An unreleased OnePlus phone has made an appearance on the IMEI database, which suggests the company is already preparing launch for its 2022 phone ranges. 

The listing first appeared on 15 August, and shared on Twitter by frequent leaker Mukul Sharma, better known as @stufflistings.

It reveals a phone with model number NE2210, but little else except that it's a phone manufacturered by OnePlus. 

At this point it's hard to predict which phone this could be, but looking at 2021's phone model numbers, there is an indication that it could be a 2022 model. 

This year's releases all feature the number '21' after the initial two letters of their model numbers. OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are LE2113 and LE2123, while the Nord 2 and Nord CE are DN2103 and EB2103. 

If upcoming phones follow the same pattern, the '22' in NE2210 suggests that it's a phone launch for some time in 2022. 

In recent years, the two letters at the start of the model number have been related to the phone codenames. For instance, the Nord 2's codename was apparently Denniz, hence DN. OnePlus 9 series was 'Lemonade' - hence LE - and the Nord CE was 'Ebba'. 

What the 'NE' stands for in this latest leak is unkown. At this point it could just as easily be a new Nord model as a flagship series phone.

That means we don't know if this is an affordable mid-ranger or powerful top-tier phone. No further information is available from the original leak. 

As is usually the case for OnePlus, we're sure leaks will gather momentum as we move towards the end of the year.