Engadget is one of the first large sites to review the OnePlus One.
For $300, no other phone comes close to what the OnePlus One offers. Not only does it look and feel like a premium device, but it also comes with specs similar to what you’d find in a flagship smartphone. If you want a high-end phone on a budget, look no further.
At this point, you really have to wonder why you would want to shell out twice as much for a Samsung or an HTC. Lack of an SD card slot becomes a moot point with the OnePlus One, as the version with 64 GB of storage is only $349. I obviously haven’t used it yet, but from all the information that’s out there, the OnePlus One and the Find 7/7a really seem to be the best Android flagships of the year.
I feel like a broken record at this point, but if I were Samsung or HTC, I’d be very, very afraid of these Chinese manufacturers.
The reason is because phones like the OnePlus One and Find 7 are TOO DAMN BIG! If they ever make a smaller version for people who don’t wear MC Hammer pants, I’d consider buying one. Even my Nexus 4 feels kind of big in my pocket, so these bigger phones would be way too much for me. And for others who insist on one-handed operation of their phones, that becomes a chore with these.
Another potential issue is that you’re probably not going to find very many accessories on sale for this phone, but I suppose if you can find ‘generic’ docks and such for 5.5″ and bigger phones, this might not be much of a problem.
Edited 2014-05-08 20:44 UTC
Absolutely agree with the size issue. I’ve got the original HTC One, and while originally the size (coming from Palm/HP Pre3) threw me off, but I don’t think I’d want anything larger. So this phone leaves me out. If they came out with one at the same size as the HTC One, I’d be very, very tempted.
It seems like everyone says the same thing: My current phone was at first too big, but I got used to it; but no bigger. But every year the phones get bigger and people keep buying them. Even Apple was forced to go bigger and will soon to bigger yet. It has to stop sometime right?
My guess is everyone will move to the smart watch because it will be too much work to get out their phone and use it.
I guess that if it continues, they’ll start putting physical keyboards on them, in a sort of clamshell design? At which point they’ll have re-invented the laptop…
For me, it boils down to the ‘pocket test’. If the phone fits in my pocket comfortably, then the bigger the better. If not, then it’s just not practical to carry around.
Of course, if you wear some baggy-ass pants or carry around a (man)purse, then you could probably deal with even a 7″ tablet (as I know some people do). But since I don’t do any of these, I think 5.2″ is about as big as I will go.
I already thought 5 inch was ridiculous for a normal phone but apparently I am wrong because they keep creeping up 5, 5.2, 5.5, 6.0!
I have owned the HTC One since june. I still think it is too big. I liked and still like the HTC Nexus One with its 3,7 inch screen. It feels and is sturdy and easily fits in your hand.
But this is all because I don’t watch movies on my phone. And when I use websites I use something like pocket to read them so you don’t need a big screen.
I have moved on from storing my files locally, for the same price of a 128GB SD Card you can have two years of cloud storage, which benefits all of my devices instead of just one. My provider also gave me year of premium membership for Spotify negating the need to store music on my device, they also don’t add any data charges for using the service, which doesn’t really matter as I have an unlimited data connection at 150Mbs. Removable storage media on mobiles is a dying tech and I have no doubt that the time is almost upon us that you will be unable to buy a phone with a SD Card reader.
Edited 2014-05-09 09:47 UTC
The problem is that I live in Australia:
– data typically costs $10-20GB.
– there is no 4G service outside the major cities.
This makes the entire Android ecosystem expensive and impractical for many everyday tasks.
To be honest most non-Americans are completely sick of the US-centric attitude of Google, Apple, Amazon etc.
Tangent: Is there any particular reason why these huge phones all use micro-SIMs?
I have to agree. I love my LG optimus g other than it having a 4.7″ inch screen and I guess that is considered small now. I’d still be rocking my atrix if it didnt have a dead spot in its digitizer. I sure would love a new phone under 4″
SD cards are dead anyway because Google decided to cripple them in Android, starting from Kitkat. And OEMs have to play along because the crippled behavior is in the compatibility definition.
On the other hand, never underestimate the power of marketing and familiarity (aka “what my friends have”). It’s the reason the Galaxy S4 sells so well, despite the fact it’s the worst ‘flagship’ out there.
Edited 2014-05-08 21:07 UTC
True, this device won’t be selling Samsung numbers, but in a year or two….
Actually, in the U.S. where NOW is king, it $300 for the OnePlus, and $0 for the latest Samsung, HTC, etc.
