of the OnePlus 5T. It's 2018, so that means it does have a notch, as the company had already stated prior to launch. 

As for the screen, that's as big, bright and colourful as you'd expect. It's a full Optic AMOLED panel spread over 6.28-inches with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels. It's a 19:9 ratio, due to the notch, and has a pixel density that near enough matches the previous model at 402 pixels per inch. 

Inside, there's the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 paired with either 6GB or 8GB RAM, depending which storage model you opt for. 

Along with this powerful hardware, OnePlus' performance optimisations remain in its Oxygen OS software. That means it intelligently ensures that your phone is running just as fast when it's months old as it is when it's brand new. 

Thanks to the newer processor, OnePlus claims that - although the battery is the same capacity at 3,300mAh and the screen is larger - the battery performance is near enough the same as the OnePlus 5T. Whether that's true or not will be revealed in testing. 

Of course, with this being OnePlus, the battery can be refuelled quickly using the Dash Charge power adapter and cable - 30 minutes plugged in is enough to get it from 0 to 60 per cent. 

Camera-wise, we're looking at another dual camera system, this time placed centrally on the back, similar to the very first OnePlus One. The main 16-megapixel Sony sensor is 19 per cent larger than last year, meaning larger pixels for better low light performance. Like the last model, the 20-megapixel secondary camera is there to enhance low light performance as well as provide depth in portrait shots. Both feature f/1.7 aperture. 

Where you'll notice a bigger change in focus this year is in video. You can record a full one minute clip of slow mo 720p video at 460 frames-per-second or 1080p at 240fps. 

The front facing camera is built by Sony and will work with Qualcomm's AI engine to offer portrait selfies after a software update in a few weeks. 

As is customary for the ambitious company, the OnePlus 6 will be the only phone it sells until the next generation, or "T" model refresh is released (that is if the manufacturer even goes down that route this year). 

OnePlus 6 goes on sale on 22 May, and will be available in three storage options. This year you can have 64GB storage with 6GB RAM, or you can opt for the 128GB or 256GB options which both come with 8GB RAM. Pricing is tiered appropriately, with costs of £469, £519 and £569 respectively for the three storage models. 

It’s worth noting, some storage options are colour limited. So, you can get the Mirror Black with either 64GB or 128GB storage, while the Midnight Black is available in all three variants and the upcoming Silk White is only going to be sold as a 128GB model.