OnePlus has been making cheap but fully featured Android phones for the past few years, making smartphone buyers question why they pay more for a Samsung Galaxy S20 or Google Pixel 4. But new leaks about the upcoming OnePlus 8 show that the Chinese startup has work to do.

GSMArena spotted an entry on the scoreboard of benchmarking app Geekbench with a model number (IN2025) that appears to be attached to the next-generation OnePlus device. The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU (referred to in the Geekbench entry by the codename "kona"), but with only 8GB of RAM.

The IN2025 number is tied to the OnePlus phone because Nashville Chatter discovered that a similar number was registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards. two numbers in the BIS database, one beginning with IN201x and the other with IN202x The former was a standard OnePlus. The former was presumed to be linked to the standard OnePlus 8 and the latter to the OnePlus 8 Pro.

OnePlus' latest flagship, the OnePlus 7T Pro, also features 8GB RAM, while the original OnePlus 7 Pro can be spec'd with up to 12GB, giving it true top-class performance capabilities. With this in mind, and assuming the leak is accurate, it is possible that OnePlus' new handset will have another 12GB RAM "Pro" model that has not yet been spotted by the leaker, or that OnePlus has decided to stick with its low RAM strategy.

Considering that the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S20 comes standard with 12GB RAM and the Galaxy S20 Ultra has up to 16GB, this is a huge performance gap that OnePlus may have trouble making up. [The Snapdragon 865 chip is good news, as it is the top-of-the-line processor likely to be found in all premium flagship Android smartphones released this year. OnePlus, which launched its first 5G phones last year with the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and OnePlus 7T Pro 5G, will no doubt want to take advantage of this.

OnePlus does not appear to be prioritizing leading the performance table with its phones; OnePlus is going for smoothness and ease of use with its smartly designed Android launcher, OxygenOS, rather than silicon performance. And if it can take advantage of its slightly reduced performance capabilities for a significant discount compared to the $1,000+ S20 series, OnePlus will once again be a thorn in the side of its larger competitors.

Rumors about OnePlus' upcoming phones can be read at the OnePlus 8 hub, which is regularly updated with the latest news and leaks.