Four Months with the OnePlus One
23 Nov 2014I have now owned, and have been using the OnePlus One as my daily driver for four months, after previously using the Nexus 5. Here is my review of it.
What is a 'OnePlus One'?
In case you haven't yet heard of this device, it's a phone made by a Chinese startup called OnePlus.
Before we go any further, I would like to inform you of the specs-
Basics
CPU- Qualcomm© Snapdragon™ 801 processor with 2.5GHz Quad-core CPUs
RAM- 3 GB LP-DDR3, 1866MHz
GPU - Adreno 330, 578MHz
Battery- 3100 mAh LiPo
Storage- 16/64GB
Connectivity
Connectivity- GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHzWCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/8LTE: Bands: 1/3/4/7/17/38/40
Wi-Fi- Dual Band (802.11ac)
Bluetooth- Bluetooth 4.0
NFC- 65T
As you can see, this device is competing with all of the current flagships. What makes it so special?
Well, here are the prices-
16GB- £229 ($299)
64GB- £269 ($349)
So, it is very cheap device, with high end specs! What's the catch? There isn't one!
There have been a few minor complaints about the company themselves, and a few complaints about the actual hardware (They were shipping out devices so quickly, the glue under the screen was temporarily causing a yellow tint). However, most of these issues have now been resolved. My device is faultless.
The first thing you will notice about this device is the size, it is very big. The screen is 5.5" and similar to the size of a iPhone 6 Plus. Although it isn't the biggest device out there, the new Nexus 6 is even bigger!
The processor is the same as the high end HTC One M8, but the OPO comes with 3GB of RAM instead of 2, it is just unbelievable that OnePlus managed to fit this all in such a cheap device.
You may have also noticed the battery capacity, 3100 mAh is a lot! To put this into perspective, the iPhone 6 has a 1810 mAh battery, the HTC One M8 has a 2600 mAh battery and the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 2800 mAh battery. This easily lasts me all day, with usually upwards of 4 hours screen on time, using a mixture of Wi-Fi/Data. I have Bluetooth on constantly, connected to my Moto 360 smartwatch, and send multiple emails, texts, WhatsApp messages. I would class my self as a 'power user' so this phone should easily last the average person at least one day. At times, when I haven't needed to use the OnePlus One much, it has even managed to last me for two days, which is very impressive.
The device runs on an enhanced version of Android called CyanogenMod. Specifically, version CM11S. This is very similar to the stock version of Android that comes on Google Nexus devices, but with many advanced features and extra options built in.
It has a good 13MP camera, along with a video camera capable of recording in 4K. You can't really ask for much more than that!
The OnePlus One comes with most other standard options, like 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 as you would expect. However, one thing to note is the Network Bands it uses. It doesn't support Band 20, which is a very popular Band within the UK and Europe for 4G. There is only one Network that doesn't use Band 20, EE. It uses Band 3 instead. Three's network does currently consist of just Band 3 4G, but they will be using Band 20 too for some areas in the future. If you are on EE/Three or don't use 4G, this shouldn't be much of a problem. But it could be the deal breaker. On the upside, it does support all 3G/HSPA+ networks, so the Internet won't be too slow!
Overall, I have to say I have been very impressed by the OnePlus One, and would definitely consider getting the 'OnePlus Two' which is rumoured to be in development, with a possibly release date of some point next year. The device does everything I need it to and more. I would definitely recommend getting one, if you can get hold of one (The invite system should be finished soon), your wallet will thank you too!
You can find the official site, where you can purchase the device here: oneplus.net
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I would also recommend taking a look at the OnePlus subreddit here: /r/OnePlus.