Of course, they actually are paying about a grand for the contract phone, and $600 for T-Mobile no contract, but only NOW exists.
The US represents only 5% of the global population. The vast majority of the world’s phone users buy their phones outright and are not locked to expensive contracts.
1. I wasn’t trying to extrapolate world wide, that’s why I said, “Actually, in the U.S”. I was stating an unfortunate fact about consumer behavior in the U.S.
2. However, in the interest of honesty, the U.S. figure is about 15% of global Smartphone sales (#2). China is #1 with almost 28%.
Resume normal transmission…
Not at all; I use my personal phone to listen to my entire music collection, from an SD card and internal memory. It works just fine.
Even by transcoding it all from FLAC to Vorbis, I’ve already used more than 60GiB of space.
One needs *everything* on there, because one never knows what one will be in the mood for.
I can’t wait for 128GB SD cards to become more reasonably priced.
Every time…
>Internet goes mental for phone
No SD card slot?
Into the bin it goes!
Edited 2014-05-08 22:14 UTC
That’s why WP8 will succeed. SD card support and inbuilt maps are a huge advantage in countries like Australia where huge data costs and connectivity problems mean cloud storage is not feasible.
Brand recognition and brand loyalty. It’s really all there is to it.
will crush it.
What’s the point exciting about the device when you won’t be able to buy it. And even if you jump trough hoops you won’t get any warranty making it a riski proposition.
That’s one of reasons it’s so cheap.
What a smart service provider in european countries could do is to take such oem under its umbrella, but they are too poor in sw developement to really profit from such position.
I guess I’ll make my effort to get it anyway. Such a monster with CM oob is just too good to miss.
What?
I wouldn’t worry if I was Samsung or HTC. Most people want A-brand smartphones anyway like Apple or Samsung.
This phone is really nice for the price you can get it but you’ll have to import it and most people won’t do that because they don’t know what to do or don’t want to go through all the hassle when it breaks and they have to sent it back for repair.
Look at sites like fastcardtech, you can buy S5 similar phones for as low as $150,-. Ok not with the same specs but good enough for most people, yet people still buy the original S5.
Sure it would have more impact when you can buy one in the local store here, but even then, I think people are very comitted to one brand, the same as they always buy their car from the same manufacture.
I would buy this over any phone because I don’t care I want a phone with the best specs for the least amount of money, but most people go along with the hype anyway.
A phone is more like a fashion object these days, I can buy jeans for $50 as well yet I spend $150,- on Diesel jeans, why? I don’t know because I tried them on once and they fit really well but I’m sure there’s cheaper ones out there that fit just as good.
Don’t forget that humans buy stuff to show it to other humans as well, not only for themselves.
Edited 2014-05-09 10:41 UTC
The reality is that the vast majority of people in the world cannot afford $150 jeans or $800 phones. That is why Apple is only successful in a handful of high income markets.
Samsung sell phones ranging from $20 to $800.
I am one of the 100 and I’ll probably have it within a week. If you want to get an early review I am more than willing to give it a run down for you.
To give a bit of history of my history with mobile devices the short version is like this I buy a new flagship every 4-5 months to play around with, I started with a Blackbery RIM 857 in 2000,Usually I buy them unlocked because I travel extensively for my job. Beyond that name a piece of hardwar or software that exists, or has existed in the last 26 years, and I’ve probably uses it.
Intriguing phone, especially considering the price.
I managed to get a look at it at the cyanogen event on the 29th definitely worth looking at, and no it doesn’t feel like a cheap phone it feels good a bit buggy on preproduction software but even then not super noticeable.
At a casual glance, the recently independent devices (e.g. Oppo 5, OnePlus One)look pretty much the same and different from the iPhone (for obvious reasons).
So, very soon, it will be mostly your wallet (or credit card) which will now what device you have in your hands. Of course, there will be the major exceptions of the iPhone and the HTC/LG/Samsung flagships.
That`s good in many ways.
One thing, I feel uneasy with the trend towards Cloud services for storage. However, with a inexpensive 64 Gb devices, this may be a mute point especially if one could easily set-up a private cloud via a home wireless network.
Finally, the ultimate gadget may be a wearable communication client device with multi-distributed displays – watch, hand-held (6″ or less), and tablet (7″ or more) – wirelessly connected together.
I doubt that will happen – overall, your concept reminds me of things predicted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputer_revolution#The_home_comp… …but back then, it turned out that connections are hard, and it’s easier to equip each device with its own embedded computer. I guess it will be like that also with ~wearable and portable devices.