OnePlus denies rumours its working on a OnePlus X2 for release later this year

OnePlus CEO Carl Pei says company plans to shift upmarket as he slams OnePlus X2 rumours

Smartphone maker Oneplus has panned claims that it is working on a new OnePlus X handset for release later this year.

Yesterday, rumours circulated that the company was preparing to launch a OnePlus X2. But the company's CEO, Carl Pei, noticed the story andS was quick to shut down the rumours on Twitter.

The technology executive logged on to the social networking site to share a report of the rumour from GSM Arena, simply writing "nope" in response to the speculation.

Over the past few years, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, such as OnePlus, Xiaomi and Huawei, have risen in popularity as consumers look for affordable smartphones packed with high-end features.

At the end of 2015, the company unveiled the OnePlus 2. But just a few months after the handset came to market, it launched the OnePlus X.

While OnePlus positioned the handset as a mid-range offering, people were impressed with the fact that it sported a metal and glass design.

Since that handset, many tech pundits have speculated that OnePlus would launch a second-generation OnePlus X model. However, although there have been rumours nothing has come to fruition.

Despite this, OnePlus has unveiled other handsets. In 2017, the company showed off the OnePlus 5, followed swiftly after by the OnePlus 5T, its current flagship. Both handsets packed Snapdragon 835 processors.

While the company's boss has slammed the rumours, they are still juicy: GizChina claimed that the OnePlus X2 will pack a Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM.

In terms of other features, it claimed that the device would sport 16-megapixel (rear) and 8-megapixel (front) cameras, a 3,000mAh battery, Dash charging support and facial recognition.

As for pricing and availability, that's where the rumours become much hazier. Some have suggested that OnePlus will unveil it alongside the OnePlus 6, while others believe that it will be launched separately.

Should OnePlus actually announce the handset, it is likely to cost between $230 and $264 - making it significantly cheaper than the company's current flagship device. But these claims have come from a plethora of skethy sources, so they could easily be inaccurate.

At the same time, CEO Pei also has some work to do in order to mend the company's increasingly battered reputation, damaged by more than one data-exfiltration claim, not to mention the targeting of its commerce website by hackers, affecting some 40,000 customers.