The $299 OnePlus One proved that you can get a flagship-quality smartphone without paying traditional flagship prices. And now its successor is almost here. OnePlus will officially unveil its next phone, the OnePlus 2, on July 27th at 7PM PT (10PM ET). The company has already shared a few key specifications for the device; it'll be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset and will feature a USB-C port — making it one of the first major smartphones to adopt the brand new, more convenient USB standard. But that's pretty much all we know at this early stage, leaving plenty for OnePlus to tease over the next few weeks before the whole story is revealed next month.

And the company has a unique plan for the unveiling: you'll be able to experience it in virtual reality. "In our industry, product launches tend to be the same. An auditorium, a keynote, and a seated audience. For the OnePlus 2 launch, we didn’t want that barrier between us and you," OnePlus wrote in a blog post today. "A VR launch lets you stand right next to our team and our fans as we unveil our new flagship. You’ll be able to look around as you check out the phone in a new way and maybe even find a few hidden Easter eggs." The company will be releasing its own Google Cardboard headset tailored for the One soon, an endeavor that it's "definitely losing money on" per the blog post.

Once the OnePlus 2 is unveiled, you'll need an invite to get one — just like the first model. It took an entire year for the company to catch up with demand and ditch OnePlus One invites, and you can expect version two to be equally hard to come by. But there's very good reason for that; putting aside the software controversies and some downright bad decisions this young company has made, it's still producing a pretty fantastic smartphone at a price that's hard to grasp. We're excited to see what's next.

Verge Video: The reversible plug of the future coming to the OnePlus 2