According to reports, fledgling Chinese firm OnePlus has apparently moved forward the launch date of its first premium-looking handset - OnePlus One - by a couple of weeks.

The OnePlus One smartphone - which boasts customizable firmware and top-notch specifications - was previously scheduled for launch in mid-June. However, OnePlus has now advanced the launch of the handset to late May.

The unlocked and free of contract OnePlus One handset will be a low-cost device, priced at $299 for the 16GB model, and $349 for the 64GB model. The handset will have a polycarbonate build, an arched back, and elegant chassis. It will be available in two variants: one for China, and one for the rest of the world.

Some of the key features of the OnePlus One handset include a 5.5-inch 1080p display; a quad-core 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor; 3GB of RAM; a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor camera sensor capable of recording 4K video; a 5-megapixel front-facing camera; and a huge 3,100 mAh battery. But, the handset will not have any provision for expansion of storage capacity via a microSD card.

Connectivity options on the OnePlus One handset will include Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, USB OTG, GPS/GLONASS and NFC. The handset will also have seven LTE bands, penta-band HSPA+, and quad-band GSM/EDGE.