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OnePlus 5 review: Making the leap from good to great
We've been following OnePlus and its journey to build a better flagship phone for years. Along the way, it managed a feat that's difficult for even the biggest conglomerates: The company kept outdoing itself. I don't mean to spoil the fun here, but the team has done it again with the OnePlus 5. Really, what's most striking is just how much this tiny company managed to get right in a phone that costs less than $550 (more on that later). It might not have every single whiz-bang feature that you'll find in other flagship smartphones, but the thoughtful balance of style, power and price make it a star.
The OnePlus 5 is the company's next smartphone
In a move that will shock no one, OnePlus is planning to release a new smartphone this year. What might take you by surprise, however, is the name: OnePlus 5. According to The Verge, OnePlus skipped the number four because it's considered unlucky in China (it's pronounced similar to "death" and "decease"). Also, employees really like former NBA player Robert Horry, who wore a number five jersey. Not that it really matters -- the OnePlus 3T was released last November, so this is technically the fifth OnePlus flagship. Little is known about the device, although a handful of rumors have pointed to a dual-camera setup and a 3,600 mAh battery.
OnePlus 3T caught cheating on benchmarks
No, the days of smartphone makers cheating on benchmarks aren't over yet. XDA has discovered that the OnePlus 3T artificially boosts processor clock speeds when running certain benchmark apps, keeping its CPU cores running at higher rates even when there was virtually no processor workload. This has apparently been a staple of HydrogenOS (OnePlus' interface for the Chinese market) for awhile, but only showed up in OxygenOS (the software for other parts of the world) in community builds ahead of the Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade.
OnePlus 3T review: A satisfying update to a fairly new phone
Remember the OnePlus 3? It came out barely six months ago and was the best phone you could get for $400. Well, it's about to be replaced by a faster, slightly more expensive version of itself that the company is calling the OnePlus 3T. (The T doesn't stand for anything; it's a cheeky take on the typical "S" suffix denoting many flagship sequels.) The new $439 device uses the latest Snapdragon 821 processor to achieve even faster speeds, and packs a beefier battery and sharper front camera -- improvements in areas where the original sort of fell short. I say "sort of" because other than battery life, the OnePlus 3 didn't need much improving. But OnePlus made it better anyway, and now it's one of the best phones on the market, especially at this price.
The OnePlus 3 gets its first taste of Android Nougat this month
Watching Android Nougat make its way to phones Google didn't have a hand in making has been, well, a little excruciating. Some major players are getting the update out first, but now it looks like the upstarts at OnePlus are next in line. Brian Yoon, the startup's head of software, confirmed to Engadget that a Nougat beta "community" build would be ready for the OnePlus 3 this month. Even better: once all the kinks have been ironed out, Nougat will be pushed out over-the-air to all OnePlus 3s by the end of the year. Not a bad way to ring in the holidays, right?
OnePlus 3 review: The best phone you can get for $399
OnePlus has been trying to craft a full-blown, "flagship killer" of a smartphone since day one, but how successful it's been is up for debate. From my perch, the company's first phone proved that a relatively unknown startup could build a high-caliber handset and a die-hard fanbase around it. Its second-generation device pushed it even further into the big leagues. And now there's the $399 (£309) OnePlus 3, which launches today. Make no mistake: The competition is even fiercer than ever, but OnePlus is trying to meet the challenge. Best of all, that pain-in-the-ass invite system is finally gone. Suffice to say, this year's launch is a big deal for OnePlus, and it's only fitting that the OnePlus 3 mostly represents this young company at its best. Indeed, right now you'd be hard-pressed to find any other phone this good for this price.
OnePlus 3's official render could be a decoy
This morning, a render of the much anticipated OnePlus 3 flagship phone (pictured left) has been making the rounds on the internet. We can confirm that this "leak" is legit as we also got it directly from OnePlus' China PR rep, who didn't say anything other than that this is a "OnePlus 3 render." But the company has clearly been seeding the same image to other Chinese media outlets as well, which is why we're smelling a decoy here -- a tactic often deployed by OnePlus' sister company, Vivo, to stir up hype before a product launch. Leaving the HTC-like design aside, we have a hard time believing that OnePlus would remove laser autofocus and dual-tone flash from its next flagship device; but hey, at least NFC is back, as hinted by the T-shaped antenna band.
OnePlus 2 review: a worthy sequel, flaws and all
I don't envy the team at OnePlus. After shipping a smartphone that made us rethink what we could get -- nay, what we deserved -- for $299, it was tasked with building an even better follow-up. If this were some schlocky '80s, teen coming-of-age film, it'd be time for a montage, but here we are a year later with a more confident, experienced startup and a new device that still promises to "never settle." At $329 for the basic 16GB model (or $389 for the 64GB version), the new OnePlus 2 isn't quite as wallet-friendly as the phone we got last year, and more than a few rivals have since come out with low-cost, high-power phones of their own. So, did OnePlus do the impossible again? Did it actually create a worthy sequel to a fan-favorite device, amid crazy competition in the world of cheap, fantastic unlocked phones? Well, yes, but it's not without its flaws.
For OnePlus, China is no longer its biggest market
OnePlus, a 900-employee-strong company that's sold 1.5 million smartphones since its debut 15 months ago, is doing surprisingly well outside its home country, China. As we sat in OnePlus' funky recreational room, CEO Pete Lau revealed that about 60 to 70 percent of the sales come from overseas, which is a significant change from the 50/50 ratio back in November. One could argue that this is partly to do with the dip in China's smartphone market growth, but Lau isn't concerned, as he and co-founder Carl Pei set their eyes on the Western world and, more recently, India.
OnePlus 2 is a $329+ metallic upgrade with a beefed-up camera
Almost exactly 15 months ago, the OnePlus One made its debut as a $299 flagship smartphone to wow the geeks; and it's even been lowered to $249 as of last month. That, of course, is to make way for the company's next act, the OnePlus 2 (we were asked to stick with "2" instead of "Two"). This update is actually not all that secretive no thanks to the teasers and a recent leak, but that's not to say you should lose interest in it, especially given the improved camera, better display, extra RAM and the switch from plastic to a more resilient magnesium alloy frame. Not to mention that the 2 also comes with a USB Type-C port, a fingerprint reader, dual nano-SIM slots and a special "alert" slider. As for the OnePlus 2's price: the 64GB version will retail for $389 while the 16GB version will cost you $329. Let's break it down.
OnePlus releases OxygenOS, its custom take on Android
After a pretty sizable delay, OnePlus has at last released OxygenOS, its in-house version of Android 5.0 Lollipop. As promised back near the start of the year, this Cyanogen replacement is all about a "back to basics" approach that keeps things stock unless the startup thinks a new feature would be genuinely useful. Right now, that's largely limited to features you already had on your One: you can draw Oppo-style gestures to trigger functions when the screen is off, switch between hardware and software navigation keys and customize your quick-access settings. OxygenOS isn't for the faint of heart at this stage, since you'll have to be comfortable with installing ROMs (and likely put up with early bugs), but it's worth a shot if you want to catch a glimpse of OnePlus' software future.
OnePlus will reveal its 'OxygenOS' February 12th
As Cyanogen moves along a new path (apparently with help from Microsoft) phone maker OnePlus is working on its own flavor of Android, and now it has a name: OxygenOS. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much else beyond promises of going back to the drawing board with software that is "open, customizable, and free of bloat and unnecessary features." That's good to hear though, and matches up with the alpha build seen earlier this month. In classic OnePlus style, the tease just sets up another tease, and we're told more information is coming on February 12th, so mark your calendars.
